Quote:
Originally Posted by
kenavs 
CARE often referred to as sCARE in this forum was undoubtedly the driving force for all of this. The NIMBY Luddites who made up that group did everything they could to block any progress.
A side mount antenna would have worked fine for KRMA, but they feared action by CARE would delay it. They thought they could get a usable signal and avoid legal barriers by placing an antenna on the ice bridge between the tower and the transmitter building. For many of us, that was not true. The terrain immediately north (and a few degrees east of the transmitter building) was higher than the ice bridge and included the KPXC analog transmitter building. The result was a weak and intermittent signal for much of the "Ls". Louisville, Lafayette, Longmont, and Loveland are all on roughly the same line from the ice bridge location on Mount Morrison. Fort Collins was effected too, but that is no fun, because it doesn't start with L.
Note that RMPBS still has what is now the low-gain "stand-by" antenna on the ice bridge at Mt. Morrison. An early agreement with the site ownership/manager group, Bear Creek Development, required that the antenna on the ice bridge be removed when the high-gain antenna became operational. However, BCD has acquiesced to a request to leave the antenna in place for back-up purposes until such time as another paying tenant requires the space.
The Axcera transmitter that was originally in place in the lower level of the transmitter building was moved upstairs, and resides along side the Harris PowerCD IOT transmitter. The transmitters are connected to the high-gain antenna via a switch. Should the low-gain antenna on the ice bridge be required due to catastrophic failure of the main antenna, RMPBS (KRMA along the Front Range) would have to plumb a final link between the ice bridge antenna and either transmitter. Estimated down time would be 1 1/2 hours from start of travel.
There are two microwave paths for KRMA to the site: A 7-GHz ASI path, and a 13-GHz SMPTE 310 path. Each path is DA'd and feeds the ASI and 310 inputs to each of the transmitters. The PowerCD transmitter has two M2X exciters, each with an ASI and 310 input. The transmitter auto switches between the exciters, and each exciter auto switches between the ASI and 310 inputs.
The Axcera transmitter has 310 inputs only. However, a leg of the DA'd ASI path runs through an ASI>310 convertor, and the Axcera exciter then receives two 310 signals.
RMPBS has 5 transmitters (3 fully operational studio facilities and offices), and 25 translators in Colorado. Fiber paths run from the KRMA master control in Denver to KTSC-Pueblo/Colorado Springs studios and to KRMJ-Grand Junction studios. Each "studio" has STL's feeding their respective transmitter sites. A fiber path from KRMJ feeds the KRMU-Durango. Fiber runs to the transmission site, and an STL path is no longer used.
KRMA has two translators: One in Boulder and one in Ft. Collins. Both receive their feeds via OTA reception from Mt. Morrison
KRMZ-Steamboat Springs receives the KRMA feed via satellite reception at the transmission site, and the former STL path from the valley floor has been removed.
KTSC has about 11 translators in its system, mostly fed via OTA reception. However, there are a couple of microwave relays in place. One of them, from Salida to the New Mexico border, is one of the longest microwave paths in the U. S. used for television. A quick Google Earth check shows the 2-GHz path as being roughly 110 miles.
KRMJ has about 12 translators in its system. There are a few microwave relays in the system. Note that the Crawford, Colorado site is being converted to digital today, June 23rd. It is the final translator in the RMPBS system to be converted. A new antenna is being hung as part of the package. Note that a 4-WD forklift yesterday could not make it up the steep "road" at the edge of a cliff, and tower crews will have to pulley and winch the antenna up by hand today.
TC AVS
