Wed, Nov 29
Matt Tuell and I went up to the transmitter site early this morning (so
beautiful up there today). It looks like there was some damage done to the
antenna (a wire dangling) . Thet xmitter was powered- on, but was putting
out zero watts of power. We took care of that and are now back on-the-air,
but with a bit more reflected power than we should have (radio terminology
for some of the power coming back down the transmission line). That needs to
be dealt with because it could harm the xmitter. From the numbers and
faults in the transmitter software, I think there was a spike in power on
Sunday that reduced the output to zero so nothing would be harmed - which is
exactly what the transmitter should have done.
Thanks,
andy
Wed. Nov 29, second report
One important item about the damage to our equipment up on Mt Konocti that I
didn't mention is - reflected power can not only damage the Xmitter, but it
has already reduced our overall power output by about 10% - which means the
signal is not getting as far, and is not as strong as it was before the
event. And this may get worse, depending on what is causing the problem.
I will keep my eye on the reflected power numbers and see if it continues
to go up (bad). If it does, we may have to hire Brian Henry (from Napa who
worked on our STL/drop-outs last spring).
Thanks,
andy
Tuesday, November 28
Late on Sunday, November 26 (close to midnight) a weather event (wind, rain)
shut down the KPFZ transmitter. At first I thought there was a power outage
on Mt Konocti, but if there was one, it was brief, and there is power up
there now. In any event, our equipment on the mountain has not worked since
then, and the station is off-the-air. Remote access to that equipment from
the studio no longer exists, so there is no way to contact the transmitter.
A site visit on the mountain will occur sometime this week to asses any
damage to the antenna, transmission line, and transmitter. However because
of the weekend rains and muddy roads, we will wait until it is safe to go up
there.
In the meantime, programmers may do their shows for the live stream, and for
repeat broadcasts.
Thanks,
andy
Tuesday, November 28
Late on Sunday, November 26 (close to midnight) a weather event (wind, rain)
shut down the KPFZ transmitter. At first I thought there was a power outage
on Mt Konocti, but if there was one, it was brief, and there is power up
there now. In any event, our equipment on the mountain has not worked since
then, and the station is off-the-air. Remote access to that equipment from
the studio no longer exists, so there is no way to contact the transmitter.
A site visit on the mountain will occur sometime this week to asses any
damage to the antenna, transmission line, and transmitter. However because
of the weekend rains and muddy roads, we will wait until it is safe to go up
there.
In the meantime, programmers may do their shows for the live stream, and for
repeat broadcasts.
Thanks,
andy