For too long KDX has been broadcasting on FM only, because the STL to the Procaster Transmitter has been disconnected. You know that 'STL' means 'Studio-to-Transmitter Link'. Today I decided to do something! So I got all the parts involved with the 2.4 GHz Transmitter/Receiver I use to send the signal from the 'Head Room', my name for the control room. The link is a TP-Wireless WT02 which uses a channel just above Wi-Fi channel 11. But it didn't work at first, so I sank into what could have been another year of sulking, but I got the thought maybe I mis-configured the input output cables and that was it! Now I'm about to go out in the car to see how much range we're getting on the AM band. I have an AM radio in the car and always will. I got the Procaster because the Late Jim Henry had good reports about his Procaster when he was building his station.
The Procaster is good and I have one and was on AM before. But I want listeners besides broadcasting to myself and it's hard to get listeners on AM not to mention you are trashed at night to a small fraction of the daytime range. And when November comes it's night more of the time till April. My listeners listen in the evening. But I had rigged an artificial ground inside the cabinet that gave me more signal coming off the antenna and I posted it with pictures a ways back now but it's here somewhere. I used it indoors and had a wire clipped to the antenna lug and changing the shape of the wire made it worse or better depending on how it was shaped.
I took the range drive in the car I said I'd do and the answer is 600-feet, then it drops off to nothing. I haven't tuned the Procaster since it was installed over 5-years ago, so a good tune-up is next on the list. There are two radials under the surface of the earth; one running south, the other pointing north. More radials would no doubt be a good idea. What I'd really like is to be able to hear KDX as I drive to the store, which is about 1-mile.
Mark, now I'm going to stick my nose in your business by telling you to simulcast on AM just because you can and it's free. The idea of your Procaster sitting idle keeps me awake, and it's 5:30 in the afternoon and I'd like to take a nap.
Yes it's sitting in the cupboard, but try not to let it keep you awake!
Good News!!
I finally got around to re-tuning the Procaster and got significant results!
Before re-tuning the meter inside the transmitter was pointing at line 4 along the scale.
Re-tuning brought the meter all the way up to line 6, almost pegged!
Now we need to take another range testing drive to find out how much better than 600-feet our AM signal floods out into the neighborhood.
Not so fast! It turns out there's more to getting our Procaster into proper operation. It all began yesterday, when storms began moving into our area and we started disconnecting from the grid to protect sensitive equipment from lightning or other storm damage. Our computer-based servers were taken offline, and I recalled that the Procaster also needed to be disconnected but it's been two years since it was last in operation, so I had to do a little memory searching before remembering that, oh, that's right, we disconnect the ground lead alligator clip to prevent a lightning bolt from entering through the ground radials. But I found it was already disconnected! I'd completely forgotten about it and never reattached it, which explains why I've been hearing a lot of buzzing in the signal when received over the radio out in the yard. Well, that means we'll need to retune it again, and then possibly get myself a checkup from the neck up.
This time we did it right. We cleaned-up and freshened the ground radial connection and re-tuned, now with a meter reading at 5.5 marks. Now the carrier is clean and the buzzing is suppressed. Previously a lot of the signal was reflecting back and not fully radiating because of lack of ground. Now I expect to find that the range on AM is much better than 600-feet.
Now that KDX-AM is back on the air following a few years of inaction, we got to wondering if anything has changed with the Chez Procaster Transmitter which is the type in use.
Carl, the meter goes to 10 so how did it peg at 6?
Do a test of daytime range and see how much difference it makes now.
I can explain. The face of the meter shows six lines pointing up to the numbers: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. My previous report said: "Retuning brought the meter all the way up to Line 6, almost pegged." With better lighting I now see the numbers, and Line 6 = '10', and it looks like there's slightly more room above that point before the meter pegs.
A new range test is on the schedule the next time I drive the car somewhere.
@carl-blare If the meter "pegs" at the end at the 10 there's the meter adjustment on the right side of the meter to move the pointer position back to see the peak.