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.
Businesses big and small, through every industry, talk about disaster scenarios. For a broadcaster, a transmitter failure that displaces most of its audience tops the list of worries.
Woof Boom Radio, a locally owned radio group located in Muncie, Ind., faced this reality head on when a power surge swept through the transmitter building of Class A 104.9 WERK(FM). In seconds, WERK’s signal went silent as the event destroyed its surge protectors and backup generator. The station’s long-serving Armstrong transmitter was no more.
The problem was exacerbated upon the station’s attempts to move its auxiliary transmitter into service. The backup’s power peaked at approximately 15 percent of WERK’s 7.1 kW transmitter power output. Sean Mattingly, the group’s director of technical operations, called on his representative at equipment dealer SCMS for assistance. SCMS was able to promptly ship a GatesAir Flexiva GX5K transmitter to Muncie.
“The GX5K strengthened our signal to about 70 percent of our TPO,” said J Chapman, Woof Boom Radio’s CEO. It marked a needed improvement after two weeks of a limited market presence.
The completion of WERK’s recovery came two months later with the arrival of a Flexiva GX10K transmitter, restoring its signal to full power. The station gained benefits of a solid-state transmitter, including around a 70 percent reduction in rack space. GatesAir said the transmitter’s infrastructure is designed to reduce maintenance costs.
“We have a strong history with GatesAir and still have several legacy Harris transmitters in service that date as far back as 1980,” said Mattingly, who noted their longevity and performance over time. He lauded GatesAir’s service team for their attentiveness and said he has found the simple user interface easy to grasp. “They clearly put thought into the GUI, which the IT side of me appreciates.”
That IT approach and straightforward connections to Woof Boom’s transmitters helped turn a helter-skelter situation into a “pleasant installation experience,” Mattingly said.
