How not to start your day!!  Morning devotions were to be held this morning at the studio on the other side of town, so we were ready early to get in the car.  I used the car key to open the trunk and quickly put my lunch bag and computer in.  Then I opened the gate so the car could be driven out of the yard, then returned to the car, but the car key had ‘disappeared’.  We searched the trunk and the ground between the gate and the car for about 15 minutes.  Eventually we caught a ride to devotions with Jason from the other side of our duplex.  At the office, we were fortunate to be able to get the spare car key so Virginia could do shopping later today.

After devotions, I caught a ride to the transmitter site with Daryl.  I took my computer and lunch into the site office and decided to open my lunch bag.  Pulling out all the items in the bag,  there in the bottom of the bag was the key!  Because of the trip to the office this morning, Virginia had put my lunch bag inside a special cooler bag.  It was this cooler bag, with the lunch bag inside, that was put into the trunk.  How the key managed to get inside the bag that was inside the cooler bag, when both were closed, is beyond me!  What a relief to find that key!!

This morning two ships were at the pier. Ships are coming into Bonaire almost every day during January.

Now for how to start your day!!  After not being able to get the transmitter higher than 260kw last week due to ‘Fast RF Shutback’, we decided to examine the directional coupler that provides the signal for the ‘shutback’.  There are two small ‘doorknob’ capacitors attached to the output plate to provide a voltage sample for the coupler.  The top of these two stacked capacitors are close to a hole in the top of the transmitter cabinet.  This hole was covered by the coupler box.  When I reached into the hole at the top of the transmitter, I could not feel anything attached to the top of the two capacitors.  Therefore, I removed the coupler box from the top of the transmitter and inside I found a wire with a ring terminal that was not connected to anything.  I connected this wire to the capacitor and reattached the coupler box with confidence that the transmitter would go to full power now!

The yellow wire inside the coupler box is supposed to be connected to the top of the capacitor seen just inside the hole.

NOTE–The transmitter assembly instructions were reviewed about installation of the coupler box. Connecting this wire was not mentioned anywhere, although two other connectors were specifically mentioned.

The transmitter now came right up to 440,000 watts on the dummy load and all three antenna options with no problems.  Praise the Lord with us for this answer to our (and your) prayers!!

Jonas watches the transmitter’s computer screen as the output power nears 440kw.

We recalled that some of the antenna protection circuits had not been fully implemented for the new transmitter, so Jonas took some time to activate these protection circuits before proceeding further with testing.

Meanwhile, I worked on the panel on the dummy load that was removed to install the capacitor on Friday.  We couldn’t get all the screws and holes to line up when reinstalling the side panel.  I managed to get the holes to line up, by shimming up the frame on one side of the opening by 1/8″.  Obviously, the concrete pad on which the dummy load sits is not perfectly level, which caused the frame to shift when this panel was taken off.

Testing was now begun with tone modulation on the transmitter.  This stresses, and tests, the transmitter and antenna system to the maximum.  The north and south patterns are designed to handle the full 440kw.  Today these two patterns were tested to 350kw with 100% tone modulation. We purposely will did not test higher than 350 kw until we determine the capability of the incoming power lines and equipment to handle the load required for testing with tone at 400kw or 440kw.  With normal program content, operation at 400 or 440kw will never reach the limits of the incoming power capability.

We could still see the two ships at the pier from the transmitter site.

Another view of the ships from the beach at the airport

Virginia and I were invited to join Donna and Lois for dinner tonight at Hillside [http://www.hillsidebonaire.nl] restaurant, so I caught a ride home just after 5 pm to be there at 6 pm.  We managed to arrive, without getting lost, just after Donna and Lois arrived at 5:45.  Virginia ordered spare ribs and I ordered the special for the night, Bami (a pasta dish with chicken and salad).  The food was very good,

We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom and safety as we continue to test the transmitter and the antenna system.

The congregational singing at International church this morning was amazing with nearly everyone participating!  There were songs in three languages, English, Dutch and Papiamento.

Pastor Doug Searle’s message was titled, “Resting Labor”.  The main text was from Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Recordings of the services can be found on FaceBook and at http://ibcbonaire.podbean.com

We planned on having leftover baked spaghetti for lunch, but the Kings brought us some BBQ takeout from Bobbejan’s.  It was delicious and there was enough meat to last us for two meals.  So tomorrow evening it will be one, or both, of these leftovers!

Virginia helped Vera clean the south duplex for three new guests coming this afternoon.  Tom and Joshua also helped as they were pretty well packed and ready to catch their flight home.  I put the sheets and towels in the washing machine, then hung them on the clothesline.

Jason Helmholdt was the first guest to arrive.  He and his wife have four children and are raising support with the goal of arriving on Bonaire in about six months.  Steven Shantz, TWR International VP of Latin America & the Caribbean, and his brother arrived a little later on the same airplane that the Kings left on.

Just before sunset, we went to Bachelor Beach for a cool-down swim–our first swim since we have been here.  It appeared to be high tide and the waves were crashing against the rocks on shore, so Virginia opted to watch while I swam for a while.  Although she was watching, the waves got her wet, too!   Steve and his brother were also there for a quick swim.

We came home and had popcorn (our normal Sunday evening fare) and iced tea then used Skype to call my mother in Colorado.

We plan on getting to bed earlier tonight.  We anticipate this coming week will be a busy one.

Please pray with us that it will be possible to get the 400,000-watt transmitter up to full power early this week!

Tom and Joshua King delayed their return home to the U.S. until tomorrow to allow more time to fine tune the antenna system.  We have not worked previous Saturdays, but we thought it best to do so this Saturday starting at 8:30 am–that’s the time the 100,000 watt AM transmitter signs off.

Tom and Joshua making minor adjustments in the phasor room

Tom and Joshua started fine tuning in the phasor room, while I continued trying to find what could be causing the 270 kw limit mentioned yesterday.  I decided to check the tightness of all the RF (radio frequency) power connections inside the transmitter and to make sure there were no tools or packing materials left in the transmitter.  It is possible that either of these could be the cause.  I only found one connection, out of hundreds, that was loose and it could only be tightened less than 1/4 turn.  Result–no change in 270kw limit!

One bolt on the left side of the capacitor on the top right needed slight tightening.

Next, Daryl and I bypassed the antenna/dummy load switch to see if that could be the source of the problem.  Result–no change in 270kw limit!

It was noticed that the new transmitter was showing that the dummy load was not as good a match as some of the antenna selections.  I asked Tom, whose company manufactured this dummy load, whether it was adjustable.  Tom said the it could, so we removed a side panel of the dummy load only to find the adjustment capacitor was not there!  It seems the padded box containing the capacitor was not clearly marked as being for the dummy load, so it ended up being stored as a spare part.  After Tom installed this capacitor, the matching and reflected power was considerably improved.  Result–still no change in 270 kw limit!

When we opened the dummy load side panel the place where the tuning capacitor was supposed to be located was empty. Notice the hundreds of load resistors to each side.

Tom and Joshua continued to fine tune the antenna system and managed to adjust all three patterns to within 2% of 50 ohms– a very good match!!

Tom and Joshua reviewing the results of the change just made.

The transmitter’s computer readout does not agree with Tom’s measurements and indicates the matches to be closer to 45 ohms.  The above 50 ohm readings were from using a network analyzer (seen in above photo).  As another way to do the same measurement, we decided to use an operating impedance bridge  utilizing 5 kw of transmitter power.  Tom and Joshua made the measurements and confirmed that the 50 ohm measurements from the network analyzer were indeed accurate.   We need to ask Nautel why their transmitter measurements are different.

Joshua and Tom using the Operating Impedance Bridge to confirm the impedances of the three antenna configurations.

The time was now 7 pm.  Tom and Joshua began packing all their specialized equipment in preparation for leaving tomorrow.  Tom decided to store some of it at the transmitter site as he is returning next week with his wife for the dedication.  That way it will be here if further measurements are desired.  He can then take it back on that return trip.

Got back to the duplex about 7:30 pm.  Virginia made baked spaghetti and garlic bread for supper and took some to share with Tom and Joshua.  They plan to return to the site around 8:30 to see if they can observe an arc trip that seems to occur every evening about that time.

I worked on our blog until 11:30 pm and made some progress on getting it up-to-date.

My first project was to install circuit breaker protection on the primary of emergency buttons’ step-down transformer mentioned in an earlier blog.  We also discussed having a small light at the emergency button to indicate that the circuit is active.

Meanwhile, Daryl, Jonas and others were bringing up the dummy load to begin further testing of the new transmitter.  Unfortunately, its 50-amp circuit breaker kept tripping.   It was discovered that while the four fan motors only draw 26 total amps when running, the inrush of current for starting all four motors at once is close to 150 amps.  As a ‘temporary’ solution the 50-amp breaker was replaced with a 100-amp breaker and the cooling fans for the dummy load came on without tripping the 100-amp breaker.

The dummy load working, as evidenced by the louvers which are opened by the high air flow. This Kintronic Labs load can dissipate over 600,000 watts of power.

I began to research possible solutions to this breaker tripping and emailed Ralph VanDerWerf for his advice.  After several proposals were bantered back and forth, it was eventually determined that the electrical code would allow the use of the 100-amp breaker for these starting motors under such circumstances.

Tom and Joshua used my assistance to do some more antenna adjustments at the towers.  Upon  instruction via the two-way radios, I would switch on, or off, the transmitter (at the reduced power level of 5,000 watts) to allow them to safely make measurements with their operating impedance bridges.

Jonas (on phone) and Dave noting that the output power of the new transmitter is at 100kw.

This afternoon we began the process of testing the new transmitter’s ability to produce power for broadcasting.  To do this we used the dummy, or test, load.  While in phone contact with Nautel this process was begun.

Output power now at 200,000 watts!

The transmitter power easily continued to increase until 270 kw when it recycled due to a ‘Fast SWR Shutback’.  Since we were on the dummy load, we suspected possible arcing there.  Upon close examination, I discovered something that looked like a piece of paper wrapped around a resistor support inside the dummy load.  After opening a side panel of the dummy load a strip of foil covered plastic was removed.  We were sure this would take care of the problem, but after powering back up, the transmitter again tripped at the same 270 kw power level!

By now Tom and Joshua were finished with antenna adjustments for the day, do it was decided to power up into the antenna instead.  Same problem at 270 kw on all three antenna patterns!  This seemed to indicate that the problem was in the antenna/dummy load switch box, or the coax from the transmitter to this box–the only things used in common for carrying power to the dummy load, or to the antenna system.  Tom thoroughly checked the witch and filed off a couple of sharp corners.  The problem remained.  Next the coax line was removed from above the transmitter, thoroughly cleaned and checked, then reinstalled.  Still the same problem at exactly 270 kw every time.

Jonas, Joshua and Kevin reinstalling coax above transmitter.

It was getting late!  The old transmitter was switched on for the evening broadcasts and we held a short prayer meeting for wisdom.  We would appreciate your prayers regarding this challenge!!

As we arrived home around 7pm, Virginia took a dish of  chicken and rice to Tom and Joshua for their evening meal.  Our supper was some of the same, with salad.

After supper, I continued trying to catch up on overdue blog entries.  Late to bed again!!

Before work, I decided to again review our McGuiReport that was sent last night, now without the ‘bleary eyes’ of the night before.  This is when I discovered one period, which should have been a comma, plus a quote mark that somehow appeared where it should never have been.   Corrections were quickly make and request made to replace last night’s file.  Hopefully, the lesson has been learned–not to send a highly edited document at bedtime, but wait til morning for that last proofread!  Yeah–like making blog entries, like this one, in late evening!!

My first project this morning was to complete the wiring of the surge suppressor mentioned in yesterday’s blog.

The step-down transformer for the control rack is the gray ‘box’ below the UPS

My next project was to install a step-down transformer to reduce the voltage from 127 volts to 102 volts in the transmitter control rack.  This became necessary because the antenna monitor, which displays the parameters (ratio and phasing) of the four towers in the directional antenna system, kept blowing fuses.  I mentioned the possibility that it may have a 115 volt transformer in its power supply that might be rated for 60 Hz (the US standard) and not for 50 Hz (used here) operation.  Since the control rack runs off the UPS (uninterruptible power supply, it was decided to install the step-down transformer on the wood panel below the UPS, where there is more space than in the control rack.

Antenna monitor is the gray instrument located just below the blue panel of antenna switching controls.

I then assisted Tom and Joshua with fine tuning of the antenna/phasor system.  By two-way radio, I was asked to turn on, or off, the 100,000-watt transmitter then read off the antenna monitor readings from the control rack located by the new transmitter.  Initially, I tried to use the two-way radio to directly read off the parameters of each of the four towers back to Tom, while he remained at one of the towers making adjustments.  For some reason the readings were varying all over the place.  It was then that I every time I activated two-way radio reading would begin to vary.  From then on, I wrote down all the readings,  before reading them off to Tom via the two-way radio.

While I was doing this, Daryl, Jonas, and Marco (who were in phone contact with Nautel, the new transmitter manufacturer), switched on power to the new transmitter to energize its computer.  This revealed that the input voltage was a little too high.  Therefore the transmitter was shut down and the taps on the transformer were set for correct voltages. We did not try sending power to the antennas today (maybe tomorrow).  We left the transmitter site, around 7 pm.

Jonas, Larry and Dave in front of the new transmitter with its touch screen monitor control system powered up (above ‘NX400’).

This evening was spent trying to catch up on blogs entries that had been set aside to prepare and submit our Feb 2018 McGuiReport.  I managed to do four blog entries, before becoming too ‘bleary-eyed’ around 11:30 pm to continue!