Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on transmitters.
The original post of this story included a photo of the XL 300, not the XL 3000. It has been fixed below.
ScarboroughRadio’s KFII(FM) is a start-up Class A station in Hugo, Colo., that came about via FCC Auction 109 in 2021.
It is a classic hits station that provides coverage of an area southeast of Denver, stretching from the Colorado Springs-Falcon area to Stratton along I-70.
At first owner Scott Scarborough used an older Armstrong tube transmitter but says he had issues including a plate voltage transformer failure. “The station stayed on, but it would frequently fail.”
He decided to buy a new transmitter and shopped for a year, looking for a model suitable for reliable operation in Colorado’s drastic weather swings.
That climate has proven a challenge. Scarborough said he has relied on retired engineer Ray Ubrecken, Hugo resident and shopkeeper Fred Lundy, engineer Vlad Fomitchev and contract engineer Kit Haskins to help with problems involving internet, coaxial line and the tower structure.
Also, this transmitter site is at the base of Flagler Cooperative’s grain elevator, adding an extra layer of dust.
ScarboroughRadio chose a Bext XL 3000 purchased from Technical Account Executive Colin Courtney.
“The transmitter was powered on within two hours,” Scarborough said.
“It comes with a 7/8-inch flange and a very nice AC power harness. You can get RDS as a paid option. The manual is shipped on a jump drive. As most manufacturers recommend, save the box if it needs to be returned.”
The model is available with an optional multiband audio processor. Other options include AES-EBU digital audio input, Dynamic RDS/RBDS encoder, AoIP and SNMP2.
Scarborough said he has directed his sales team to fund the purchase of another XL 3000 as a spare.
The unit comes with a two-year warranty, with longer coverage available as an option.
Scott Scarborough said he would like FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to explore a possible A-10 power increase.
“At 92.3, KFII(FM) could go up to 10 kW without interference. The station could ask to become a 6 kW Class A or consider a Class B power increase.”
Info: https://bext.com
