KSIQ- site progress

[Big 121]

Work was halted when rains came in 10 days ago. Slab and tower footing delayed. U/G tie-ins ready.
Rough guess for activation would be end of 2nd week of January.Relatively short coax run should make
tuning out the bays' reactances a rather minor task. Expect lower power operation for a short time for break-in.
I'm delaying my trek to Speedworld (AZ) drags 'til after KSIQ powers up. Will do some reception testing in Imperial
Valley using a few of my portables. A Walkman, CCraneSW, CCrane, and GE SuperRadio will be used. Not to mention
the car radio,w/rear window defroster antenna. How far east will KSIQ reach? Except for mountains/ridgelines etc., you can
calculate the distance to the horizon, given the height at which your antenna is. Used this for mountain repeater in-
stalls in the past. KSIQ height above sea level; approx 3100 feet. Square root of 3100'= 55.68. Multiply by 1.4=
77.9 miles to horizon..which is about inline with Holtville.
Downtown El Centro is 55 miles, but lower, and slightly shadowed by mountains. If any one of you will be out that
way, please share your reception results.
BIG121

 

[davideduardo]

.Relatively short coax run should make
tuning out the bays' reactances a rather minor task.

Please enlighten us on how reactances of "the bay's reactances" are tuned out.

 

[radioresearcher]

.Relatively short coax run should make
tuning out the bays' reactances a rather minor task.

Please enlighten us on how reactances of "the bay's reactances" are tuned out.

Looking at the map this still looks rimshot to me...

 

[davideduardo]

Looking at the map this still looks rimshot to me...

Even with the booster, it is essentially a "south of the 8" signal with really no chance of any further improvement.

I'm not sure what this can do; it's got about the SD coverage of one of the "Super A's" on the hill in Tijuana, and we know those have seldom gotten over a few tenths of a point.

My biggest question is what kind of format would uniquely serve this area and not be crushed by the bigger signals... and then the second quesiton is "who would buy this in today's environment?"

 

[radioresearcher]

Looking at the map this still looks rimshot to me...

Even with the booster, it is essentially a "south of the 8" signal with really no chance of any further improvement.

I'm not sure what this can do; it's got about the SD coverage of one of the "Super A's" on the hill in Tijuana, and we know those have seldom gotten over a few tenths of a point.

My biggest question is what kind of format would uniquely serve this area and not be crushed by the bigger signals... and then the second quesiton is "who would buy this in today's environment?"

All good points David. The money these folks spent to move in doesn't seem to make sense - especially when LF and CBS had stations on the block that no one wanted to buy that actually had cash flow.

If you had a full stick, it might be different - but really - who is the buyer.

 

[barman]

Please enlighten us on how reactances of "the bay's reactances" are tuned out.

Maybe I can help.

There are two forms of reactance, inductive reactance and capacitive reactance. They are at opposite (180-degree different) phases. For maximum operating efficiency the transmitter wants to see a pure resistive load in order to eliminate standing waves. A resistive load has a zero-degree phase angle, voltage relative to current, and is 90-degrees different from each of the two reactances to total to 90-degrees + 90-degrees = the 180-degrees difference previously mentioned. So the goal is to remove the reactances from what the transmitter “sees”, looking into the feedline. Because the reactances are oppositely phased, one can be used to offset the other. In other words, a capacitive reactance can be “tuned out” using an equal and opposite inductive reactance, and vice-versa. In a short coax, especially one less than ¼ wavelength, standing waves don’t develop as much, so it is easier to stub-match into the antenna by canceling the reactances (using one reactance to offset the other). Hope that helps!

 

[benloulen]

Cherry Creek is the buyer

 

[davideduardo]

Please enlighten us on how reactances of "the bay's reactances" are tuned out.

Maybe I can help.

There are two forms of reactance, inductive reactance and capacitive reactance. They are at opposite (180-degree different) phases. For maximum operating efficiency the transmitter wants to see a pure resistive load in order to eliminate standing waves. A resistive load has a zero-degree phase angle, voltage relative to current, and is 90-degrees different from each of the two reactances to total to 90-degrees + 90-degrees = the 180-degrees difference previously mentioned. So the goal is to remove the reactances from what the transmitter “sees”, looking into the feedline. Because the reactances are oppositely phased, one can be used to offset the other. In other words, a capacitive reactance can be “tuned out” using an equal and opposite inductive reactance, and vice-versa. In a short coax, especially one less than ¼ wavelength, standing waves don’t develop as much, so it is easier to stub-match into the antenna by canceling the reactances (using one reactance to offset the other). Hope that helps!

I'm sorry I did not put an emoticom in my post... I was spinning the gears of Big121.

Most factory made antennas are tested prior to shipment on a comparble mount (pole, different face width, corner or face mount, etc) prior to shipment and the system frequently does not need any tinkering with the antenna or the transmitter; I have seen more that needed no adjustment whatsoever than those that did.

I built quite a few FM antennas (and transmitters) and most of my adjustments consisted of finding the best mechanical beam tilt angle for the high sites (one about 1000 meters above the market and 4000 meters AMSL) than actual adjustments to reduce VSWR.

I'm going to save your explanation, though. It's an excellent and concise piece that can even be used to explain what the ATU does on an AM station (especially when issues of AM bandwidth come up). Thanks for posting it.

 

[SDRadio]

Cherry Creek is the buyer

Cherry Creek, based in Colorado, is the owner, therefore the seller. They have an offer for their AM station in Brawley as well.

Thanks for playing, Happy New Year.

 

[Big 121]

BARMAN understands... MOST antenna installs are accomplished without much fuss,
due to exceptional manufacturing stds./QC. But sometimes,slight damage to the feedline
(slightly flattened one side) which is hardly noticable, can cause undesired levels of re-
flected RF. Complications can be minimized - see this "recommended" characterization-
http://www.shively.com/tb-system_sweep.php
Also, in-line tuning units at the first bay can tweak and peak return loss. Very useful
as bays age/ Teflon deteriorates, heaters fry....
BIG121

 

[Big 121]

Saturday update-
Progress continues...Tower, bays, shack, AC line to shack. Still needed-SDG&E to connect; coax un-terminated,
phone line , proper fence, tower reg. # posting etc. Lotsa work left.
Antenna appears to be a Shively 6813 8-bay center fed,complete w/2 fine tuning transformers.
Bays are facing to the N. West (Brawley), while a hill directly to the S. West and about 200' higher is in the way.
Viewing it before, slightly before dark did not show the scope of its location. In full daylight and visibilty, the hills
and mountain obstacles present a real challenge...

 

[davideduardo]

Saturday update-
Progress continues...Tower, bays, shack, AC line to shack. Still needed-SDG&E to connect; coax un-terminated,
phone line , proper fence, tower reg. # posting etc. Lotsa work left.
Antenna appears to be a Shively 6813 8-bay center fed,complete w/2 fine tuning transformers.
Bays are facing to the N. West (Brawley), while a hill directly to the S. West and about 200' higher is in the way.
Viewing it before, slightly before dark did not show the scope of its location. In full daylight and visibilty, the hills
and mountain obstacles present a real challenge...

Why, in a rugged terrain situation, would anyone mount an 8 bay antenna? I'll hold my tongue on the Shively part of the equation.

 

[SDRadio]

Bays are facing to the N. West (Brawley)

You meant North East, didn't you? North West would point to Encinitas.

I traveled Imperial County on New Years Day, and heard KSIQ.

 

[Big 121]

Darn oxygen deprivation!! Yes Chris, I meant North EAST...
This site is unbelievable- 1/2 way up a (guess) 600' hill, and cut into the side of it.The tip of the array
is prob. only 500' from , and below, the boulder pocked obstruction. Based on this observation, the Santee
FM-1 booster , 700 watts, WILL be needed to fill in South Bay.
The right thing would have been to use the top of the hill as a site.But the sheer cost to cut a road, etc.,
ruled that out.
Will post as soon as I hear test carriers...

 

[SDRadio]

In case you missed it, in the Jan. 4, edition of http://SDRadio.net is a picture of the 8-bay antenna. I heard KSIQ on top of the 52 pass this morning -- obviously from Brawley.

 

[Garrett]

Original website is still up...

Hey, maybe they are broadcasting to the "First Church on the Left..." ;D

 

[musicman3355]

How's the station? Better than 9-3-3? I would like to hear it but they don't have a live stream.