Radio World Buyer’s Guide articles are testimonials intended to help readers understand why their colleagues chose particular products to solve various technical situations. This month’s articles focus on transmitters.
Deep into its migration from tube transmitters, K-LOVE Radio is gaining early returns from modern solid-state FM technology from GatesAir.
Recent upgrades at stations in Billings, Mont., and Tremonton, Utah, highlight how modern transmitter design can deliver measurable operational, sonic and business benefits.
In January, K-LOVE installed a new GatesAir Flexiva GX FM transmitter at KLRV(FM) in Billings, replacing a rack-hungry system. Shortly thereafter, a Flexiva FAX FM and HD Radio-ready transmitter was installed at KNKL(FM), replacing an aging tube transmitter and dramatically modernizing an RF site that covers listeners Salt Lake Valley and north to near the Idaho border.
“These are the first solid-state GatesAir transmitters we’ve deployed in this part of the K-LOVE network,” said Ron Huckeby, field engineer for Montana and Wyoming.
“It’s part of a broader transition. The goal is to retire almost all tube transmitters by 2027.”
Physical footprint and operating efficiency were major drivers at KLRV. The Flexiva GX5K’s compact, rack-mounted design allowed engineers to reclaim significant rack space while avoiding increased lease costs.
“The GX is about a third of the size of the transmitter it replaced,” Huckeby said. “That power-to-size ratio is impressive and it’s very lightweight. One person can lift a 10 kW unit before adding power supplies.”
At KNKL, the benefits were audible, Huckeby said. The new Flexiva FAX10 transmitter replaced a tube-based system that relied on older excitation technology.
“The transmitter and exciter cleaned up the audio considerably,” Huckeby said. “The adjacent modulation monitor data told the story right away: cleaner baseband, better stereo performance, and less distortion.”
Beyond sound quality, Huckeby points to reliability and maintenance as key advantages. Solid-state architecture minimizes catastrophic failures, while modular PA design and off-the-shelf power supplies simplify service.
“Unless it’s an exciter failure, most solid-state issues won’t take you completely off the air,” he said.
Huckeby praised the Flexiva GUI, calling it intuitive and well-suited to today’s IT-centric engineering environment. “The interface is user-friendly and outshines competitive solid-state GUI designs,” he said.
Supporting the transition is GatesAir channel partner SCMS, which provided sales and pre-installation support. “Our representative Doug Tharp answers his phone,” Huckeby said. “He is attentive and understands the business of transmission.”
The K-LOVE upgrades mark a step toward greater efficiency, improved audio performance and a future-ready RF infrastructure without the operational burdens of tube technology.
Info: www.gatesair.com
