[Boatanchors] WRNO's transmitter.

[Sheldon Daitch]

Bob,

thanks for the background.

Somehow I don't see the economics in buying a 50 kW
transmitter as opposed to fixing the existing 100 kW
unit, unless as you point out, CCA made him an offer
he could not refuse.

Interesting that the Elcor site doesn't list WRNO
in their roster of installed transmitters.  Wonder if
that means anything?

There could be some merit to two PA sections, one
tuned to each of the operating frequencies.  Might
mean far fewer moving parts, as each section is pretuned
to the operating frequency.

73
Sheldon

Robert Nickels wrote:
> sdaitch at kuw.ibb.gov wrote:
>   
>> Thanks for the link.  
>>
>> When I clicked on the TX photo, I thought
>> that is NOT the transmitter I saw 
>>   
>>     
> Good catch, Sheldon.  I dug out the article, which tells the sad but 
> interesting history of the transmitters at WRNO Worldwide.  Let me share 
> a few excerpts:
>
> Joe Costello, the station founder who broke the ground for domestic HF 
> broadcasting  back in the late 70s, was described by the author as being 
> "extremely cheap".  (Did I mention he was also a ham?  well, no 
> correlation I'm sure...)   So instead of fixing up the initial Harris 
> 100kw transmitter the station started with, he instead bought a 50KW 
> transmitter from CCA - a company that had never made a dual band 
> shortwave transmitter before, and evidently the bugs never were quite 
> ironed out.  According to station engineer, Larry Thom, the SW-100 "died 
> due to little preventative maintenance"; Costello just wouldn't spend 
> the money to keep it running properly (Any old broadcast engineers 
> nodding your heads out there?)    For example, he had the transmitter 
> operator distill their own transmitter cooling water, and often didn't 
> run the full 100KW power.  The station didn't own a dummy load large 
> enough, so all testing was done on-the-air.   Thom says when he first 
> came on the scene, it was putting out only 6000 watts!   After a few 
> days he got it up to 60KW but dirt in the cooling system eventually 
> caused arcing of the 30KV supply and the teflon cooling hoses wore 
> out.   Larry wanted to buy a nice Continental transmitter but once 
> again, Joe saved money...
>
> CCA paid Costello  $150K for the old Harris and sold him a transmitter 
> before it was built.  The CCA had separate 7  and 15mhz RF cabinets with 
> a common p/s and modulator.  Serial Number 1 was finished on-site and 
> had to be modified for a 75 ohm output as that's what Joe's balun that 
> fed the 300 ohm open wire feedline was for.     The antenna, by the way, 
> is a TCI Log Periodic aimed north-northeast with a gain of 9db.  (It's 
> located in the scrubby field that you see on Google Earth to the north 
> of transmitter building and the two big towers).
>
> One day the FCC called and complained to the WRNO receptionist about 
> interference  to other stations.  Someone went to the transmitter site 
> and called Larry to tell him that smoke was coming out of the CCA 
> transmitter.   Turning off the main breaker did not stop the smoke!  It 
> was discovered that the transmitter had burned badly, wiring harnesses 
> completely melted, modulator wires burnt up, etc.   In the end, the new 
> owners opted for a new 50KW Elcor plate modulated transmitter that was 
> built in Costa Rica.  http://www.elcor.org/   According to the article, 
> the burnt-up transmitter led to a 50% reduction from the asking price 
> when the Good News Outreach group bought it in 2001.
>
> And here's the part "we" can relate to:  In the Costello days the backup 
> transmitters were a Johnson Viking and Valiant, as well as a T-368!  
> Today, according to the article, Larry has a "Globe King 500D Serial 
> Number 1" which can make 300 watts as the backup.   And I'm going to end 
> this story right there, but any of you who know what a "500D" is - you 
> know THAT is a whole 'nuther story!
>
> 73, Bob W9RAN
>
>
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