I'm attempting to start a community radio station here in Rochester, NY. I purchased a Rangemaster 3 years ago and getting it set up has been, um, frustrating. I've found the hard way if you're not an engineer, getting the Rangemaster running properly can be a long, arduous adventure.
If you or someone you know has Rangemaster installation experience and lives in the northeast and would be willing to travel up here some day before the snow falls, please let me know.
Chuck,
Sorry I cannot answer your question re engineers available to help you but I can offer a few suggestions. While an engineering degree helps this is not needed to get the unit working. It does help if one has some electronic background and experience though.
Consider calling Rangemaster and asking for advice, especially if you encountered some specific problem.
Here's one of many videos which may be helpful for you to understand the scope of what is involved. Check the other Rangemaster videos in this collection which cover cabling, signal links, studios, etc.
You may find someone locally through a ham radio club or vocational or community college electronics program who would be interested in helping you. When I taught electronics, I would refer students to help with these types of projects...they worked sometimes for a fee and sometimes free for course credit and sometimes just to lend a helping hand.
I understand that, for many, electronics can be daunting, especially when your focus is to be on the air, but I want to assure you that people handy with electronics can get this unit operating. Don't limit your search for consultation to engineers only.
Neil
Hi Neil,
I'm also interested in set up of radio systems, Unfortunately your video begins with the meter plugged in and a reading already on it ... but it does not say where the leads are attached to the TX. If there is no power to the TX, how are you getting a reading ... and what, exactly, is it?
Here's a pix of the vid with the leads in question circled (I couldn't get the Forum Image section to accept my JPEG image ... it keeps telling me the size is negative or zero):
http://pixelbird.clearwire.net/miscpix.html
Ken,
Just so no one misunderstands, this is not my video, rather it is just one of several I found searching Youtube. Chuck was asking specifically about the Rangemaster and that is what is shown in the video and I assumed he has the manual which would detail how to connect the meter to the proper test points. The power and audio are applied through a cable which is attached to a terminal strip on the lower left of the picture. The power transformer is remote from the transmitter. The video shows how to peak the tuning using a meter and I believe this is an easier way to demonstrate the process than to try to describe it. The video also shows the remote power/audio unit used with the Rangemaster and gives an overview without detail of what is needed to operate the transmitter.
Regarding "what, exactly, is it?" the meter is reading a DC voltage developed across two test points in the transmitter. I don't know for sure what this is in the Rangemaster, but in the SSTRAN and the Wenzel units this is a DC voltage produced by a diode and capacitor attached to the output of the final amplifier. Thus, it is effectively an indication of the RF output voltage of the amplifier. By rectifying and filtering with on board components, stray meter loading effects are minimized as compared with trying to measure the RF output directly. The "10 turn pot." used for peaking is most likely a variable capacitor (probably a piston type) which brings the system to resonance.
Unless there is some need to set the voltage to a specified value per instructions, I prefer to tune low power transmitters using a field strength meter leaving no doubt as to what is being peaked.
Neil
Hi Chuck, I am fairly close by in Erie,PA. Contact me direct and we can set something up. radiofreeerieAThotmailDOTcom