This week I’m working on constructing the newest station in the Wyoming Public Media network.  Today’s task is to start installing equipment in the new transmitter building.  Dan Houg of KAXE observes and assists in the process.

Dan starts by unboxing an uninterruptible power supply to install in the equipment rack.

The transmitter and equipment rack awaiting equipment installation…

Power distribution in equipment racks always seems to be an issue…I purchased a large veritical power strip with plenty of outlets.  This strip will connect to the UPS.  These clips will attach the strip to the rack.

Dan bolts a KVM drawer into the equipment rack.  This drawer contains a 17″ monitor, keyboard, mouse and 8 port switch.  It will allow monitoring and control of the various equipment on site.  With the increasing amount of computer based equipment at transmitter sites this becomes very helpful.

Ben unboxes some additional equipment…

Dan bolts additional equipment into the rack…There is not a whole lot of equipment at this particular site at the moment but the large equipment rack will allow for future expansion.

Dan and Reid prepare to cut a pre-installed run of flexible conduit to length before connecting it to the equipment rack…This conduit will provide power to the rack.

Connecting another pre-installed piece of flex conduit to the transmitter for power…

Securing the conduit to the transmitter…

Dan connects power to the equipment rack…

Completing the electrical connection to the rack…

Securing the electrical wiring to the transmitter cabinet…

Equipment in the rack…Getting ready to power it up…

Additional assembly work…Almost ready to power things up!

Connecting the transmitter to the dummy load…

Ben checks out the equipment rack…

Reid finishes connecting the transmitter and dummy load…This load will allow us to test the transmitter at full power without an antenna until the building is brought to the tower site.

Connecting the transmitter’s grounding stud to utility ground…Ultimately the transmitter will be connected to a permanent grounding system on site but the utility system ground will serve to keep things safe for testing purposes.

Ready to fire up the transmitter…Reid and Dan pose for a photo…

8.23 kW of beautiful RF!  Success!  More testing to come and finishing details in the next few weeks before the building goes to the tower site…