From our Who’s Buying What page, “fast response” edition:
FM station KQXR in Payette, Idaho, owned by Lotus Boise Corp., is back to normal operations after an off-air scare, thanks to some quick footwork by supplier SCMS.
“Recently we were replacing a tube on our 30-plus-year-old main transmitter when our 40-plus-year-old auxiliary transmitter failed,” said Chief Engineer Eric Hunter.
“An ‘off air’ emergency is never something a broadcast engineer wants to be dealing with, but it was a reality. We scrambled to get the tube changed and found the main transmitter to have issues.”
The Class C1 station is licensed for 100 kW ERP. Hunter contacted SCMS, which was able to rush a replacement out to KQXR, despite the long lead times being quoted for new RF gear these days. Fortunately SCMS had a suitable 20 kW transmitter in stock, a GatesAir Flexiva FAX20K model.
“We were able to limp along with the main transmitter until installing the new one within the week,” Hunter said, complimenting SCMS on its fast work.
Suppliers and users are invited to send info about your own recent installations of new gear to [email protected].
