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Your worst engineering situation?

> > > I'll keep an eye out for you - I'm always looking for
> good
> >
> > > prices on parts - especially those pesky "Rectifier
> Fuses"
> >
> > > for the PA boards!
> >
> > I have 30+ of the newer 4A guys. I'll never run out again
>
> > :)
> >
> > Some ****** put 8A fuses in the old style boards. Almost
> > every FET was dead.
> >
> > > Also, it looks like I'll be getting an almost complete
> > SX-5
> > > shipped to me for parts. Woo Hoo!
> >
> > I have 4 old style PA boards I'll rebuild as soon as the
> > tooth fairy puts some of those $35 FETs under my pillow.
> > Other than that and the to-be-replaced wiper arm on the
> > loading/tuning coils, I have no spare parts.
> >
> > And still no backup xmtr :(
> >
>
> Best part of working for a big company...someone always has
> something sitting in storage!
>
> The backup to my SX-5 is an old RCA BCA-5R1. Still works
> beautifully!
>


SIGH, and you should see those glass tubes glow!!! <Green with envy!!>
 
I think I know what station that is :) Your worst engineering situation?)

Could it be one in the Montgomery market? I saw studios that looked earily similar to that one..... and even stioll, I tried to buy it.. ;)
 
> I enjoyed the thread regarding the oldest automation system.
> Yeah, I enjoy "War Stories".
>
> Overall, what is the worst engineering job or situation you
> have ever had? What made it so bad? What, if anything, did
> you learn from the experience.
>
> Just wonderin'. THANKS FOR CONTRIBUTING!
>
> PS - I just got to say - I am studying Electronics at a
> local Comm. College with a goal of obtaining SBE
> certification. I have wonderful instructors, but truth be
> told, I have learned almost as much reading this board. I
> almost feel like I should be sending someone a tuition
> check! Thanks to ALL OF YOU for your posts.
>


I once had a station whose studios were badly wired. One afternoon I clipped off a ground wire on a connector to a CD deck. The audio level "jumped" up at least double in that air studio, there was HORRIBLE crosstalk in another, and in yet another studio the left and right meters were alternately pegging. I put the ground wire back on and all the problems ceased. That night I returned and ripped every wire out of the air studio and wired things up properly. Every thing worked better, and sounded better too (imagine that). Had to do the same with the other studios, and the transmitter sites. At the time most of our music was still on carts (CD's were the new fangled thing). The audio quality difference between carted music and CD was suddenly prominent. The music director was forced to re-dub ALL the music.
 
> I enjoyed the thread regarding the oldest automation system.
> Yeah, I enjoy "War Stories".
>
> Overall, what is the worst engineering job or situation you
> have ever had? What made it so bad? What, if anything, did
> you learn from the experience.
>
> Just wonderin'. THANKS FOR CONTRIBUTING!
>
> PS - I just got to say - I am studying Electronics at a
> local Comm. College with a goal of obtaining SBE
> certification. I have wonderful instructors, but truth be
> told, I have learned almost as much reading this board. I
> almost feel like I should be sending someone a tuition
> check! Thanks to ALL OF YOU for your posts.
>
I have been doing contract work for nearly 30 years. I think the worst I can remember was an AM station that called me one day and said they were off the air. Now I was just getting into the bussiness back then and was really happy that someone almost a hundred miles away had heard of me and wanted my help.
When my assistant and myself got to the station we could not believe what we saw. Do any of you remember the Beverly Hill Billies tv show? Well the station was in a building that looked like the shack the hill billies use to live in.
After we got the courage to go in we found the transmitter sitting in the control room. Of course there were no books on any of the equipment but we soon found the problem and got them back on the air. Everything seemed to be working fair the best I could tell except as a record played all the lights in the shack (hundred watt bulbs in pull chain sockets hanging from the rafters) were flickering with the music. Everyone said that was normal it has always done that so we told them to get an electrician to check the wireing and proceeded to leave. While inside I noticed a 200 amp breaker panel on a wall but when we got outside I couldnt find where the electric service entered the building. There was a meter base and a pipe going up the side wall but only wires hanging out, no connection to anything. We had to go back in and check this out. We found the entire building with a 1kw AM transmitter, studio equipment, and two large window air conditioners connected into the 200 amp panel. This panel was being fed by a piece of #10 romex that ran to a meter on a light pole about 125 feet away. This wire was so hot you could not hold it. They did get the electric service connected properly after about 2 months. About 6 months later the place burned. They owed me money and had stopped calling me long before the fire.

Keep this thread going. I am really enjoying these stories.
 
Re: I think I know what station that is :) Your worst engineering situation?)

> Could it be one in the Montgomery market? I saw studios that
> looked earily similar to that one..... and even stioll, I
> tried to buy it.. ;)
>


LOL...The one Chris spoke of isn't in Montgomery..I know exactly which one he's referring to. You mean there's another one that looks this bad??!!

The sad thing is, it once had the overall best sounding AM signal in the market.
Back in the 80s I worked for this station. There was a full staff, including an engineer who came in at least once a week and kept that MW5A cleaned and maintained. This was before the Autogram, and the board then was an old
Gatesway 80. Because there was an engineer on staff, that old Gatesway
worked beautifully. The studio was, in may ways, a better set-up back then.

Now, Chris' description is pretty accurate, unfortunately. Only thing
he didn't mention was the guy wire that now cuts right through the top of that
dilapidated trailer in the front room.

The local manager there is a nice guy and used to own a different station in a different market, and his station was neat as a pin. His hands are pretty much tied in this situation. We are friends and colleagues, and I've gone over there a couple of times to help him out.

Funny thing is, when they had the burned feedline problem, they were off the air for some time and nobody really even noticed..

Years ago, I considered buying it, but even at that point it had been neglected,
there was no engineer coming in regularly and the price was too steep for a facility in that condition, considering some work needed to be done.

I did work with them on a new tower back in 2000. Boy, Chris, you shoulda seen the old one.. <P ID="signature">______________
Proudly remembering the days of the hometown "country giant" radio stations now at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
Re: I think I know what station that is :) Your worst engineering situation?)

> > Could it be one in the Montgomery market? I saw studios
> that
> > looked earily similar to that one..... and even stioll, I
> > tried to buy it.. ;)
> >
>
>
> LOL...The one Chris spoke of isn't in Montgomery..I know
> exactly which one he's referring to. You mean there's
> another one that looks this bad??!!
>
> The sad thing is, it once had the overall best sounding AM
> signal in the market.
> Back in the 80s I worked for this station. There was a full
> staff, including an engineer who came in at least once a
> week and kept that MW5A cleaned and maintained. This was
> before the Autogram, and the board then was an old
> Gatesway 80. Because there was an engineer on staff, that
> old Gatesway
> worked beautifully. The studio was, in may ways, a better
> set-up back then.
>
> Now, Chris' description is pretty accurate, unfortunately.
> Only thing
> he didn't mention was the guy wire that now cuts right
> through the top of that
> dilapidated trailer in the front room.
> If that's the same board I'm thinking of,it should have been retired or rebuilt back in 1993.It was a nice console until Jethro or somebody spilled coffee in it.I sold it to an urban formatted guy that was always looking for a deal.He passed away several years back.That board has been in Ga.,N.C.,and Fl.It has outlived several stations.
> The local manager there is a nice guy and used to own a
> different station in a different market, and his station was
> neat as a pin. His hands are pretty much tied in this
> situation. We are friends and colleagues, and I've gone over
> there a couple of times to help him out.
>
> Funny thing is, when they had the burned feedline problem,
> they were off the air for some time and nobody really even
> noticed..
>
> Years ago, I considered buying it, but even at that point it
> had been neglected,
> there was no engineer coming in regularly and the price was
> too steep for a facility in that condition, considering some
> work needed to be done.
>
> I did work with them on a new tower back in 2000. Boy,
> Chris, you shoulda seen the old one..
>
 
Re: I think I know what station that is :) Your worst engineering situation?)

> > >
> > If that's the same board I'm thinking of,it should have
> been retired or rebuilt back in 1993.It was a nice console
> until Jethro or somebody spilled coffee in it.I sold it to
> an urban formatted guy that was always looking for a deal.He
> passed away several years back.That board has been in
> Ga.,N.C.,and Fl.It has outlived several stations.
> >

I think it's a different board. This one was used by now-retired broadcaster Charlie Porretto. a local gentleman, starting back in the 60s with his country station.

Charlie's country station sold to a religious broadcaster based out of Spartanburg in late 1976, and the Gatesway went with that sale.

Don't think anything was spilled in this one. They just retired it. It's
gathering dust in storage now, last time I saw it.

The Gatesway remained on the air at this dilapidated station in discussion
until about 1994. The owner in 1994 (the same person that owns it now)
bought the Autogram at an NRB trade show sometime in 1993. The current owner bought the station from the Spartanburg folks in October 1985.

When the owner lived here, the station was kept in better shape. After the death of his wife, who suffered from a rather lengthy illness, he eventually remarried and moved away. That's when the disintegration started.

This station was never urban-formatted, but it did begin as a Top-40 in 1953.
> >
>
<P ID="signature">______________
Proudly remembering the days of the hometown "country giant" radio stations now at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
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