Gore Mountain transmitter is back on the air!
WXLG 89.9 (on Gore Mountain) is an important link in the NCPR broadcast chain. In addition to providing coverage to a large section of Warren County, it also “feeds” its signal to translators in Glens Falls, Lake George, Wells and Speculator. So went the transmitter died on Wednesday, we lost our signal over a pretty wide area.
I’d finally bought some new tires for my truck, so on Thursday I headed up the “road” to the summit of Gore Mtn. There was some snow…
Gore Mountain “road” near summit
After some troubleshooting, I discovered a bad solder joint in the power output stage of our transmitter. This may have been caused by localized heating, poor workmanship, or possibly age (the transmitter’s… not mine!)
our lovely WXLG transmitter
Just a little cleanup and some solder (and solder braid to make the connection more robust) and we were back on the air!
before and after views of bad solder joint
The snow had melted for the trip back down…
looking Northeast from the summit of Gore Mtn.
Wow, Bob. It looks like both the shield and the inner conductor needed some help. Those bypass caps don’t look very snug either. I hope it stays up for a long time, but something tells me it’s in the autumn of its years. It must be running well right now, though; to melt the snow and all : )