{"id":4508,"date":"2012-02-01T08:06:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T12:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/?p=4508"},"modified":"2023-04-29T11:18:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-29T15:18:47","slug":"the-gates-bc250gy-transmitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2012\/02\/the-gates-bc250gy-transmitter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gates BC250GY transmitter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This transmitter is in service at WSBS, Great Barrington, MA as a standby. It was new in January 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"568\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-650x568.jpg\" alt=\"Gates BC250GY transmitter, WSBS Great Barrington, MA\" class=\"wp-image-4540\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-650x568.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-150x131.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-300x262.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-400x350.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gates BC250GY transmitter, WSBS Great Barrington, MA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This was running into the dummy load for testing, which we try to do periodically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"383\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section-383x600.jpg\" alt=\"Gates BC250GY AM transmitter audio section\" class=\"wp-image-4541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section-383x600.jpg 383w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section-95x150.jpg 95w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section-191x300.jpg 191w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-audio-section.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gates BC250GY AM transmitter audio section<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The audio section is a pair of<del> 8008&#8217;s<\/del>\u00a0810s running in parallel. This goes through a modulation transformer to the RF section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"442\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section-442x600.jpg\" alt=\"Gates BC250GY RF section\" class=\"wp-image-4542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section-442x600.jpg 442w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section-110x150.jpg 110w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section-221x300.jpg 221w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Gates-BC250GY-RF-section.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 442px) 100vw, 442px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gates BC250GY RF section<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The RF section consists of another pair of <del>8008&#8217;s<\/del>\u00a0810&#8217;s running parallel. The plate voltage for these tubes is 1,250 VDC which is fairly tame, all things considered. The transmitter is dirt simple 250-watt carrier power, 125% positive peak capable. \u00a0It is not the most efficient unit under the sun but it can still be repaired with off-the-shelf parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"650\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic-650x446.jpg\" alt=\"Gates BC250GY Schematic\" class=\"wp-image-4543\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic-650x446.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic-150x103.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic-400x274.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/BC-250-GY-Schematic.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Gates BC250GY Schematic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a somewhat faded schematic. \u00a0The schematic shows a single 833A as the final, however, this particular transmitter has a pair of 810&#8217;s for the final, as shown in the above picture. \u00a0Ham radio operators love these things as they are easy to convert to 160 or 80 meters for AM phone use. The bigger brother to this unit is the Gates BC1G, which is also a pretty simple unit using 833A tubes in parallel with 3,500 VDC plate voltage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This transmitter is in service at WSBS, Great Barrington, MA as a standby. It was new in January 1975. This was running into the dummy load for testing, which we try to do periodically. The audio section is a pair of 8008&#8217;s\u00a0810s running in parallel. This goes through a modulation transformer to the RF section. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/2012\/02\/the-gates-bc250gy-transmitter\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">The Gates BC250GY transmitter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32],"class_list":["post-4508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-stuff","tag-am-transmitters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4508"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11649,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions\/11649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.engineeringradio.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}