Radio World, Who’s Buying What, by RW Staff, January 20, 2023
The new Nautel transmitter will replace an AMPFET 10
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KSLD in Kenai, Alaska, has installed a new AM transmitter to replace a Nautel AMPFET 10 (serial number 147). The older unit dates to 1985 and will be retired.
The station has remained loyal to Nautel, choosing an NX10 model for this upgrade.
KSLD is owned by KSRM Radio Group. Matt Wilson is president, CEO and general manager. He said the old unit was beginning to fail and that repairs were becoming difficult.
Chief Engineer Paul Jewusiak said Nautel did what it could to support the AMPFET unit. “I’ve worked on several of these transmitters over the years, and when parts have become unavailable, Nautel has done their best to retrofit current parts to work, such as creating hardware adapters to accommodate new cooling cabinet fans.”
The installation of the new box was done in November. Wilson said delivery of the NX10 was a little challenging because the local delivery company was short-staffed due to COVID staff reductions.
“Also, we took delivery while there was much snow on the ground, so we had to get the access road and offloading area at the transmitter building plowed a couple times. It kept snowing between when we scheduled delivery and when it actually occurred. We rallied up station staff to help offload the transmitter, since the company only had the driver available and not the requested three extra hands to help.”
Kenai is a coastal city southwest of Anchorage. KSLD, heard on 1140 kHz, airs ESPN Sports.
