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.
Prairie Winds is a regional broadcasting group with stations covering the Dakotas and western Minnesota.
“I’m the president, GM and owner, which means I also change filters, mow, shovel and make the coffee,” said Brian Lundquist, owner of Hub City Radio and Big Stone Broadcasting.
“We have a very capable chief engineer, Don Brintnall, who handles our transmitters, among other duties.”
Over a dozen years, the company has been migrating its stations to Nautel transmitters, starting with an NV20 in 2012.
“We now have FM NVLT, VX, VS and GV units, and AM NX and J1000 transmitters, and upgraded an NV15 to a GV20.”
A pending order with Broadcast Supply Worldwide for two more NVLT 20s will equip KGIM-FM and KNBZ(FM) in Aberdeen, S.D. With the latest order, Prairie Winds will raise its total to 16 Nautel units.
“Installing Nautel transmitters has been, overall, a smooth process. One of our most challenging installs was challenging only because it was difficult to get the old tube-type transmitters out of the way! They are much bigger and heavier than the new Nautel units.”
Another installation had them scratching their heads over rack space, but it could be solved more easily with the space-efficient designs.
“We love our Nautel units. They are easy to use, low maintenance, extremely efficient and have outstanding reliability. We are also impressed with Nautel customer service. They’re always there whenever we have a question. With our most recent purchase, we are almost 100 percent Nautel … only one more station to go.”
Info: www.nautel.com
