It Seems That Every Time It Rains WXRV Goes Off The Air. I Live In Billerica And I'm Faintly Receiving Country 92.5 From Connecticut Same As Always When The River Signs Off.
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92.5 The River Off The Air Again
- Thread starter chrisradioanimal
- Start date
chrisradioanimal said:
Maybe there was an excessive VSWR reading perhaps due to bad antenna cable shielding allowing moisture in... or something else could always be intermittent...
They run on solar power so something could be messed up so it doesn't switch to electricity like its supposed to. Also there was a huge thunder storm in the area so that could also contributing to it. The internet stream is up and it seems like they don't even know there off.
If they are on STL, that could be it as well.
Or even T1, water could be getting in to a part of the line that isn't well protected.
Or even T1, water could be getting in to a part of the line that isn't well protected.
J
JoshuaC
Guest
chrisradioanimal said:
Not to distrust you, Chris, but I don't live in the area anymore an I'm interested... do they really use solar power or is this just a joke?
It Seems Like They Do And I Saw A Picture Somewhere Of The Solar Panels And Stuff Up At The Transmitter Site.
N
necrat123
Guest
I've never seen Solar panels up to the site in the few times I have been there (that is NOT saying there couldn't be, but I have never seen them). There is a 3phase power drop going into the building. There is no way a commercial class B FM station in the Boston market would rely only on solar power. If that was the case, the station would be off the air every night at sunset! Think about that... The issue is probably STL related, as there are two antennas up there. (If one failed an aux could be switched on.) I would suggest to get the answer, call WXRV directly and just ask.
You can see the pictures I have taken up there at WXRV @ necrat.us
You can see the pictures I have taken up there at WXRV @ necrat.us
By The Way Awesome Site. Also I Emailed Them Last Night And Have Yet To Get A Response
They are running solar at their Haverhill studios. Their transmitter site is not running off of solar. Here is an article from the Globe from 2007.
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/08/24/the_river_runs_green____and_its_not_alone/
http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2007/08/24/the_river_runs_green____and_its_not_alone/
LOVE the site NECRAT!!
J
JoshuaC
Guest
I can understand not wanting to use solar to power the transmitters, but it could be a convenient supplemental power supply to run certain non-mission-critical elements. I'm sure it could also be very useful at the studios.
Down here in ATL last year during the water and fuel shortages my Chief and I started conducting some "green" exercises - trying to think up of clever ways to decrease our use of energy off the grid and save a few bucks and run a bit more environmentally friendly. None of them really came to fruition, but it was an entertaining mental exercise. One of the thoughts we had was putting up some solar panels... thought it could be a really clever idea at the AM Site as we have a whole lot of empty field and a pretty large Xmtr building that was going to need roof work anyhow (figured we could put a few up there and power the AC off it). I was also toying with ideas of what I could use the heat off our reject load at the FM site for... the best idea we had was station cookouts! That thing can get hot!
Down here in ATL last year during the water and fuel shortages my Chief and I started conducting some "green" exercises - trying to think up of clever ways to decrease our use of energy off the grid and save a few bucks and run a bit more environmentally friendly. None of them really came to fruition, but it was an entertaining mental exercise. One of the thoughts we had was putting up some solar panels... thought it could be a really clever idea at the AM Site as we have a whole lot of empty field and a pretty large Xmtr building that was going to need roof work anyhow (figured we could put a few up there and power the AC off it). I was also toying with ideas of what I could use the heat off our reject load at the FM site for... the best idea we had was station cookouts! That thing can get hot!
B
beantownradio25
Guest
In their legal id, they say "solar powered radio" and "radio run by the sun".
beantownradio25 said:
As far as I know, WXRV's studios are (at least partially) solar powered. Their transmitter is not.
I know of a commercial AAA station in New Mexico, "KTAO Solar 101.9", which has a completely solar powered transmitter site on Picuris Peak outside of Taos. They get enough sun down there that their solar panels can also charge a huge bank of solar batteries that serve as backup for the few cloudy days that they occasionally get in that area. As far as I know, this system has been in operation for over a decade and has never failed due to lack of direct or reserve solar power. The transmitter puts out 1200 watts ERP, but the height of the peak (10837' above sea level, 2795' above avg. terrain) gives them a Class C1 (100,000 kW) equivalent signal covering hundreds of miles in northern New Mexico, south through Santa Fe to fringe in Albuquerque, and north up into southern Colorado. I don't really know, but I doubt that such a system could work within the weather patterns we get up here.
Obligatory Boston radio connection - KTAO GM Brad Hockmeyer is an Emerson/WERS alumnus from the '70s.
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