“First and foremost, we are local.” That’s the promise of Compass Media in the Cayman Islands, a company owned by lawyer and native Caymanian James Bergstrom.
“As the proprietor of the Cayman Compass [newspaper] and four radio stations, it is important to James and his wife Laura Aull that the Cayman Islands has a responsible and respected news and entertainment programming at the heart of the community,” its website states.
Those FM stations are Z99.9, Rooster 101.9, Gold Cayman 94.9 and Island FM – The Rhythm of Cayman 98.9.
In the 1990s “Z99” was the first commercial FM station to be built on the island. Its signal was later combined with that of “Rooster” into a single Shively antenna.
“Gold” and “Island” were added even later using a separate combined system, but the coverage didn’t prove satisfactory, so Compass decided to combine all four of its signals into one new antenna.
The design work began in March 2022 and was completed in May 2023.
The job features a Shively 6828-4-CF four-bay antenna with two 2640-04(4)-1/1 FB balanced combiner modules used in conjunction with Shively modules from the prior station combiner.
“The Shively 6828 antenna array was used for its robust design and anti-corrosion properties,” said Chris Steckino of Shively Labs.
“The balanced combiner module was chosen to handle the necessary power for the TPO. The 2604 four-pole is a proven design to fulfill its ‘plug-and-play’ ease of installation with excellent insertion losses, isolation and frequency response.”
The new antenna is fed by two new Nautel VS2.5-EIA transmitters.
Mark Lee was Compass Media’s technical liaison. Bob Smith of RM Smith Associates of Austin, Texas, developed the concept and installed the system. Steve Vanni of Technet Systems Group assisted with design and supplied the Shively hardware, Nautel transmitters and all materials. Smith and Vanni have a long history of work for Compass and even helped write the procedures and forms used by the government to grant approval for broadcast licenses.
Steckino did the technical verification and testing of the antenna and combiner system on site.
“The logistics of working outside the continental United Sates always presents challenges,” said Vanni.
“In this case, delivery of the components was through Miami by boat to Cayman.” The process was made tricker by the need to obtain government approval to work in the country for even for a short period, then getting seven pallets of antenna and combiner components through customs.
Also, the original design called for the transmitters to remain in their present locations, two in one building and two in another.
“During the structural analysis it was discovered that the tower no longer met current standards, requiring modification of the tower foundation,” Vanni said. “Unfortunately the foundation work would require removal of the existing Z99 and Rooster transmitter building.”
So those two stations were moved into the building that housed the Island and Gold equipment. Limited space mandated a minimal footprint for the four-station combiner; the installation of the transmitters to replace larger older units created additional floorspace to accommodate the combiner.
Another twist was that during the installation of the antenna, the team discovered a problem with the existing Z99/Gold transmission line, necessitating its replacement.
“I was on-site in Grand Cayman and was available to deal with the problem,” Vanni said. “I arranged for the immediate procurement of new cable and the logistics of expedited delivery to the island.”
Once the Gold and Island transmitters were pulled, time was of the essence. “All went well with the combiner installation, which Bob Smith accomplished prior to the arrival of Chris Stekino from Shively to tweak the combiner and antenna.”
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