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.