I was specifically looking for equipment that could be used by a certain blind DJ.
But there wasn't very much in that category.
Familiar brands were well represented.
There was some broken and outdated Telos equipment (for listener call-ins)
where I was volunteering.
But this phone got me thinking.
The low-power FM transmitter room where I have been helping out.
And their amazing blind DJ Eddie. In all that clutter that he knows his way around
is a bespoke phone patch that I made. It taps into the coiled handset cord of
his office phone that he can work by feel and also "pot it up" on his board.
That phone hack got me some good cred with the I-Heart and Beasley Media guys who
also service that site. I got a tour of some big iron out at Weedon Island, WQYK and others.
One AM and more than one FM share this tower.
Out with the old and in with the new!
Nautel is the preferred brand.
They use cans just like we do to put multiple transmitters on one antenna.
Digital modulation puts "shoulders" on the spectrum and uses symbols like we do.
Orban does compression and limiting for the "perfect" sound from consumer radios.
Urban studios link into the remote transmitter site via telco/internet links.
Tubes are still used but solid state modules are taking their place.
Swappable modules work in parallel to get full power.
Even bigger iron in Seminole. The "Shark" and a Spanish language station - Sharks and Jets from West Side Story?
Big tube for 50 kw.
Studio link for WQYK.
Input power for 50 kw.
Output power goes here to these "tillers".
I drove by this little station in 2022. Their signal had no stereo separation but a
very enthusiastic DJ (Eddie) was on. I figured I could help and learned a whole lot myself!
They gave me this very substantial 1" thick Lucite award in 2025.