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Nautel V1-D 12vDC Issue
So the transmitter in question this week was the V1-D by Nautel. The thing has been running great since the installation last month. This week, Monday, we time aligned the digital and analog, then matched the simulcasting station. A day later, the Nautel falls back on power and shows a 12v fault. Hmmmmm?
So we head to the site and check things out. We cannot get it to fail, so we let it be. We get back to the station it starts showing 12v faults again and then a foldback of power. I switch it to the backup and head up the next day.
I talk things over with tech support and we tear into the box. We measure the test points. We check connections. We drop the fans and look under and deeper in. We find nothing out of the ordinary. Next we put it all together and light it up in the dummy load. That surely will heat the room up and cause a fault if it is heat sensitive. One hour and no problem. I have to get back, so we button it up and put the box on the air. IT’S BEEN RUNNING FINE EVER SINCE!
I sent the logs to tech support. This morning I follow up and leave an email stating that things are running just fine now. I get a response that some customers have had the wiring on the fans chafe and begin to exhibit these same symptoms. Short wires from the controller board to the fans. I noticed ours was somewhat tight, so next time up for maintenance I will check on that. For now, it works great and I will not touch a box that is not having any issues.
If anyone has an issue with customer support at Nautel, I sure have not had one. They are really nice and as responsive, or more, than some others I know.
Weekly What Up?
As you know, last week was fun. The upcoming weeks should be fun too. As we proceed to dismantle the old remains of the tower we will see how things change, tuning-wise, on the new. I also get to take care of the details preparing for the filings. We are already hitting a road block with the FAA. All pre-filings were no issue, now they want verification of the actual height and ground level. I really do not think the ground level has changed since the surveying for the original FAA notification. Wacky!
I get to head into the NV20 installations, too. Whether we get to those this week or not depends on the last of the AM work. I still need to time-align the HD install from December. Tough to do when the monitors are at the studio and the transmitter is just out of range of getting an HD lock! I can get the data, though, which makes me wonder why I cannot get an audio lock. Oh well, it will get done.
I also received the new Aphex HeadPod. A headphone amp which is claimed to be high end. I look forward to trying it out. I have some ideas of how to use it pending I am able to spend any money!
PPM is in, so we will see how that works over the next couple of months. Arbitron has been slow in responding to my call sign change notification and my analog backup for an FM.
Have a great week!
new tower and hot
This week we completed the move of 1240 and 1040 to the new tower. The match is not too bad considering the oddball height of 445 feet.
I guess that is what happens when you get two parties not thinking.
I must say it was hard work and fun. Next we remove the remains of the old tower and do our final measurements. Then the stupid city gets their fencing (iron not chain link) and an easement that will separate the transmitter building and tower. Quite nuts on all fronts.
Till next time!
More:
Did I mention the fact that I must lower a whip antenna as it was not caught in the designs by a certain unnamed individual. Oh, and the skirt wires are located such that it is impossible for climbers to get up the tower without shutting down the AM stations. Oh, and the mount for the T.V. tenant needs to be moved. It’s placed within the skirt wires. Can you say arcing? I new you could! At least there is no antenna yet! I’m moving that mount to the 250 foot level.
Later!
What’s Happening
I’ve done a number of posts on the Nautel NV20. What else is going on? Well, we are rebuilding our AM tower that “broke” in half 4 years ago. It is now at 445 feet. We intend to move the diplexed AM stations to the new tower this coming Tuesday. Hopefully we will match well. We are using the existing ATUs for this move. Insurance would not pay for the complete replacement. Go figure.
As you know we install our PPM equipment. This is a completed project included our Internet streams. We are using the Roku Soundbridge for our monitoring source to the PPM monitor. It works well. I have also given each station a selection on the console to monitor this feed, too. Nice what I can do quickly with the SAS system.
One morning show talent has moved out of state, again. Still part of the show we create a studio for her. Our feed back to the station is using a Tieline iMixG3 using IP. We’ve done it before and will do it again. I make sure we are ready for Monday tomorrow.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year. I hope we make it fine during this slow economic times. I will have some comments on the FCC and their weak backbones and the liberals that will try to ruin the industry. I still have thoughts on how greed has attempted to ruin the industry, too. We’ll see how it all pans out!
NV20 Preliminary Installation
On 12/30, I finished the preliminary installation of 2 NV20s from Nautel. I plumbed the RF line into the switches and the electrician wired up the panels. One disconnect had to be upgraded to accommodate one of the new transmitters.
I successfully turned both on within 4 hours of each other without modulation. Both came up as expected and it is quite amazing what can be monitored and controlled via the front touch screen. As our IT guy said, we have two 20kW Linux computers!
Next is to finish the air chain and wire the audio into the systems. Nautel has a planned software upgrade for our boxes. This is to be expected as we have the first production runs installed in the real world. I am quite interested to see how they perform.
PPM Update
As posted before, we installed our PPM equipment from Arbitron. We had no issues with the verification process. We even verified our Internet streams. I’ve heard stories that verification was a pain. We let it rip and each air chain tested well. Now we will see how well the equipment holds up.
oh Where Oh Where are my Nautels?
I’m still waiting for my Nautel NV20s. Looks like no
Holidays for me. Bummer.
Hope you all have a good Holiday!
12/21: Looks like the transmitters are on the way. I should have them by 12/24. I’m looking forward to installing a new box.
When Deliveries Go Wrong
As twittered the other day, my Friday was not too good. I ordered a 20-foot piece of 3 1/8″ line for our HD projects. You know, a piece to cut up as needed. Well, the carrier used was UPS Freight. Here is what happened.
First, a week ago they tried to deliver to the studios. Not. I instructed the vendor to deliver to the transmitter site. Unattended, so I required a call in advance to meet the driver. Obviously this was not the case. Delivery refused.
Then came Friday. A fellow engineer calls saying UPS was trying to deliver something. Again, no call in advance, so my assitant and I run up there. When we arrive we see no truck which was not unexpected. It’s what we saw next that blew our minds. The delivery was made. The driver THREW the box over the fence!
Tech Notes from the Field 