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Radio Broadcast Technical Consulting and Sales
 10032 Island Drive, Brainerd, MN  56401

 

Engineer's Log of Mark W. Persons
 Transmitter for WPPI Radio
December 21, 2009:  Herb Hoppe and his son Gary from WVAL Radio came by to drop off a transmitter for repair and retuning.  It is on 1220 KHZ and started out life in the mid-1960's at in Stillwater, MN.  We do not know the original call letters, but it is now KLBB.
The transmitter is a Gates BC-1G.  As a high school student in 1964, I helped install one at KVBR Radio in Brainerd, MN, where it still serves as an auxiliary transmitter today.  The BC-1G can run at 1000 watts using 833A tubes in the modulator and RF power amplifier sections. 

This transmitter will be retuned to to 540 KHz for WPPI Radio in Sauk Rapids, MN.  This new station is scheduled to be on the air by the summer of 2010.  The BC-1G will be an auxiliary to a Nautel solid-state transmitter.    

January 15, 2010:  The transmitter, as seen from the back side, has been cleaned up and testing has begun.  A grounding stick was added on the right side.  This safety feature was not in the transmitter design in the 1960's.

There are 2500 Volts DC on those tubes under operating conditions.   

Let's take a closer look at the high power tubes.  They are 833A triodes.  Two are used in the RF power amplifier and two are used as high-level amplitude modulators.  Both sets of tubes are driven by 807 tubes. 

They just don't make them like this anymore.    

 

February 18, 2010:  The guys from WVAL Radio picked up the repaired and retuned Gates BC-1G Transmitter along with the Nautel ND-1 Transmitter.  Both will be installed in their new 540 KHz AM station.  They hope to have it running by the middle of summer.        

 

The stories go on and on.  Stop in again sometime.  I'll leave the soldering iron on for you. 
Mark W. Persons   Ham WØMH

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page last edited 02/19/2010