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Rack-mount back-up transmitters

D

dtube1

Hi all. I need a single-box, back-up-to-the-back-up transmitter to stuff in a rack at a transmitter site. I'm looking around 500-700w and would like to spend less than $8k. I'm looking at the QEI's as I have some experience with them. All suggestions and experiences welcome as I've never worked with/on any of the current generation low-power transmitters. This unit would be on-air infrequently. Thanks.
-D
 
There's a lot of options out there these days for solid-state smaller rigs. I personally have a Nicom amp and a little RVR(same as Bext) exciter in a portable case, just in case we loose a main on one of our stations or one of my contract stations. It's only 300 watts but seems to work great as a backup to 5kw (which is supprising to me). I think Nicom is OK except for their exciter sections, from what I hear. Of the non-American pallet companies, I'd say Bext would be the better option. Ptek would be a prety good economical US made company. A friend has a old 500 watt unit that has worked great for him. They still have real support.
 
Ohhh... If you want the best of course in low power and can afford it, get a Crown. I have several of their translators and have had NO problem with them. I have used tech support a couple times to ask questions about the units, but not due to failure. If you buy a Crown you'll have something great.
 
In Philly BE had a single unit rack-mount kilowatt (exciter built in!) for $6,500.

Sounds like a deal to me!
 
Crown makes good stuff. Nautel is a great source. Stay away from PTEK. I'm dealing with them now and a client that bought a station with four of their 500 watt amps combined to make a 2k transmitter. Anytime there was a problem, they insist on us sending them back to California for repair. We just learned that the combiner we were using is not supported anymore. So we now have four 500 watt amps that are worthless to us.
 
dtube1 said:
Hi all. I need a single-box, back-up-to-the-back-up transmitter to stuff in a rack at a transmitter site. I'm looking around 500-700w and would like to spend less than $8k. I'm looking at the QEI's as I have some experience with them. All suggestions and experiences welcome as I've never worked with/on any of the current generation low-power transmitters. This unit would be on-air infrequently. Thanks.
-D
Click to expand...

Hi

Take a look at,

http://fm-transmitter.com/tx600

Available from SCMS, street pricing is typically $3500.

Regards
Scott
 
Keep this in mind when comparing BW to Crown: Crown is a American company that can be reached with a real support guy. I think they warrantee their finals. I have heard from BW people themselves they do not always warrantee out their finals. It might be a protection move on their part to keep from having to fix abused transmitters, however, it would make me a bit scared to buy their more powerful stuff. It would be my luck I'd have to argue and loose even if I was careful and did all the right things. I don't know about BWs fold-back for SWR but the Crowns will drop right down if your antenna system has an issue like ice and come right back up to full power when all things are right again. They are truely a joy to use.
 
Let's clear some of the points up.

Our support guys are the designers and you can speak to them in US business hours toll free. Not convinced, +1 888 233-1663. Our producst are sold and supported by US distributors who can drop ship replacement products within 24 hours in the unlikely event of a problem we can't solve over the phone.

Our PA's have temperature and vswr foldback just like the crown and the transistors are virtually indestructible. The exclusion on pa transistors is to cover lightning strikes and discharge. Not convinced? i'll upload a youtube video of our engineers abusing a transmitters RF output with a screwdriver. A user won't be able to damage it through abuse. Fallen powerlines and angry gods may have a chance.

Crown are well built units but don't expect transparent audio. Other users on this board will verify the performance of our modulators.

Let's not talk about the price difference.

You can download the manual at fm-transmitter.com for more information.

Regards
 
We recently purchased two transmitters from BW and a STL transmitter/receiver set. Due to local regulations BW had to custom modify the STL transmitter/receiver. They were not happy about the performance on the testbench and did not send us the unit until they were 200% happy we got the best. And we did! We got a STL set that is much more expensive than we paid for, just because BW wanted us to have the right stuff. A lot of e-mail went back and forth between their staff and our engineer to make sure everything is as it should be, pre-configured. After that they offered us a RDS unit at a good price because it had scratches on the outside of the unit. Who cares so we got a great deal on that too. We're a small local station that won't bring them big orders in the near future and they know that but that didn't kept them from offering us the best price.
Regarding the build quality. We have them on-air for just 6 months or so, can't say anything on such short time of operation. But one of the transmitters is high up in a church tower subjected to the elements of nature. The previous transmitter lasted more than 10 years. We'll see what this one will do.

Nothing but good words about their sales, support and general attitude towards customers.
 
The F Mister said:
We recently purchased two transmitters from BW and a STL transmitter/receiver set. Due to local regulations BW had to custom modify the STL transmitter/receiver. They were not happy about the performance on the testbench and did not send us the unit until they were 200% happy we got the best. And we did! We got a STL set that is much more expensive than we paid for, just because BW wanted us to have the right stuff. A lot of e-mail went back and forth between their staff and our engineer to make sure everything is as it should be, pre-configured. After that they offered us a RDS unit at a good price because it had scratches on the outside of the unit. Who cares so we got a great deal on that too. We're a small local station that won't bring them big orders in the near future and they know that but that didn't kept them from offering us the best price.
Regarding the build quality. We have them on-air for just 6 months or so, can't say anything on such short time of operation. But one of the transmitters is high up in a church tower subjected to the elements of nature. The previous transmitter lasted more than 10 years. We'll see what this one will do.

Nothing but good words about their sales, support and general attitude towards customers.
Click to expand...
What country does the BW STL not meet local regulation standards in?
 
What country does the BW STL not meet local regulation standards in?
[/quote]

If memory serves me correctly this wasn't a BW broadcast product (the STL), but an italian STL system sold through the distributor broadcast warehouse.
I could get into performance issues of certain Italian brands but that would be off topic and something for another day.
 
@BobOnTheJob: To clarify. The STL band we use is licensed for only 50mw! But with a line of sight from the studio to the transmitter works perfectly well. But try to find a STL transmitter that can be limited to 50mw out of the box. So some custom things had to be done. The reason I brought it up was the perfect support that was given on the whole process of getting us what we needed. They even send the stuff in multiple shipments (with no extra costs to us) so we could get our hands on the BW FM transmitters first and not have to wait for the Suono STL stuff to be modified and send from Italy to the UK and then to the Netherlands.

@Scott: Yes, the STL is from Suono.
 
The F Mister said:
@BobOnTheJob: To clarify. The STL band we use is licensed for only 50mw! But with a line of sight from the studio to the transmitter works perfectly well. But try to find a STL transmitter that can be limited to 50mw out of the box. So some custom things had to be done. The reason I brought it up was the perfect support that was given on the whole process of getting us what we needed. They even send the stuff in multiple shipments (with no extra costs to us) so we could get our hands on the BW FM transmitters first and not have to wait for the Suono STL stuff to be modified and send from Italy to the UK and then to the Netherlands.

@Scott: Yes, the STL is from Suono.
Click to expand...
Thanks...I feel better. I do have a 1 watt BW FM exciter that I play with in house & it's a gem. The low frequency response is nothing shy of amazing.
 
I've had very good luck with BW products. Scott, who posted previously, is one of the reasons. He and his company have always been there when I needed them. They are located very close to Gatwick Airport and have an excellent relationship with FedEx. It has not been unheard of to email them with a problem late in the afternoon, Central Time, and have the FedEx guy deliver a solution to the station's front door the next morning. I'm not sure how you could improve that.
 
dspxscott said:
I believe this is made by RVR in Italy.
Click to expand...

It certainly looks like a RVR "Blues 30" with a nifty paint job. Bext also sells their own version of the Blues 30 with a different cosmetic look. There may (or may not) be significant other internal differences. I can tell you that the RVR version works well and sounds good.
 
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