Wanna see a Big XMTR ?

The Gates "F" on that internet auction site is pretty big for home use, but not out of the ordinary for those of us in the AM community.

A ham in the Pacific Northwest has rescued a 2300 pound Raytheon in a story with pictures told here:

http://www.sbe124.org/old_xmtr_rescue/our_old_xmtr.html


Another fellow took apart the staircase in his house to get a beast into the basement. Great story here:

http://www.amfone.net/ECSound/WB2SYQ.htm

And a ham in upstate New York has filled a wall of his radio room with the three-bay Collins 21-E seen here:

http://www.amfone.net/DCP00310.jpg

But back to the Gates, it's a funny thing, Gates Radio later "downsized" that kilowatt transmitter model, renamed it the BC-1T, and continued production with a few more variations through 1972. The latter ones, models T, G, and H, have a quad of 833A in a row, sometimes down the side, sometimes left-to-right across the front.

Because radio stations often have a lower power authorization for nighttime use, these transmitters are great for conversion to the shortwave ham bands.

Stop by sometime?

www.amfone.net

 

Wow, that is one sweet transmitter!! Droooool...

I wish I had the space, money or means to pick that baby up!

Does the can of Diet Pepsi come with the transmitter?

 

We had a Gates BC-1A in Korea for our AFKN transmitter at Kunsan in 1960. Antenna was a 175' long wire.

Tom, ERV, was that a 205J or one of the 821A series?

73

Bill, W0LPQ

 

I was offered -- free! -- a Collins 231D. I think that was the designation - been a long time. I could not imagine trying to ship it home! 5 KW AM SW rig. Yup! 5 KW output on AM in the shortwave bands! Ten channels. But very large, in three racks, all of them wider than 19 inches by quite a bit. And a heck of a lot taller than I was! Plus, it was most definitely in working condition. We also had a 15 KW AM SW rig. Couldn't quite walk into it, but almost! But what would I have done with a 5 KW SW rig? I wouldn't even want it now. Besides, it ran on 3-phase.

One of the radio stations where I worked we had a Gates BC1 but I don't remember the letter designation. Nice transmitter to work on, plenty roomy. Blew a plate transformer. We got a new one from Dahl and I spent half a day inside that rig putting the transformer in, so it and I got intimate with each other.

Ed

 

I spent a couple weeks at the Naval Radio Station at Jim Creek WA. Now THERE is a "big" transmitter! Of course, it's VLF, but that just makes the size even more impressive. And then there's the antenna!

The older folks here might be familiar with "tickler" coils -- imagine one you can stand in, and without bending over!

 

I think the neatest thing about the BC1-T is that view of the 833s through that oddly shaped window!   Awesome!

73 and thanks for the memories.   Jim AG3Y

 

Ever see WLW's old transmitter? One word : Catwalk. By the way, it's still there but not used.

73
KC8IMB

 

Bill, I don't know the model number. But it came with a live-in tech-rep from Collins to keep it going. While it was a SSB, it actually used both side-bands, each of which carried about 20 multiplexed RTTY's. And of course an order wire. Fun Fun.

My most reliable xmitter was a BC610. 24/7. Never gave up.

TOM K8ERV

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">ka4rkt
Posted: May 20 2004,229
Quote (W4CGP @ May 20 2004,12:49)
What's the power out on it?

Only a kilowatt. Yep, thats all. But it looks pretty in operation with the 833's lit up.

--------------
Tom KA4RKT
Manchester Tennessee
[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

But you have to remember that it is 1 KW 100% duty cycle for HOURS ON END , and that was with 100% AM DSB high level plate modulation to boot! The frequency response of that rig would bring tears to your eyes, it was so good. We had a high fidelity crystal demodulator with a probe stuck into the coax line leading to the antennas. You could switch the control room monitor between &quot;Program&quot; and &quot;Air&quot; and hardly tell the difference! The high frequencies ( somewhere around 7 to 8 Khz ) were a bit rolled off compared to the &quot;Program&quot; side, but that transmitter would put out fairly good &quot;hi-fidelity&quot; by anybody's standards!

The biggest losses occur in any AM radio chain in the lousy receiver used to pick up the signal off the air! Of course, there are some AM radio stations that process their audio so extremely and poorly that NOTHING could help them sound good again. But that is a subject for another day! ( just the rants of an Old X-AM Broadcast Engineer! ) A properly modulated Gates transmitter is a wonderful thing to listen to!

73 from Jim AG3Y

 

K2PG has quite an AM station too.

www.k2pg.com

The guy is a regular genius and . . . oh well, enjoy the pics of his living room!