Yobe Broadcasting Corporation (YBC) is located in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state, in northeastern Nigeria. As a government-owned radio station we operate a tight budget which is also government regulated. Back in 2008 YBC was first introduced to Nautel and their innovative solid-state transmitter technology. At the time this was a great revelation and led us to happily bid goodbye to our old analog transmitters which are now just scrap.
We awarded a contract for the supply and installation of two Nautel V10 FM transmitters (10 kW) to a broadcast equipment supply company based in the Nigerian capital city of Abuja. These transmitters are currently in use at Radio Yobe Nigeria. The contractor said his choice of Nautel transmitters was informed by their reputation for durability, ruggedness, energy saving and space economy.
The durability and reliability of the Nautel transmitters has certainly been proven right over their 11 years of continuous use without any major maintenance except that of updating some modules. With regards to energy saving we have greatly decreased our diesel consumption due to the low load (Nautel V10 transmitters are running on low volt) thereby saving us from the incessant replacement of burnt down Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). The Nautel V10 transmitters also save us space because they are so compact and economical. In summary we find these Nautel transmitters efficient, rugged and energy saving.
YBC’s experience with Nautel Support has been superb and we learnt a lot from them during the installation process. The Customer Service Technicians helped us a lot with the operational process and how to carry out simple maintenance and replace worn out modules.
The V10 transmitters were our first digital-ready transmitters. Given our high satisfaction with their performance, in 2013 we recommended to the government to purchase two Nautel 25 kW AM transmitters to once again replace the pure analog 50 kW CCA transmitters.
The government granted our request and procured two NX25 transmitters for the station with the hope that they would cover the entire Yobe state. To our delight the signal is being received all over Yobe state and even in the entire northeast region.
One unique thing we especially like about Nautel transmitters is that they are exceptionally reliable and can withstand the harsh weather conditions we have in northeastern Nigeria. The temperature is now at 45 degrees Celsius but yet the transmitters are functioning well.
Mr Umar Mohammed Geidam
Yobe Broadcasting Corporation, Nigeria
