We are on our way to the transmitter. Here you will be able to look at all of our transmitters and some of the equipment required to keep us on the air. Just as in the studio tours there are two sections to each page, a general overview of the picture and all that tech stuff describing the equipment types. Just read what interests you.

First a brief overview and a little history on the site. The transmitter plant was built in 1950 as a new facility. The building and towers sit on reclaimed marsh land that has been drained and is presently used to graze cattle. There are four 500 foot towers arranged in a rectangle, 664' by 332'. The original transmitter was a 50,000 watt General Electric BT-25-A which was in daily service until 1976 and remained in backup service until its removal in 1990. The transmitter building sits between towers two and three and has about 2000 square feet of floor space. It houses two 50,000 watt and one 10,000 watt transmitters. We also have a separate building for our 210,000 watt emergency power generator and we can store up to 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel on site, enough fuel to keep us on the air for over a month in the event of an emergency.

The building sits on cement columns driven 70 feet through the bay mud and into bedrock to help stabilize it on the soft ground. The land is below sea level and there is a pump to keep the water from filling the field, but even so in rainy winters we can get up to three feet of water in the field. The towers are accessed by a series of catwalks raised about six feet off the ground and each tower sits on a base about eight feet high.

OK. Let's go to the transmitter.

Updated 10/4/98