Do any of you know where I could rent a ikw AM transmitter for a week or so? We are rebuilding all our doghouses and a 1kw backup would be perfect. That is why I've been trying to resurrect my BC-1H. (I'd still like to get it working)
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Rental transmitter
- Thread starter HadYourPhil
- Start date
That seems unlikely, as the unit would have to be re-tuned to your frequency. I'd think that buying a unit and then having it permanently makes more sense.
I was not thinking of a "new" transmitter. Obviously, to rent on for a few weeks would involve a deposit in the amount of the value of the transmitter plus prepaid shipping both ways or an irrevocable letter of credit or something similar.
I don't believe the Nautel J1000 is frequency agile. What you want, but it's not made anymore, is an Armstrong X1000.
I'm not going to name names, but a consulting engineer of my acquaintance got a Greek-made solid state AM rig called a "Hercules." Retuning it is a little clunky but doable, and it makes 1000 watts of output power in a small package.
Is it FCC type-approved? (Changes the topic quickly) But has it been pressed into service for emergency use and during projects like yours? Um... I wouldn't know.
I'm not going to name names, but a consulting engineer of my acquaintance got a Greek-made solid state AM rig called a "Hercules." Retuning it is a little clunky but doable, and it makes 1000 watts of output power in a small package.
Is it FCC type-approved? (Changes the topic quickly) But has it been pressed into service for emergency use and during projects like yours? Um... I wouldn't know.
I do believe that J1000s are frequency agile, Scott.
I don't recall whether frequency agility on them is an out-of-the-box thing for standard models, but if it's not, I know that Nautel will ship them configured that way if desired.
That would probably be a pretty good option for you, Phil. I don't know whether Nautel would rent one out or not, though.
You can set the frequency from the J1000 front panel if I recall correctly (I'll have to go look at ours), but I'm pretty sure the output network would have to be retuned at best, or at worst components would have to be changed. Not always easy to do that in the field.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but Nautel's website says:
"The transmitter features a simple bandpass RF filter network with ferrite-tuned inductors and a frequency synthesizer with dialup frequency selection, allowing quick tuning to a new carrier frequency. With its compact size and ease of frequency change, the J1000 is an ideal solution for a mobile back up transmitter."
And under the features section:
"Simple Frequency Change - An optional field kit can be added to the J1000 to facilitate simple frequency change between 531 kHz and 1610 kHz. This features makes the J1000 ideal for multi-station backup."
So is this misleading in that even though you can change the carrier frequency easily, there's a bunch of other more complex things you need to do to actually change the frequency in the real world?
"The transmitter features a simple bandpass RF filter network with ferrite-tuned inductors and a frequency synthesizer with dialup frequency selection, allowing quick tuning to a new carrier frequency. With its compact size and ease of frequency change, the J1000 is an ideal solution for a mobile back up transmitter."
And under the features section:
"Simple Frequency Change - An optional field kit can be added to the J1000 to facilitate simple frequency change between 531 kHz and 1610 kHz. This features makes the J1000 ideal for multi-station backup."
So is this misleading in that even though you can change the carrier frequency easily, there's a bunch of other more complex things you need to do to actually change the frequency in the real world?
This company has an FCC compliant, frequency-agile 100-watt AM transmitter, and they say higher wattages may be available:
And with AM transmitters not being a "hot item" at those companies that still make them, I suspect they generally build to order rather than having a bunch in "the warehouse" ready to ship.
980
Had a dark Am with a CCA 1kw box, 5 min after I got it on the air it melted the filament transformer and other parts, think the Plate transformer melted too but its now scrap metal, anyways, a Hercules was brought in until a J1000 arrived. its a fairly simple rig, small footprint and will supposedly make 1kw off 120v AC...it was on the air for about a week then it got hit by lightning and the PA board was all sorts of blown up. I replaced the blown FETS (similar FETS that are in the Gates ONE) plus a few obliterated caps and resistors but the voltage regulators were fried too and I couldn't quickly find spares. They had a J1000 ordered so they just waited.. Its basically a DDS exciter, a 1kw pallet amplifier plus low pass filters dependent on frequency specification. I've heard they will do 150%+ modulation when pushed. Reminds me of the solid state legal limit amps for Ham radio use. Also not sure if type certified but in a pinch to get on the air, it would probably work, just cannot be permanent.
May want to give a call or email to Mike Patton, he may have something available.
Has anyone ever used the Eletec stuff? I am not sure if it has FCC approval but they claim to have a 1kw frequency adigle transmitter that will work on 110 or 220.
I saw one of the Armstrong units complete with metal shipping case on eBay (?) last year. I was thinking about buying it and start a rental business but then I realized a lot of the potential customers most likely couldn't afford the rental. There really isn't "titles" for equipment so repo would be difficult. If they can afford a "replacement deposit" they can finance a new transmitter.
I saw one of the Armstrong units complete with metal shipping case on eBay (?) last year. I was thinking about buying it and start a rental business but then I realized a lot of the potential customers most likely couldn't afford the rental. There really isn't "titles" for equipment so repo would be difficult. If they can afford a "replacement deposit" they can finance a new transmitter.
RE: J1000....if by "frequency agile" you mean dialing in a new frequency and hitting "RF ON", then no. If you mean dialing in a new frequency then getting the factory to walk you through a several hour procedure that may include parts swaps, then yes. That's according to the boys at Nautel. I had to look into this for a client with two stations, one with main and backup J1000s, and the other with no backup TX. We thought of using the backup J1000 for both stations. Turns out it's possible, but not really practical. Of course if you're off the air the impractical becomes practical real fast.
Huh, very interesting. That's not at all the impression I got from Nautel. Shame on them for the way they're advertising that feature on their website. It might be an easier swap than some transmitters but it still does not sound like it's as easy as they make it seem. Nautel actually suggests keeping a J1000 around as a frequency-agile backup for a group with multiple AMs.