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Altus Back On-Air

kccu file

The cooling fan unit for the KOCU transmitter burned out sometime early the week of April 17.  After a transmitter site visit by Chief Engineer John Roberts, the problem was diagnosed as a cooling fan failure.

Thanks to the listeners in Altus for alerting us to the problem.

The electronics in modern transmitters shut the transmitter down if the cooling fan goes out. This prohibits damage to the actual transmitter itself.

After arriving in Altus, John and his helper, Director Doug Cole got to the process of repairing the transmitter. 

Credit kccu file
Rear of transmitter cabinet

Adding to the adventure, was the discovery that the building's AC Unit had frozen up. So the repair involved sweat, a ceiling AC unit with copious amounts of thawing condensation dripping out and an ever expanding puddle of water on the floor.  After removing the fan unit from the rear of the transmitter, the assembly had to be moved to the center of the building because of limited space behind the transmitter.

Also, after removing the unit, the fan blades had to be removed before the old motor could be removed from the mount and new motor installed.

Because of the heat and humidity in the building, a break was taken for a large cold beverage at the halfway point.

Credit kccu file
Rear of transmitter with fan unit installed.

After the old motor was removed, the new motor was put on the mount, centered and fan blades were reinstalled.

Fortunately, the repair was a success and the transmitter came on after it was reassembled.

We would like to thank Altus listeners for alerting us to the problem.

We can monitor all of our equipment remotely. We check all of our transmitters the first thing every morning remotely.

However, because of the distance involved, we cannot hear the on-air signals of any of our transmitters except for the one in Lawton.

So, just as we depend on our listener for contributions to fund the station, we don't always know of a problem at a remote transmitter unless listeners call us or send an email.

So, if you hear something strange and especially if you hear nothing at all, please call us or use the contact feature on the website. Thank you.

 

Doug Cole joined KCCU-FM in April, 2007 as Station Manager and Operations Director. In November 2012, Doug accepted the title of Interim General Manager. Doug became Director of Broadcasting, effective July 1, 2013. Prior to moving to Lawton, Doug was the General Manager of KOCV-FM, Odessa College, in Odessa Texas.