[BC] The all-New PSRA/PSSA nightmare!!!

[Dale H. Cook]

At 07:48 PM 3/5/2007, Tom Taggart wrote:

>Many stations have power changes programmed into the remote control.
>
>By contract engineers, who probably can't get there before this weekend.

Any remote control that can't easily be reprogrammed via touch-tone 
phone isn't a very good remote control.

Seven of the nine R/C systems that I handle are Sines (the two that 
aren't are at FMs). I keep the programming for all seven in an Excel 
spreadsheet, annotated so that I can easily find the EST/EDT changes 
for the stations with PSRA. The changes are simple - the values of 
two memory locations get changed in the spring, and changed back in 
the fall. It takes me all of about five minutes per site to make the 
changes, and it can be done from anywhere by cell phone.

>Many stations use low power transmitters that either cannot be 
>adjusted to the new lower powers, or required the same contract 
>engineer to play with the transmitter.

That is another matter entirely. If any of my new PSRA/PSSA levels 
change, I will have to go to the transmitters for that. I have only 
two sites with PSRA/PSSA at the moment - a third is currently under 
an STA for a long wire, and two others are daytimers with only one 
power level. One of the PSRA/PSSA sites had the same levels and times 
in the new authorizations that it had in the old ones issued two 
years ago, and that should not change in the authorizations to be 
issued later this week. The last site may need some level adjustment, 
if the newest authorizations differ from the old ones, but it is only 
ten minutes from home, and its Nautel can accommodate seven power 
levels, so I get off easy.

Dale H. Cook, Chief Engineer, Centennial Broadcasting, 
Roanoke/Lynchburg, VA - WZZI / WZZU / WLNI / WLEQ
http://members.cox.net/dalehcook/starcity.shtml