Yes, the recent cool temperatures tell us that winter’s just around the corner. With cold temperatures and mountain snows come new threats to your transmitter and its building.
While we usually think of heat as the enemy of electronics, excess cold and all that it brings with it can also damage our stations’ equipment, even to the point of knocking us off the air!
Along with cold temperatures come little furry critters trying to stay warm. Mice and other vermin can be really damaging in a transmitter facility, not to mention that in some parts of our state they can bring Hantavirus or Plague into our shared spaces.
Now would be a great time to make certain that your remotely-located facilities are well sealed against all winter’s threats – from snow and ice to the aforementioned critters!
I once was called to a remote AM transmitter site to see what the problem was. Every time I tried to turn the power to the transmitter back on the circuit breakers blew. It turned out that a field mouse had found its way into the transmitter and was lying quite dead across the primary power contactor (relay), shorting out the power. You might think of it as a sort of electric chair for little furry four-footers!
If snow can blow into your building, it’ll turn to water as it warms. Watering your transmitter or remote-control equipment is never a good idea. Here a few good tubes of caulk are your friend. That hole in the wall where your transmission line leaves the building? Caulk it. That small crack of an opening when you close the transmitter building door? Weatherstrip it.
Once your building’s sealed in all the places you don’t want anything to enter, think about the places you do want air to enter if you cool your transmitter with outside air. Snuggly fitting air filters are great for these places. Use refrigerated air? Are it’s (and the transmitter’s) air filters clean? And have you placed an overtemperature alarm on your remote control so you’ll know if the building gets too warm if an air conditioner fails? You can make one for about $30 from a wall wart little black cube power supply and an inexpensive thermostat.
And then there’s what to do about keeping your generator ready for winter power failures. We’ll look at simple but vital generator maintenance items in a future column. Meanwhile, stay warm, and stay safe!