HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: skeezix on September 06, 2022, 0139 UTC
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https://swling.com/blog/2022/09/video-tour-of-am-stereo-station-kyet/
Dan, shango066 on You Tube give us a nice little tour of KYET on 1070 kHz in Golden Valley Arizona which transmits in AM Stereo (6K day, 1 watt night). Harris solid state transmitter.
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1450 WTHU in nearby Thurmont MD used to transmit in C-QUAM stereo, but that transmitter died and the new one is just mono.
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One would think that they would invest in a proper air conditioner --- LOL That sea container must get pretty hot.
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Awesome seeing Shango mentioned on here. By far one of my favorite youtubers and definitely recommend his channel.
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One would think that they would invest in a proper air conditioner --- LOL That sea container must get pretty hot.
The reason they have to run 1 Watt at night is to be able to cool off the container because of all the heat build up in the daytime. :D
On a serious note, I love the lack of ESD awareness. "Hi. I'm the Chief Engineer. Let me show all the cards in the C-QUAM generator as I put my hands all over them, touching the chips and the card-edge fingers, while I am ungrounded, did not touch a grounded metal body before handling them, while working in the dry Arizona air. I'm a real pro, I zap shit a lot, can't figure out why and it shows."
Those older chips in his C-QUAM generator have maybe (if he is lucky) 1 kV HBM survivablility, which means he has very little room to play with here and is tempting fate.
Don't @ me with your "but I do this sort of thing all the time, it's fine" horsehockey. No, I'm not bullshitting nor am I being overly cautious. One of the things I do for a living is worry about ESD survivability and I see a lot of customer damage issues from exactly this sort of scenario. I bet he's been handling cards like that for years - possibly even the cards in that C-QUAM generator - but he's not the model to emulate. End of story.
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I had the same sentiments with all those cards being pulled ... including the C-QUAM generator card not being re-seated properly. Don't get me started on working on the live transmitter. As a former broadcast engineer, I have performed transmitter maintenance in the past, one of which was 1 mega watt ERP. There is "hot swap" and then there is "hot swap". It's within limits. And then there is walking up to a "hot" tower.
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I had the same sentiments with all those cards being pulled ... including the C-QUAM generator card not being re-seated properly. Don't get me started on working on the live transmitter. As a former broadcast engineer, I have performed transmitter maintenance in the past, one of which was 1 mega watt ERP. There is "hot swap" and then there is "hot swap". It's within limits. And then there is walking up to a "hot" tower.
This line appears appropriate here as well: "I'm a real pro, I zap shit a lot, can't figure out why and it shows."
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Regardless, kudos must go out to the engineer for keeping the station on the air. He is knowledgeable.
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There isn't a lot of CMOS in those cards. Most of it was MC series stuff from the 80's, the rest being discrete TTL stuff.
+-RH
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My half brother is a project manager for the TVA. They use CCTV vids of guys like that engineer getting bit for that final time as, "What not to do.", lessons for the employees.
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The dutch LPAM station "Radio Tpot" is also broadcasting
on 918 KHz. in C-QUAM Stereo!
Check out some clips @ Youtube!
http://youtu.be/-uxvzzQaLJE (http://youtu.be/-uxvzzQaLJE)
http://youtu.be/iOeZLJZoNj0 (http://youtu.be/iOeZLJZoNj0)
http://youtu.be/7WHcEaCv1ns (http://youtu.be/7WHcEaCv1ns)
Check also
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ie8w4gttn8jij/%23_%23_-_CARVER (https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ie8w4gttn8jij/%23_%23_-_CARVER)
André
CoolAMRadio/OHR Radio
the Netherlands
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Chris, have you picked up this guy yet?
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Check also
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ie8w4gttn8jij/%23_%23_-_CARVER (https://www.mediafire.com/folder/ie8w4gttn8jij/%23_%23_-_CARVER)
André
CoolAMRadio/OHR Radio
the Netherlands
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One QSL letter every two to three years...wow! Thanks for sharing this video.
MP
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There isn't a lot of CMOS in those cards. Most of it was MC series stuff from the 80's, the rest being discrete TTL stuff.
+-RH
Which can all get zapped.
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Never seen one blown up from static or handling. Just saying...
+-RH