FM Transmitter Site Construction:

Overview:

MP&A has built or rebuilt dozens of FM transmitting facilities over the years, including major installations in Houston, Mobile, Denver, Sacramento, Greensboro and Wichita.  When one is a General Contractor, as we often are, the buck stops with us, and we have learned that seeing the "big picture" is just as important as attention to detail; both are key to a reliable and efficient intallation.  MP&A has learned when to bring in outside help and when it's better to develop needed expertise within the company.  We've learned when to use local subcontractors for certain work (and how to find good ones in unfamiliar territory) and when to bring in "the pros from Dover", despite the added expense of travel and lodging.  The average station engineer might get to oversee a new installation a few times in his career; we oversee half a dozen every year!

RF Coax Plumbing:

We have honed our techniques for large coax "plumbing" to a science.  Our associate Lynn Dorch has even deveoped a computer applet that automatically calculates all coax component cuts for a given installation which minimzes errors in metal cuttting, thus reducing waste and improving efficiency.

Remote Control Systems:

Since essentially all transmitter sites are unattended these days, and first-responders are often siginificant distances from the sites they are responsible for, the ability of the remote control system to accurately and comprehensively reflect actual conditions at the site--normal or abnormal--has become crucial to making good initial decisions as to how to react to failures.  MP&A has built or upgraded many remote control, AM, FM and TV, and we know what to monitor and to control, and how to make the maximum amount of crucial data available to the engineer or operator on the other end of the phone line or network link.

Site Controllers:

Our SC-1 Site Controller is equally at home and useful controlling an AM, FM or TV site.  This unit has been designed from the ground up to prevent any transmitter from operating into an open load, or any coax switch or RF contactor from switching with RF power applied.  The position of all coax switches are shown clearly and intuitively on the GUI's screen, and all one has to do to change modes is touch the right "virtual button"--or to have the remote control system issue the equivalent command.