DataWave, LLC (www.datawave.us) a technical services company based in the Hudson Valley of New York state and provides engineering services for radio and television station across the US, recently installed a Broadcast Electronics STX FM transmitter for their client Pamal Broadcasting station WSPK. Broadcast Electronics based in Quincy, IL.
Serving the Hudson Valley and New York City, WSPK – K104.7 is a 50,000-watt Class B CHR station transmitting from the top of Mount Beacon the tallest point in the Hudson Valley with an elevation of 1600 ft and clear line of site to Manhattan.
“The main transmitter, a recent solid-state model from another supplier, had a spectacular unprovoked failure that caused the unit to catch on fire,” said David Groth, President of DataWave who along with his team, managed the upgrade on behalf of Pamal Broadcasting.
“Winter was approaching, so we needed to act fast. Pamal Broadcasting uses Broadcast Electronics products extensively, so they promptly ordered a STX-10 10kW transmitter. To their surprise, BE was able to deliver quickly, in fact in less than three weeks, something no one else was able to do. WSPK operates with just under 5 kW for the required TPO, the STX-10 provides plenty of headroom for cool operation, and expansion for HD Radio®”.
“The remote nature of the site, especially in the winter where access is limited to snow cats or a helicopter, demands that whatever we install be very reliable. Based on our experience, the BE transmitters have been very reliable. People like to talk about transmitter features like a web GUI, and energy efficiency. The BE STX excels there too, but the most important efficiency to our clients and our company is time efficiency”, commented Groth “I want to be completing projects on time, and have dinner at home with my family instead of being stuck on a frozen mountain top dealing with a failed transmitter. The reliability of BE transmitters delivers time efficiency.”
“The compact STX-10 fit easily into the existing Mid Atlantic rack, and the installation was a snap.” Added DataWave Principal Paul Thurst “There was an immediately noticeable improvement in the audio quality when we turned the STX-10 on. WSPK directly competes with NYC stations for local listeners, so having great audio gives the station an edge. In fact, many listeners, the program director and even another engineer contacted us to ask if we had changed our audio processing!”
