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Used Transmitters

T

thebroker

Hey guys...

I'm on the hunt for two gently used solid state transmitters, and I'm not having much luck finding what I'm looking for. I need two 1kW units, one on 1230 and the other on 1490. I prefer Nautel, but those are VERY hard to find.

Anybody have any suggestions?


Also, if anybody knows a good compotent old-school engineer in Southeast Kentucky or Eastern Tennessee who knows AM like Anna Nicole knows gold-digging, I'd sincerely appreciate being connected.


Thanks so much!


-thebroker
 
> There was a 1kw Harris MW-5 on Ebay the other day...may
> still be there. Other than that, that's a hard box to find
> used. Excellent AM Engineer in Tennessee:
> www.amgroundsystems.com
> The guys name is Kevin Kidd. Tell him RF Specialties of GA
> sent you.
>
> -Chris Hall
> www.reelaudio.net
> www.rfspec.com
>

1kw MW-5? I've heard of 1kw MW-1's and 5kw MW-5's before...

I wonder if it's an MW-5 with a bunch of blown modules?

Just having fun with you!

;)<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Arrrgghhh...of course I meant MW-1. Had MW-5's on the
> brain...just had one take a dive on me. Thanks for the
> correction.
>
> -Chris Hall
> www.reelaudio.net
> www.rfspec.com
>

No worries...I didn't do that to correct you, I was just having some fun. I often botch up the models of transmitters that I have, sometimes even when I'm standing right in front of them! :)

Sorry to hear about the MW-5. Fortunately they are generally pretty simple to fix!

By the way, I liked the pictures on your site. You've done some very nice installs!

<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> 1kw MW-5? I've heard of 1kw MW-1's and 5kw MW-5's before...
>
>
> I wonder if it's an MW-5 with a bunch of blown modules?
>
> Just having fun with you!
>
> ;)

AND the MW-5 is not solid state. The MW-1 is and it's not one I'd even consider getting. Not even a Gates SX series or the Gates 1 or 5 series. NOT!

Powell
<P ID="signature">______________
NNNN</P>
 
> Sorry to hear about the MW-5. Fortunately they are
> generally pretty simple to fix!


If you can get parts. Even support for the MW-1 is going away and the transistors in the modules are obsolete. And if the MW-1 is not JUST PERFECT it won't pass NRSC at all.


Powell<P ID="signature">______________
NNNN</P>
 
and another thing

The SX series and Gates 1 and 5 series are supposedly will run IBOC. Well the Gates 1 and 5 will, but they aren't legal when they do. They end up with way to much bandwidth even for IBOC. In other IBOCspeak, their RF doesn't fit in the mask.

Powell<P ID="signature">______________
NNNN</P>
 
I'll give Mr. Kidd a jingle first of the week. As far as the Harris goes, I'm looking for something a little newer. Preferably something made in my lifetime! (I jest!)

I'm willing to spend as much as $7,000 each for the transmitters, so that should buy me some nice units, right? Or am I out of the ballpark?.

Also, I ended up inheriting five transmitters with the deal. Two CCA 1kW AMs which are on the air now, an old Gates 1kW which is still operable, and a CCA 10kW FM transmitter, also operational. Plus, the brand-new EnergyOnix FM TX in use as well. I'll be looking to get rid of (preferably SELL) everything except the new EnergyOnix. Anybody have any suggestions?
 
> I'm willing to spend as much as $7,000 each for the
> transmitters, so that should buy me some nice units, right?
> Or am I out of the ballpark?.
>
The Armstrong 1 kw is around 9 something, while the BE is maybe a little above ten K, perhaps. For that matter, it's been reported that a Nautel is availabe at $13 K. Usually, if you can get management to finance and give the distributor a check, they will knock 10% off list.

A little above your budget, but then that buys you a brand new box WITH warranty and factory support. That's the cost of a brand new compact, and it will last considerably longer.

It's very difficult to find a good, used transmitter that is only a few years old. Most station will hold onto transmitters until the third transmitter is bought. That is, transmitter one is replaced by transmitter 2, with old #1 becoming the back-up. Then transmitter #3 is bought, and it is transmitter #1 that goes out the door.

Hence most used transmitters are at least 15 or 20 years old. Still young for well-designed equipment. Time for a decent burial for other models. But you can anticipate spending dollars and hours on going through that old transmitter replacing leaky capacitors, burnishing dirty contactors, and cleaning out years of mouse houses and neglect.

Any thing newer is likely to be a repo, or something an insurance company is wholesaling off after a fire. (I know where a fire damaged Optimod 8100 is now happily singing along at an LPFM. But I had to complely rebuild it. When I got it, the front panel VU meter was melted, and the "Japaning" etched off the case by the fire suppressant. But Bob Orban builds good equipment.)

Get some quotes and do a cost-benefit analysis. You may well be ahead buying new.
 
Luckily, in this case, I AM management, owner, and chief bottle-washer too. I plan to write a check and buy two, so I could have some great bargaining power if I wanted to buy new. After a lot of looking, I may well have to bite the bullet and buy new. I don't want to though.

Well, I'm back to the paint bucket. Gotta get rid of this eighties-esque teal all over the stations! Then, I have to tear down the seagrass soundproofing on the walls.
 
All the more reason to look at two new transmitters, since you won't be able to concentrate on babying an older box. Another factor to consider is even if you find a good used transmitter you'll have to arrange to get it to your site.

Adter we sold our AM station the new owner purchased a new BE 1 kw. It arrived in two boxes by UPS.

We found a good Harris 2.5K FM looking at the ads in radio classified (at Broadcast.net.), but it still cost us about $400 to get it back to the station. And we were lucky in that the transmitter was only about 350 miles aways, so we could drive out and looad up the transmitter into our station van. Arranging for commercial shipping would have cost us well over a grand.
 
Well...

It looks like my current transmitters made the decision for me. One of them bit the dust yesterday morning, slightly sooner than I had hoped. Rather than search and scratch for good used ones, then get them re-tuned, I'm just going to order two new BEs.
 
Good decision

> It looks like my current transmitters made the decision for
> me. One of them bit the dust yesterday morning, slightly
> sooner than I had hoped. Rather than search and scratch for
> good used ones, then get them re-tuned, I'm just going to
> order two new BEs.

That is a good decision.


Powell
<P ID="signature">______________
NNNN</P>
 
Re: Good decision

I'm glad you think so. That's reassuring.

Honestly, BE seems to be the most economical option for new transmitters. I personally LOVE Nautels, but they just don't make financial sense for me. All my friends who run BEs have great results...they are reliable and they sound good.

So am I the only nut that makes it a point to go to the TX site at least once a week to talk to the transmitter? I've often wondered if anybody else does this. Call me crazy, but they just seem to work better when you give them a little love.
 
Re: Good decision

> Honestly, BE seems to be the most economical option for new
> transmitters. I personally LOVE Nautels, but they just don't
> make financial sense for me. All my friends who run BEs have
> great results...they are reliable and they sound good.

I'll be interested to hear from folks who put the new BE 50-kW
into service. The physical construction is certainly unique.

I love "my" Nautel ND-25 which is approaching 10-years of zero
downtime service. The location is extremely remote and there's
serious trouble getting assistance through no fault of any
manufacturer. The guys "across the street" went with another
brand (NOT BE) famed for low price. They saved about 15-grand
and have paid out far more than that over about 6-years in
parts and contract services and that doesn't consider the cost
of downtime lost revenue. On the other hand, I'm less impressed
with the less-than-one-year-old Nautel 1-kW FM.

> So am I the only nut that makes it a point to go to the TX
> site at least once a week to talk to the transmitter? I've
> often wondered if anybody else does this. Call me crazy, but
> they just seem to work better when you give them a little
> love.

Now that I'm retired the ND-25 gets a visit perhaps once a month.
I used to visit it daily, most weeks 6 days. It paid off; keeping
the building spotless took about 10-minutes a day. The big
advantage is that when you visit that often you get so your brain
"learns" the normal pattern of indicator lights; the normal
smell of the room and the normal noises. I still visit the site
about 4-times a year personally and can tell within about 5-seconds
of walking through the door (without turning on the lights) whether
there are any incipient problems.

Care for your transmitter and it'll show you how much it appreciates
you.<P ID="signature">______________
Misanthropy:

The only religion that truly comes from within!</P>
 
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