This year, even though prices are relatively low, we have seen a rash of copper thefts – even electrocutions – as thieves try to make quick bucks (although not many of them) by mining broadcast ground systems and coax cables. About ten years ago, Jay White described his experience in trying to protect […]

This month saw several deaths of folks working on towers. Perhaps the warming Spring weather and the continuing pressures of the RePack, combined with stressed tower crews and broadcast engineers, are key factors behind injuries and deaths. Regardless, giving more attention to personal safety is always good, whether on a tower or in […]

A fair amount of what broadcasters do is determined by the weather. Especially on mountain sites, weather may either allow or prohibit access to the site. Having a private forecast for your site can be very handy. What is the weather forecast at my transmitter site? Have you ever asked that question, particularly […]

Every construction project has its own set of needs – and some unusual aspects – necessary to get the job done. Selecting the right equipment for the job takes more care than just looking for the cheapest prices. Several years ago we had a major build-out of a number of FM translators that […]

With copper theft continuing to cause major problems at stations, security is always an issue, especially at unmanned sites – and doubly so when the area is known to have problems. As Michael Golchert explains, there are some solutions available that can make a site nearly trouble-free. When the word came down that […]

A clean transmitter room brings lots of benefits, including longer times between problems. However, there are two dangers to a clean transmitter – dust and unwanted animal visitors. As the seasons change, more visitors seek the available warmth. Gary Peterson offers some timely suggestions. You can probably guess that I hate cleaning transmitters. […]

Updating systems at a transmitter site requires more than just trucking in a new transmitter and “plugging it in.” Attention needs to be paid to making sure the whole RF system is matched properly and ready to run reliably without constant attention. Jack Roland recently upgraded a couple of sites in Denver, and […]

A few years back, we discussed a major problem for Broadcasters: cellular sites locating close to an FM station, then making claims of interference, even making demands at the FCC. We continue to learn more on this topic. As we have previously noted, some cellular companies are installing super-hot receivers ever closer to […]

This article originally appeared in 2013 when the cell companies began pressing broadcasters hard over what they termed as “interference.” With cell companies still trying to hold FM stations to as little as -138 dBc when they set up LTE sites next door, this seems like a good time to bring the topic […]

We are headed into Summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. Each day, more air conditioners are starting their yearly activity. Of, course, each year, power costs seem to raise a little more. That makes it a good time to offer some ways to analyze an important part of most stations’ budget load. A […]