E
Ed B
Guest
Ron did you pull the plug on the analog Transmitter ?
Or did the visual Klystron die ?
Or did the visual Klystron die ?
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Before the anorak's around here begin to speculate wildly about what happened, yes, the analog died and there are no plans to resurrect it. I ask that Scott Fybush (and others) not report on it until the STA appears or the license shows as abandoned on the FCC website
At 3:11am on July 4, 2008, a lightning hit took out both the bias supply and the high impedance collector to bias shunt resistor, that prevents the tube from going full on when the bias supply dies. Guess what happens when this resistor is open and the bias supply dies.... This melted the drift tubes in the klystron and now it can only make 5% power and is massively detuned, after Bob from WPXQ and I worked on it most of the weekend. (WHPX has the twin brother of WSAH).
Since WSAH is the oldest transmitter in the group and a replacement tube would be on the order of 20-30K, it was decided later that week to abandon analog altogether. In the week or two of being off, the aural pump has bound up and the collector gasket is beginning to leak glycol. It will take days to warm the aural back up to full power.
This is what was filed before the Commission, it has yet to appear on the website...
and a bit later...
At 3:11am on July 4, 2008, a lightning hit took out both the bias supply and the high impedance collector to bias shunt resistor, that prevents the tube from going full on when the bias supply dies. Guess what happens when this resistor is open and the bias supply dies.... This melted the drift tubes in the klystron and now it can only make 5% power and is massively detuned, after Bob from WPXQ and I worked on it most of the weekend. (WHPX has the twin brother of WSAH).
Since WSAH is the oldest transmitter in the group and a replacement tube would be on the order of 20-30K, it was decided later that week to abandon analog altogether. In the week or two of being off, the aural pump has bound up and the collector gasket is beginning to leak glycol. It will take days to warm the aural back up to full power.
This is what was filed before the Commission, it has yet to appear on the website...
Code:
MTB BRIDGEPORT LICENSEE LLC, THE LICENSEE OF WSAH(TV), BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, HEREBY NOTIFIES THE
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION THAT WSAH(TV) IS UNABLE TO BROADCAST IN ANALOG AT THIS TIME DUE
TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND ITS CONTROL. ON JULY 4, 2008, WSAH(TV)'S ANALOG TRANSMITTER TUBE FAILED AS A
RESULT OF A LIGHTENING STRIKE.
DUE TO INADVERTENT ERROR, THIS NOTICE WAS NOT FILED WITHIN THE TEN DAY PERIOD SET FORTH IN SECTION
73.1740(A)(4), AND LEAVE TO FILE IT AT THIS TIME IS RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED.and a bit later...
Code:
MTB BRIDGEPORT LICENSEE LLC ('MTB BRIDGEPORT'), THE LICENSEE OF WSAH(TV), BRIDGEPORT,
CONNECTICUT ('WSAH'), ELECTRONICALLY FILED ON JULY 16, 2008 A NOTICE THAT WSAH(TV) WENT SILENT ON
JULY 4, 2008 DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND ITS CONTROL. SPECIFICALLY, ON THAT DATE WSAH(TV)'S
ANALOG TRANSMITTER TUBE FAILED AS A RESULT OF A LIGHTENING STRIKE. FOR THE REASONS SET FORTH
HEREIN, MTB BRIDGEPORT RESPECTFULLY REQUESTS AUTHORITY TO IMMEDIATELY TERMINATE ANALOG
SERVICE ON WSAH(TV).
MTB BRIDGEPORT HAS DETERMINED THAT THE FAILED TRANSMITTER TUBE CANNOT BE REPAIRED AND THAT
REPLACEMENT OF THAT TUBE, AT A COST OF BETWEEN $15,000 AND $30,000 (DEPENDING ON AVAILABILITY)
WOULD BE HIGHLY UNECONOMICAL IN LIGHT OF THE CESSATION OF ANALOG BROADCASTING IN ONLY
APPROXIMATELY SEVEN MONTHS. GRANT OF THIS REQUEST WOULD ADVANCE THE PUBLIC INTEREST BY
RELIEVING MTB BRIDGEPORT OF THE UNNECESSARY EXPENSE OF REPLACING THE WSAH(TV) TRANSMITTER
TUBE, AND BY PERMITTING MTB BRIDGEPORT TO DIRECT ITS FINANCIAL RESOURCES MORE APPROPRIATELY
TOWARD THE STATION'S LONG-TERM DIGITAL OPERATIONS.
MTB BRIDGEPORT NOTES THAT WSAH(TV) IS AN INDEPENDENT STATION, AND THAT CABLE SYSTEMS WILL
CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE STATION'S PROGRAMMING VIA FIBER AND THE STATIONS OVER-THE-AIR DIGITAL
SIGNAL.
MTB BRIDGEPORT IS IN THE PROCESS OF IMPLEMENTING THE ON-AIR VIEWER NOTIFICATIONS OF WSAH(TV)'S
REQUEST FOR TERMINATION OF ANALOG SERVICE, AND WILL COMMENCE THE BROADCAST OF THOSE
NOTIFICATIONS ON WSAH-DT BY NO LATER THAN JULY 21, 2008.
A little (no, make that big) birdy told me not too long ago that one of the Big 4 network stations in Hartford either has plans or once had plans to cease analog broadcasting some time next month. I did say I wouldn't tell, but I'm just not going to say who and I'm sure it's so close now (less than a month?) that it won't matter.
It depends on your DC Atty. Alot of legal filings are all cap'd. I've seen them 50/50 both ways
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