All you folks in engineering I hope you get through this bad weather. Man I'm glad not to be on call.
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Good luck my brothers and sisters
- Thread starter RadeoEngineer
- Start date
600kogo said:
Go read what happens when "Most neighborhoods around Houston have picked up 3 to 5 inches of rain over the last three days,"
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7534866
Parts of coastal San Diego County had almost seven inches in less than a week, including 2-3 inches overnight. Even though I've known engineers who thought they were gods, even they could not control all of the impacts of that much water in such a short time.
Remember, engineers only walk on water, they don't control it.
600kogo said:
I disagree Scott. That amount of rain here is not normal. Even an inch of rain in San Diego in a short time is not normal.
I lived in Houston for a year -- and while that does not make me an expert on the wx conditions, I did go through two tropical depressions that dropped in excess of fifteen inches of rain in 24-hours. KTRH stayed on the air because the station's engineers deemed that the norm. It happens.
In San Diego when the skies opened up, all the U.S. stations remained on. Even Lake KECR did not interfere with 1170 KCBQ and KECR AM.
I never said the amount of rain was not normal, but what I am saying is that if a station has a decent generator then there is no good reason that a station should pop off the air when it is only rain, and a mere 7 inches of it. What knocks stations off in Texas is lightning. Or power failure, and that is only if the station has no generator.
The only reason that a station in a market as large as San Diego should be knocked off the air is due to a faulty generator, especially since lightning is non-existent (for the most part).
Any other reason would be poor engineering, or cheap owners that wont spend money!
The only reason that a station in a market as large as San Diego should be knocked off the air is due to a faulty generator, especially since lightning is non-existent (for the most part).
Any other reason would be poor engineering, or cheap owners that wont spend money!
600kogo said:
First time you cleared that with "generator". From a business stance, the only required stations to have generators are the KOGO and KLSD. SDGE, the electric utility company, did a fine job of keeping the lights on.
I can think of one thing that no owner can prep for: a major earthquake centered in San Diego County.
We are splitting happy hairs here; What the norm is in Houston is not the norm here and likewise. When was the last time Houston had an earthquake? A 4 shaker there would cause significantly more damage there than in San Diego.
Scott, when you coming back to San Diego?
http://www.emergencyalertsystem.org/eas-qa.html is a good link with examples and requirements for San Diego EAS.
Here are the specifics about San Diego:
<http://www.calema.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/ClientOESFileLibrary/Emergency_Alert_System/$file/04-San%20Diego%20Comp-Public.pdf>
Put the entire link in the URL between the < and >
Here are the specifics about San Diego:
<http://www.calema.ca.gov/WebPage/oeswebsite.nsf/ClientOESFileLibrary/Emergency_Alert_System/$file/04-San%20Diego%20Comp-Public.pdf>
Put the entire link in the URL between the < and >
Sorry, that's a somewhat common misconception in the Business. The government does NOT pay for generators for EAS P1 and P2 stations, and there is no requirement for emergency power for a station to be a P1 or P2. (Although it's certainly a good idea.) There used to be a program where some radio stations got military surplus generators and/or fuel tanks. Conelrad and later EBS stations got preference. In a few rare or critical cases the Gov. might pay for new equipment. KCBQ and the original system, since replaced, at the KOGO transmitter site are examples of that program. (And KOGO paid through the nose to clean up the fuel from that leaking Government system before Par bought the station.) There was also a program to EMP "harden" selected sites. The "bunker" studio at KCBQ was a legacy of that program. There may still be a program for what used to be called Primary Entry Point stations, but never having had to deal with that I don't know the current status.
CC paid a large amount of money for the generator and UPS at Granite Ridge Drive with no taxpayer financing. It was strictly a business decision and having all three, (at that time), EAS primary stations in the building played no part in it.
Question: Does anyone else see the logical disconnect of having all three, (now two), SD EAS Primary stations in one location?
CC paid a large amount of money for the generator and UPS at Granite Ridge Drive with no taxpayer financing. It was strictly a business decision and having all three, (at that time), EAS primary stations in the building played no part in it.
Question: Does anyone else see the logical disconnect of having all three, (now two), SD EAS Primary stations in one location?
The Feds also did not pay for the generators at Emerald Hills or 52nd street (KOGO and KGB transmitters). Although I am sure that Clear Channel would happily have taken the money from them! In fact Chris due to the ridiculous California clean air laws the CC generators can run no more than a certain amount of hours a month, and if they go over California gives them a hefty fine! So California cound not give a darn if KOGO or KLSD are on the air as long as those Diesel generators dont polute too much. Although most of the vehicles in Mexico don't even have exhaust pipes!
And there has never been an earthquake in San Diego that has knocked a station off of the air in San Diego yet anyway! If a quake hit that would knock a station off the air then the towers would be knocked off their bases. A quake that strong would leave San Diego in ruins, and there would not be many radios left to tune into whats left of KOGO or any other station!
And by the way there are NOW earthquakes in the midwest and south, and we have had some tremors in Texas! Ask any engineer what they would rather deal with an extremely rare rain storm in San Diego or a lightning, thunder, rain storm that could be a hurricane!
There is a reason it costs so much to live in San Diego.....The weather!!! Which means that engineering for radio is WAYYYY easier than it is in the midwest, south, and east!
Transmitter failures in San Diego are due to natural failures of components not weather related events.
And there has never been an earthquake in San Diego that has knocked a station off of the air in San Diego yet anyway! If a quake hit that would knock a station off the air then the towers would be knocked off their bases. A quake that strong would leave San Diego in ruins, and there would not be many radios left to tune into whats left of KOGO or any other station!
And by the way there are NOW earthquakes in the midwest and south, and we have had some tremors in Texas! Ask any engineer what they would rather deal with an extremely rare rain storm in San Diego or a lightning, thunder, rain storm that could be a hurricane!
There is a reason it costs so much to live in San Diego.....The weather!!! Which means that engineering for radio is WAYYYY easier than it is in the midwest, south, and east!
Transmitter failures in San Diego are due to natural failures of components not weather related events.
radiode said:
The generator program was for the transmitter site only; and probably a hold over from the EBS days.
760 KFMB would be a good choice for 1st or 2nd station in the market. Head scratcher why they have to monitor KFWB from la LA when primary stations KNX and KFI have city grade signals to most of the county.
600kogo said:
with stricter laws on the books thanks to the "air resource board" the future looks gloomy.
600kogo said:
Agreed, Scott.
600kogo said:
I grew up in southwest Kansas and studied the Madrid quake (St. Louis), the Oklahoma ones were felt where I lived (if conditions were right ....
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600kogo said:
I was at a major telco server farm from 1998 to 2004 and the constant MTBF rate was higher due to the fact you pointed out. Component failure.
Good post, Scott ... so when ya coming back?
Chris I will be back just as soon as I can get a job there that pays enough to afford to live there. As you may know Texas has no state income tax, and my creditors would like me to maintain my current rate of non-profit status. Plus my three dogs like that gourmet dog food!! I have spoiled KOGO, KyXy, and Beau now my wallet pays the price!
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