It was 48F when we got to the site.  I was responsible for morning devotions today and am on the schedule for Thursday and Friday.

Two reports were written this morning on ‘Antenna 6 Arcing’ and ‘Tuning TX 3 on higher frequencies’.

Last night, TX1 had multiple PA Tuning Capacitor inductive arc trip offs.  These only occurred during the 100kw transmissions, so it was decided to hi-pot (high voltage test) this capacitor.   Salema and a Swazi intern, who will be working with TWR for several weeks, got everything ready for testing the capacitor without having to completely remove it from the transmitter.  High voltage was applied and gradually increased to 27,000 volts — the highest the portable tester will go.  Since the highest possible voltage at this capacitor is 16,000 volts, it appears the capacitor is OK.  We then tested the transmitter on the frequencies that were problematic last night for about 30 minutes without any trip offs.

My investigation into tuning TX3 on 17.8 MHz continued after the above testing.  I discovered the RF drive could be increased some more on the RF Drive Controller.  This was increased to maximum and it was now possible to operate the transmitter at 100kw.  Even at maximum, though, more RF drive is still needed for optimum operation.   Upon adding modulation at 100kw, a tunable filter arc occurred.  Because it was nearing broadcast time, it was decided not do any more testing that might cause damage.

Since I had adjusted the RF drive, it was now necessary to recalibrate the RF Drive Controller to get the transmitter ready for broadcasting.  This involved tuning the transmitter to all the different frequencies used to verity the correct calibration.

At 4pm, Klaus wanted me to go with him to visit John, the owner of Scotts Ranch.  In 1989, TWR was granted permission to build an access road across about 5 miles of his property.  I had signed the 1989 agreement on behalf of TWR for that road!  Miss Scott, John’s aunt, had signed on behalf of Scott’s Ranch.  Mr. Scott, the original owner and John’s grandfather, who died at the age of about 95 (in ~1986), had some amazing stories to tell of his early days in Swaziland.  I had the opportunity to visit him a time or two and hear his stories.

Last week, the sale of that part of the ranch, which had been subdivided into four sections, was finalized.  I had a good time of reminiscing with John, while Klaus listened.  The conversation then turned to obtaining more information on the new owners and on the status of TWR’s access road.  It was time well spent.

On our way back to Singing Pines, Klaus commented that my presence in Swaziland at this time was God’s timing!

Jonathan and Gottfried were at our house for dinner this evening.  Gottfried is an IT expert from the Africa Regional Office and has come here to work on the TWR Swaziland’s computer networks.  We have already seen a huge improvement in our internet access, for which we are grateful.

Our house seems to be getting colder inside!  It’s amazing how cold 65F feels this evening.  We’ll have to go to bed to get warm.