Behind the Scenes: An Upgrade for 97.9 the River!

A couple months ago, I posted an article talking about maintenance on the antenna for the River.  At the end of that article, I said more was on the way.  Well, it has happened.  Last week, the River underwent a hefty infrastructure upgrade.

We said goodbye to KVVR's original transmitter, which has served us well for the more than 20 years we've been on the air (yes, it's really been that long / only been that long, depending on how you choose to look at it).

One of the reasons for the upgrade was pretty straightforward.  The more important parts are getting harder to find and/or more expensive, particularly the vacuum tubes.  Yes, you read that right.  Vacuum tubes are still a thing, and they are widely used in radio transmitters, but the march of technology is gradually phasing them out, just like they have been in most other things.

So without further adieu, now you see it...

Now you don't.

With the old transmitter put out to pasture and a temporary transmitter in place keeping us on the air, it was time to get to work and bring in the new one.

This transmitter is a bit different from most.  Normally, transmitters are air-cooled, meaning they have fans that move air over the components to keep them from overheating.  If you want an example, your typical home or work computer is air-cooled.

This transmitter, however, is liquid-cooled.  A mixture of distilled water and the same anti-freeze/coolant we use in our vehicles...

is moved by these pumps...

between this heat exchanger on the outside of the building...

and the transmitter components.

You know, looking at these photos, I realize they're all from when the installation was in progress.  I'm going to have to go back out there and take some photos so you can see what it looks like finished.

I'll update this article when I have the new photos, so be on the lookout!