[BC] paying the bills

[Timothy West]

> Tim,
>
> There are 250 watt AM stations that make enough to pay the AC bill,  
> plus. The key is to have a solid state transmitter, with a decent  
> vertical radiator. I would love to run just 250 watts, but I have  
> antenna issues, so I'm running 1,000 watts. My transmitter is a BE  
> AM1A, Solid State, and is loud!
>
> I cover the City of License with a great signal at 250 watts.
>
> --
> Scott Bailey
> WMRO Radio, Gallatin, TN

Scott,

yes, solid state is the only way if you are in the business. this  
antique RA-250 coming my way is rather bad on that -  2700 watts out  
of the wall to get 250 carrier sucks pretty bad.... literally.   :D

I don't care a whit - I don't have to make those decisions based on  
money. Old transmitters shouldn't wind up in landfills. History is  
important and once discarded it's never reclaimed.

I am glad I'm 'just a ham'. I wanted to get a job in the biz but I  
missed passing my first phone ( I cant remember if it was still  
actually called that at that time) at the Baltimore FCC office in  
1982 or so, and never retook it. I had the skills, but only fair at  
math, and I did not want to be looking for a new job every 6 weeks as  
it seemed to me from outside no one from the on air talent to the  
engineering staff ever kept their job longer than that. :D the other  
observation was and is is that terra firma radio broadcasting is  
horribly over-regulated and controlled in relation to the profit  
potential possible from it. This goes 3X for AM.

it sounds to me like you're doing what you like to do and as long as  
you can turn a dime here and there you're OK doing that.  Thats a  
pretty good way to lead your life on the face of it.

Tim