I knew that this might not to be the restful Saturday we had planned when my cell phone woke us just before 7:30 this morning.  Klaus was already at the transmitter site trying to sort out multiple problems that were keeping TX2 from  going on the air.  He wanted me to come out to help.  About 10 minutes later and just before I left, he called to say the transmitter was on the air and that we should plan on going out at 2pm this afternoon for further investigation as to what was happening.

We harvested a few more nartjies (mandarins) this morning, but the rest still have some green on them.  These will wait until next week.  Virginia picked a few lemons that are turning yellow.  I watered three small trees, which have been planted fairly recently.  They are less than three feet tall and at least two are citrus trees.  The bunch of bananas that we cut down on Wednesday has ripened only a little bit.  As we have finished up the previous bunch, we hope these are ready in a couple more days.

Klaus and I left for the transmitter site about 2:30.  TX2 came up with no problem for testing, but the metering for RF Exciter Q3&Q4 currents was still showing the drifting up and down like last night.  We investigated further and once again found these currents were actually steady.  All the other metering points on the same card were steady and we could find no other similar anomalies.  I examined the log of faults that occurred this morning and noted that door interlock faults seemed to be the fault most frequently shutting the transmitter down.  Klaus had temporarily bypassed the door interlock this morning to get the transmitter back on the air.

TX2 came up fine at 4pm for its first short Urdu transmission of the evening and was performing well, yet the ‘drifting’ remained.  We continued to ‘scratch our heads’ as to what was happening.  The transmitter was then off for about 30 minutes before the next longer transmission.  So we looked at the computer screen with all the metering information to see if other readings showed a similar drifting.  Only one was found, but it was drifting over a much smaller range and in the opposite direction of the drifting of Q3&Q4 currents.  This one was the RF Exciter +24 volt supply voltage.

Fortunately we decided to stay for TX2 to start the second transmission.  Every time the high voltage vacuum contactor switched on, the door interlock light flashed and one or more of the optical arc detector lights came on.  These were the same symptoms that the transmitter had this morning.  We noted that +24 volts supplies the interlock string.  Klaus quickly bypassed the door interlock like he did this morning, but the problem persisted.  The arc detector supplies are +15 volt.

Klaus decided to measure the voltage on the RF exciter supply when the contactor switched on and noticed a significant momentary drop in voltage.  I suggested paralleling an additional capacitor across the one in the supply, so Klaus quickly found a 230 uf capacitor that he pressed against the terminals of the one that was already there.  The transmitter switched on!  Now we had another problem — could Klaus hold the capacitor like that for at least another 20 minutes!  I managed to find some clip leads and we were able to replace Klaus by some strategic connecting of the clip leads.

We discovered that the capacitor that was bad was 10,000 uf and the one paralleling it was only 230 uf, so we searched for a bigger one in the stockroom.  The largest one that could be found was 5,000 uf, but we figured if 230 uf could help get the transmitter on the air that the larger one would work until a replacement could be ordered.  Using clip leads, we connected the 5,ooo uf capacitor which promptly tripped the transmitter off, but we turned it back on immediately.  We should have put a resistor in series with the capacitor to charge it up before connecting it.  Not doing so, the voltage dropped momentarily when the capacitor initially charged.  Maybe next time we’ll remember!

We finally left the site at about 5:30pm with confidence that the problems had been solved, but I am still ‘scratching my head’ trying to figure out why the Q3&Q4 metering currents were drifting, while their actual currents were steady.  Also, why were the optical arc detectors also triggering on, as they were on a 15 volt supply?  These mysteries will have to wait until Monday, when the schematics can be reviewed some more.

This evening we were able to watch Samuel and Henri playing on the beach via Skype and Angelique’s smart phone.  They were at South Haven, Michigan for the day.  Oh, the wonders of today’s technology!  Later we got to talk to, and see, Allan and their children.  We learned that Audrey’s Upward Soccer team was undefeated this year.  Allan, Joyce and Mark were her team’s coaches.

When we arrived at the transmitter site, the temperature was 44F.  No problem keeping the transmitters cool this morning!

I led devotions again and Sibonginkosi translated again.  My next week to lead the devotions will be the last full week that we are here.

After devotions, I checked my email and found that our reservation request at Kruger had been declined, so I quickly checked the on-line reservations and discovered another opening (apparently there had been a cancellation).  Amazingly, this time the reservation was accepted, so now we have a bungalow reserved for July 6.

As soon as the morning broadcasts were over, an attempt was  made to align the Driver Grid inductor of TX3 so that it could tune the 16m (17MHz) band and still retain the capability to tune the important 90m (3MHz) band.  By adjusting this inductor one turn toward the higher frequencies, it was now possible to tune not only the 16m band, but also the 13m (21 MHz) band, and still tune 90m.  We considered trying for the 11m (25MHZ) but decided against it, because we did not want to jeopardize the much more important use of the 90m band.  Also, the transmitter, as configured, can not tune the final stages at 25 MHz anyway.

After this adjustment, it was now necessary to retune the transmitter on all 27 different bands to program the revised tuning numbers into the transmitter’s on-board computer.  This took just over two hours to accomplish.  The transmitter was then quickly tested at high power on all its currently used frequencies to verify there should be no problems tonight and in the morning.  The next step was to download all these new preset numbers into a backup file so they can be retrieved in case of loss of the transmitter memory.

Last night we noticed an anomaly  on TX2 and decided to check it out this afternoon.  The RF exciter Q3&4 (output transistors) current readings on the transmitter monitor kept drifting up and down from 0.06 amp to 0.55 amp.  The trip point is 0.60 amp, so this is disconcerting.  We measured the actual current readings, which were steady with no drifting.  This indicated that there is something wrong in the metering system, but we did not have time to further investigate as the transmitter was about to come up for the afternoon transmissions.  We left the site about 30 minutes late as a result of checking out and reviewing this problem.

This evening there was a carry-in dinner at Klaus’ home as a thank you, and send off, for Gottfried.  He returns to South Africa tomorrow after looking over the various computer networks and internet services utilized here at TWR Swaziland.  We have seen a great improvement and trust that it will continue this way.  Klaus built a fire in their fireplace, which felt nice on this cool evening.

It’s been a busy, tiring week, so I turned off out alarm clock so we can sleep in tomorrow.

I received a call this morning about 6:30 asking whether I could leave in 10 minutes to drive the mini-bus from the office to the site.  Salema, who usually drives it, had called in sick and Klaus and Graham had been called out late last night for an intermittent transmitter problem.  So this morning, I left the house without shaving or a warm shower.

I was responsible for the morning devotions.  All others present were Swazis, so was glad that Sibonginkosi was able to translate for me.

It was 48F at the transmitter site at 8am. I spent a good part of the day writing up several reports that have been requested from me.

After the morning broadcast, TX1 was opened up to try to determine what was causing problems last night.  Two slight water leaks were found.  Either one could have caused the problem, so the leaky connections were tightened.

Further work was done on TX3 trying to get it to work on 17.8 MHz.  I have noticed that the Driver Grid inductor tuning is at its limit, so decided to turn it by hand just past that limit.  This was successful, and the RF drive problem has been remedied.  It is possible to operate the transmitter on full power now.  When audio was applied, it worked fine at 75kw, but would trip off with PA Reflected Voltage too high.  The balun capacitors are at their limit, and probably not allowing tuning that could reduce the PA reflected voltage.

The transmitter was tuned to its lowest frequency to see how far it is from the lower limit.  There is enough room for adjustment to take care of the Driver Grid tuning, but not for the Balun Capacitor Tuning.  There must be some other way for taking care of the balun tuning limit.

Tonight, we have been trying to book accommodation for one night at Kruger National Park for July 6, but it looks like everything is full — school holidays?  Out of hundreds of possibilities, we only found two bungalows available, but the on-line reservations would not go through.  An on-line form has now been submitted.  Maybe that will work!

Thankfully, tonight the house seems a little warmer. The thermometer reads 67F which is a couple degrees higher than last night.  Hopefully, this is a trend, but July and August are supposed to be the coldest months

Hatsen’s used to be one of the main grocery in town, but now houses several small shops.

Weekly staff meeting was this morning and we had a special treat.  Gottfried played his hand bells and put on a mini-concert.

The Punch Bowl looks the same as it did 35 years ago.

Since we worked last Wednesday preparing for the tower move, today was a day off.  Virginia and I walked around the west end of Manzini and took some photos of old

Across the street from the above shops and in what was an open city block used for South African Railways shipments into Swaziland, now stands the first mall in Manzini. It has two levels of modern stores like many in the U.S.

and new buildings.  The

One of the street side shops in this mall, is King Pie 2 Go, where we had our mid morning snack.

contrast between the old and new is so stark.  For mid-morning ‘tea’ we stopped by King Pie for a ‘pies’.  Allan and Joyce had told that this was a good place to go when they served in Swaziland in the

A woman carrying thatching grass in front of the Manzini Town Council.

The newest of three malls now in Manzini — Riverside Mall — with three levels of shops.

late 1990s.  I had a chicken pie and Virginia had a cornish pie.  The cost was about $1 each.

We also stopped by Chester Young’s business right next to the bus rank.  Chester, a founding

40 plus year old hut style shops in front of the Town Council building.

member of EBC, used to own a butchery on this property.  He

Open markets on the sidewalk across the street from the first mall.

started Hub Hardware behind the butchery and is now expanding the hardware  store into where his butchery used to be.  They hope to open at the end of the month.

The bus rank is less than a block from the first mall and is a place you probably do not to walk unless you plan to caught one of hundreds of mini-buses.

Both Virginia and I were very sleepy and took long naps when we got ‘home’.  I opened the curtains in our bedroom, lie on the bed and soaked up the warm sunshine for about 2 hours, while I slept.

One of two KFCs in Manzini. This one is next to the bus rank.

We think we have figured out why we are feeling so cold

Walking down the sidewalk, we found ourselves passing through a voter registration ‘center’ for the October elections. They receive a voter registration card with their photo on it.  This card must be presented to participate in the election.

now when the coolest weather occurred several days ago.  It is the fact that the tiled concrete floors and the cement block walls have all cooled down.  While the air warms up to 70F during the days after

One thing new in Manzini is a mosque, located across the street to the north of the Catholic church.

nights around 50F, the walls and floors are around 60F.  When the sun

The second mall built in Swaziland is the Hub, across the street from the old Swaziland Warehouse. Pick N Pay is where we do most of our shopping. There is also a branch post office in this mall.

goes down, the inside temperature quickly drops into the lower 60s and remains there until the next afternoon, when the sun warms the air for a couple of hours.

The bananas were really piled high today! Only after taking the photo did I realize the creator of this masterpiece was also in the photo!

This evening, we attended the Wednesday evening service at EBC.  The Bible study was on the last few verses of Revelation 10.  After reviewing who the Mighty Angel was in the first part of this chapter, we considered the significance of the the ‘little book’ and John’s ‘eating’ of that book.  On this cool evening, someone provided coffee and tea, plus ‘cook sisters’ [see — http://www.koeksister.us ].  The pastor invited everyone to stay for some “swallowship”.