Does part 74.1201 (g) apply for a AM (class B) primary station to lease a FM translator that is well beyond the primary station's 1mV/meter coverage area? The translator location is actually close to the 0.1 mV/meter primary contour. (g) Translator coverage contour. For a fill-in FM translator rebro...

How easy are minor frequency changes for the newer synthesized Marti RFUs (analog)? It looks like you have to program the frequency via a RS232. Is special software required or is it just a RS232 command? Can't seem to find any documentation that talks about this other than "send it to the factory"....

Digital Alert Systems (formerly Monroe) is now offering a "special" price for a EAS firmware catchup to the current version 4 for $390 until June. This will take you from whatever version you are now using to the current version. I don't know if June means until June 1 or the end of June Not cheap b...

We had a car that ran into a utility pole late yesterday and took out the AC power. This has happened several times before and is can be handled remotely with the station controller. This time however, the surge tripped a 115 VAC circuit breaker in the control room that powers the computer UPSs. It ...

I've thought of buying the StereoTool Software www.stereotool.com for a backup Tx for about $150 and installing on a dedicated rack mounted PC. Not sure of the reliability, but it might be OK for a backup. I'd be interested to find out how the new car radios have the same range with mono or stereo. ...

I used Coax Seal (connector putty) several years ago. Andrew also sold their own version. It is OK until you try to remove it and then it leaves remnants on the connector threads that are hard to remove. Mineral Spirits is about the only way to remove it. The idea is that any left over residual can ...

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago. It just about drove me crazy. There was a random VSWR spike every few weeks that would sometimes fault the transmitter. I even logged the forward and reflected power with a A/D converter for about a month. I think the root cause was remnants of RF conne...

I had a frequency search service ask me for our "stop buzzer" this morning. I found out they were asking for the FCC Point of Contact for shutdown. I've never heard this term used before.

I also use a hacksaw, but I put the Heliax in a mitre box when I cut so that I can get a square cut. This works up to 1 5/8 diam.

There was a BW TX-5 V2 5 watt transmitter on ebay last week. I've used a BW TX-50 as a standby. It has a simple 4 band processor included,
The only problem is the display seems to go bad with time. Has a good remote interface.

I hope everyone is having a great New Years, I've had good luck using a DATAQ DI-1120 external 14 bit A/D converter (<$200) to capture long-term data from some older SAs. If the SA has an external X and Y axis output ports, you can just record the data on a couple of the available four channels. The...

I have had very good luck with HP Z400 workstations used for both on-air and production. You can get them with loaded with Windows 7 and >8 GB RAM often for <$200. I probably have about eight of them now. They are very well made (much better than consumer grade) and very stable. Corporations used th...

Several folks really like Stereo Tool. The author has had displays at NAB a few times. Cost is very reasonable.
I think Orban and Telos also have software versions

https://www.stereotool.com/

Ray

I've found the customer service at Broadcast Concepts to be first class. I was also thinking of making a second backup amplifier (emergency use only) using one of their Pallet Amplifier since I have everything else I need (PS, LPF, enclosure etc).. I'm worried about possible FCC inspection if I was ...

If the PA is oscillating at 90 MHz with a high output, I would take the transmitter out of service immediately. If any other spurs are present (especially in the aviation band), this could really turn into a problem with the FCC. I remember (don't have the regs with me now) the required FCC harmonic...