Quotations To Live By.....

[BX25DMan]

Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid

 

[skeets]

“All warfare is based on deception.”
***8213; Sun Tzu, The Art of War

 

[LauraPalmer]

Do not let things happen, make them happen!

 

[skeets]

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives.

 

[D2Cat]

 

[85Hokie]

D2Cat,

is that US ton or a British ton? Either way, that's a lot of shyte!

 

[D2Cat]

85Hokie, the actual volume/weight doesn't matter, it's the principle we need to get a grip on!

 

[olthumpa]

D2Cat

Now ain't that the truth!

 

[Daren Todd]

D2Cat

Now ain't that the truth!

I made the mistake of showing that to my wife

 

[dandeman]

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful" Edward R. Murrow.

from the mural on the lobby wall at the Voice of America transmitter site, Greenville, North Carolina.

This site is not open to the general public, but I was able to get a tour of the facility back in 2013.

 

[skeets]

Is VOA still on the air?

 

[dandeman]

Yes VOA is still on the air, but on a tight budget... That's the reason there are no public tours.. they simply don't have enough staff to cover it..

Some people thought this was the end of VOA.. http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Radio-towers-being-demolished-in-Washington-373785161.html it's the end of site A (which as mentioned hasn't been on the air since 2006). Site B (Greenville) is still on the air..

There were originally 2 identical transmitter sites (A & B) and Site C was the receiver site) in the eastern North Carolina area. This is a pretty good overview/history.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Broadcasting_Bureau_Greenville_Transmitting_Station

One of the big challenges is they are still using transmitters manufactured in the early '50s (designed in the '40s), but they have a few, very talented and creative people keeping the aging hardware on the air. They remake some parts from scratch and stockpile parts whenever they find a supply of them somewhere in the world.

One maintenance aspect over time that kept Site B in far better condition than the Site A transmitter site, is that rather than frequently re-tuning given transmitters for the many different frequencies that they operate on, Site B set up specific transmitters on specific frequencies and did not re-tune unless absolutely required. There are considerable mechanical parts in the resonant circuits that have to be adjusted when changing to a different frequency.. That reduced the mechanical wear and tear on the transmitters at Site B.

There is no commercial market for the large scale power (250,000 & 500,000 watt) transmitters that they use, so newer replacement hardware is not available.

A friend of mine spent his career in the TV broadcast industry (tower construction/transmitter site side of the business), also a fellow ham, and he seems to know everybody.. He got in touch with Macon D. (he's in the news videos about Site A). That's how I got to go on the tour.

This is a good pictorial tour of the site
http://www.radioworld.com/article/48-years-old-and-still-a-flamethrower/23286

 

[skeets]

Thanks for the links and info,, I use to listen to VOA when I was a kid back in the early 60s on a National NC 60 ( infact I just got it working again, but theres dayum little onthe AM any more) with maybe 120 foot long line antenna. I remember running up and down the AM looking for number stations. Those were heady days for a young radio guy

 

[Josef]

I quit smoking, drinking, chasing wild women, longest 15 minutes
I ever spent. "Josef"
If it looks like shit, feels like shit, smells like shit, you don't have to give
It the taste test. "josef"

 

[Redlands]

I read on another section of the site and so I will repost what I read, hope it's ok D2cat, but it was such a good one


Crazy pets

D2cat


Learn a lesson from your dog---no matter what life bring you, kick some grass over the s**t and move on.

 

[skeets]

If I am ever confronted by a police officer pointing a gun at me, saying drop the unicorn,,,,,
What ever I'm holding is going to grow a horn and hit the ground

 

[Josef]

I just pray they don't mistake my cane for a shotgun, especially in the dark.

 

[DThrash]

If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up to much space.

 

[Lil Foot]

One of my cardinal rules:

 

[Lil Foot]

And another: