Sure, we just hit “Fall,” but Winter is already giving previews in some areas. In any event, Fall gives us time to get things ready for Winter – and smoother operations. A lot of folks like to do Spring Cleaning, to recover from the events of the winter months, but it is equally […]

Have you ever had an AM transmitter with intermittent VSWR trips caused by some problem you could not locate? Chip Morgan mixes water with electricity for a quick solution. Over the years, I have seen many strange and unpredictable things happen at high power AM sites. They have included arcs from the doghouse […]

For most of us, having one of every tool is probably not economically or spatially feasible. On the other hand, having a knowledge of various tools that can be adapted will come in handy. From time to time, I find some gadget which is used in some other industry unrelated to electronics that […]

Transmitter maintenance has changed in recent years as the transmitters themselves become more and more compact, including the use of FET power amplifiers.  Of course, when trouble happens, it may take a bit more work than replacing a tube! Not too long ago, I was caring for an ETG 3500,  a 3.5 kW […]

Remote site management systems are designed to reduce maintenance personnel’s workload and ensure operational efficiency. However, if not properly set up or versatile enough, they can actually increase workloads by generating an abundance of false, or nuisance alarms. By analyzing what is happening, unnecessary alarms can be reduced or eliminated. Remote site monitoring […]

The modulation depth of an AM station is more than a measurement of loudness. As has been known for many years, overmodulation in the negative direction results in “splatter” up and down the dial. And excessive asymmetry introduces audio distortion. Hence it is important to know what your station is doing. Alan Alsobrook […]

Troubleshooting is the engineer’s basic function. Eventually, given enough time, almost everything will break down. Then the “fun” begins. We have all troubleshot computers that provide less-than-useful error messages or that display problems which seem at first to be a condition contrary to fact. Here is one I just finished and thankfully it […]

One mark of a good engineer is to know when to pull out your hands and call for help. Whom you call can be very important in solving problems. A customer of mine is a well-read veteran of not only The Nam but 30 years of high power AM broadcasting. I am proud […]