The logistics of moving a broadcast transmitter

[wx3k]

  I may be picking up a Collins 20V sometime in the near future if the arrangement works out....   and All 1300 lbs of it. Yikes ! I must be crazy 

Well, of course, with the help of others for sure. I have read a number of account of others that have moved these beasts.  Removing the modulation/power transmitters otherwise known as the "IRON" would be required as it lightens the load of moving the cabinet around. I have seen other folks literally drag these monsters on their sides out of vans, over plywood. This seems like one way, but maybe not a great way to preserve the paint on the cabinet very well.

Any suggestions ? Recommendations ? Advice that would benefit a transmitter "rescue" effort ?

I have yet to check the rental on a truck with a hydraulic gate. Would these gates handle such a beast ?

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Some thick wall steel pipes and a lift gate truck will make easy work of the move. Have fun!

[wx3k]

Yes, this is all a pipe dream right now    and fun.

Some thick wall steel pipes and a lift gate truck will make easy work of the move. Have fun!

[Jim, W5JO]

I have moved comparable radios around on a heavy duty moving pad.  Lay the transmitter on it's side without the transformers and capacitors.  Remove the capacitors because they might leak. 

With it laying on a strong pad or blanket, you can move it around quite easily.  This trick doesn't work well on carpet.

[Mike/W8BAC]

Hi Stephanie,

Pipe is the trick but for a 20-V I have used 1" schedule 40 PVC pipe for two transmitter rescues with excellent results. You can roll it on the base or it's side. Have a look at w8bac.com for some other helpful moving day tips. Hope to hear you on soon.

Mike

[wx3k]

All good input 

[KB2WIG]

I've used plywood and old broom handle pieces to move cemetary monuments around... Solid blocks of granite are childs play  (on a level surface).... .. 

The pipe is really the way to go. Or hire a few piano movers...

klc

[ab3al]

if you need help with this do what i do.  go to the contractor entrance of home depot and approach the leader of the shadow army platoon on watch.  Ask the  Tu Trabaho ocho peso ahoro. (pardon the spelling)  If they say see  you got help for 8 bucks an hourr.

My wife still laughs her ass off when i try to have a conversation in spanish.

[flintstone mop]

You're on a good track to get your 20V. Definitely get all iron out and remove ALL of the electronic chassis. The big heavy P.S. in the center and the RF and modulator chassis too. AND the tank circuit assy.
THEN you have a very manageable cabinet to move around. Document all connections and take a lot digital pics. It should go back together in a couple of hours. Easy to move to 160M. Great audio, but it can't make more than 100% pos.
Load up for "half-power" and a decent antenna and you start to be near channel master status.

Fred

[w8khk]

In addition to removing transformer iron and capacitors, it is best to remove the tubes and pack them carefully.  

I moved two RCA transmitters without a hydraulic lift-gate truck.  Once all the iron is out, the transmitter is much more managable.   For the first one, I used two furniture dollies.  See BTA1MX photo, showing the iron being moved before the transmitter is loaded.  Rather than a lift gate, I used a u-haul with a loading ramp.  With the transmitter on its side, two furniture dollies made loading up the ramp very easy.  (BTA1MX pictured prior to move from WD4TC shack.)

For the BTA1M from WABV, I used the two-dolly technique to get it out of the station, then a large-wheeled hand truck to move it across the unpaved parking lot to a utility trailer.  I placed wood in the trailer to prevent scratching the paint, laid the rig on its side, and slid it in.  Open trailers or pick-up trucks rent cheaper and are more economical to operate than a big lift-gate truck.  Should be all you need.

The only problem I encountered was standing the rig up in my basement.  The transmitter is 7-1/2 feet high, and to move from horizontal to vertical it had to be positioned BETWEEN floor joists overhead, otherwise it would not clear.  I used a "come-along" to lift the rig from horiz to vert, one person operation.

[w8khk]

I helped my brother W2WM rescue this continental from WPLK in Palatka FL.  We used a boat trailer with a piece of 3/4 inch plywood bolted to the frame, and strapped the rig down for the trip.  All the iron went in the van.  Before we removed the transmitter from the trailer, we mounted casters on the bottom, slid it off, and stood it upright.

If you have the opportunity to rescue a piece of AM broadcast history, you must enlist the help of other hams in your area, to prevent the rig from looking like the sorry one in the last photo.

Good luck with the rescue operation, Stephanie!

73,
Rick

[KB2WIG]

I doubt you'll get 'mucho trabajo' done paying them $0.0045 'por hora' .... ..


klc

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

¿Dónde está su carta verde?

[KL7OF]

THIS IS A TRUE STORY...It happened just like this....I DO NOT recommend that you do it this way.

I purchased my Gates BC1G from an "engineer" that removed it from KVNI in Couer de a'lene Idaho.  He had removed the transmitter from the broadcast site and had it in dry storage in his garage in Moses Lake, WA..He said he would deliver it to me from his garage to my Tum Tum shack for 50 bucks.  A distance of about 100miles)..I said OK fine...When the transmitter showed up in Tum Tum it was complete with all tubes and iron installed.  It was laying on its side on a boat trailer (no plywood, just an old blanket) and tied down with straps....It was backed into the garage and unloaded to an upright position....  I went thru and tightened the tube socket connections on the 833s and pushed all the 807s firmly in their sockets...I lit it up on its original frequency into its built in dummy load and it worked!    This transmitter had been transported up and down interstate 90 on that (not real good) boat trailer for at least 275 miles with all its guts intact, and it survived....The transmitter now resides on 160 meters as modified and is my favorite for that band...all the tubes that were in it on delivery day are still working fine...The 807's have some industrial US company name, and the 833s are chinese graphite plate....  A happy ending ....

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I may be picking up a Collins 20V sometime in the near future if the arrangement works out....   and All 1300 lbs of it. Yikes ! I must be crazy 

Nah, the 20V is well within the 'sane' realm of BC transmitters, if there is such a thing. Now, when you decide to haul home a Raytheon RA-1000 or similar, then we'll start to look atcha funny. 2400 lbs, thick steel cabinet, BIG iron....yeah.

The lift gate truck is the way to go. You want the large truck, it's good for 2000 lbs lift. I recently moved my 300G south using one of these and it was a walk in the park. If you're using it locally, it's probably $100-$150 for the day (24 hrs) and WELL worth it. Check the gate design and if you have a choice, go with the cast aluminum 2 pc as opposed to the steel diamond plate, as the latter has a much steeper lip to get over, difficult with casters.

As others have already suggested, some stout pipes are just the ticket if you have to slide the thing on its side. I've found that some hunks-o-2x4 come in handy too for blocking and lifting/levering.

Unless the thing is already gnarly looking, be sure to use plenty of packing blankets. Penske rents these for $15/doz. when you rent their trucks. I drape them over the transmitter and tape them together by wrapping packing tape around the outside once it's covered.

Of course, good rope, straps, whatever else is needed to secure the beastie. If the cabinet doesn't already have casters, add some as Rick mentioned. It took several people to wrangle my 300G around initially. Now sitting on casters, I can move it easily myself. You'll appreciate this the first time you need to get behind it for something. 

[k4kyv]

My BC1-T was free for the taking, on the condition that I removed every trace of it from the site.  That included a spare mod reactor, a crapped out mod xfmr, and all the documentation.  Couldn't find any spare tubes on the premises.

Got ready to move the transmitter, and that's when I discovered why the boss was so eager to let me remove the transmitter.  When they installed their new solid state replacement, they had positioned it so that it blockaded the main entrance door, just a fraction of an inch too close, enough to make it impossible to get the cabinet out the door.  I suspect that other previous potential transmitter-movers had given up at that point.

I removed the front door, the side and back panels, all the iron and all the tubes, and managed to cram it all into my little Mazda Protégé the first trip.  Then came back second time with p-u truck, tool box and helper, when we discovered the unfortunate placement of the new transmitter.  I was on the verge of going back and getting my skillsaw and purchasing some sheet metal blades, to cut the unibody cabinet into pieces so they could be removed from the building after I had completely gutted the transmitter.  But I went to a local hardware store and bought a tape measure, and with a little measuring I figured out we could get the transmitter out the back door with about 1/4" to spare if I removed that stupid hump at the bottom front of the cabinet, that fits over the ventilation grille under the door, and the sloping meter panel that attaches to the side.

Then I realised that I had forgot to bring any kind of wire cutters, wrench or spanner in my tool box. I was able to remove the hump at the bottom and remove the meter panel, but had nothing to disconnect the wiring from the meters or even to cut the wiring.  I found a hacksaw in the transmitter building and used that to cut loose all the wiring to the meter panel.  Fortunately, all wires had those little white tags with a number attached every few feet, so it would be no trouble keeping track of which wire went where.

Even with all the iron, doors and panels removed, the cabinet was very heavy.  We had to get the station manager and one of the DJ's to help us move the remains of the TX out the back door.  I scratched the cabinet a little, because part of the way we had to lay it down on its side and drag it across the concrete floor.

Out the back door, the entire cabinet had to be lifted above a diesel generator that was attached to a concrete slab just outside the door with welded angle irons that had many sharp rough edges.  We managed to manhandle the cabinet, without any personal injury, over the generator and into the truck, again with less than an inch of space to  spare.

On top of all that, this was a hot muggy June day with the temperature close to 90° and humidity that felt like 110%.

I got the transmitter home.  My first impulse was to simply part it out and store the pieces in my ever-expanding junk collection, but I looked it over and decided it might be worth restoring.  I put it all back together again and got it working on the original broadcast frequency (1230 kHz), then converted it to 160m, made some modifications to make it more suitable for my use, and now it is my dedicated 160m transmitter.

[KL7OF]

Don...  What a story...sure makes the 50 bucks I paid for delivery seem like money well spent....Your'e a clever guy....    Maybe we will get a chance to work on 160 before winter is over.....I'm not sure but I think we did work once Gates to Gates on 160 a few winters back.....CUL...Steve

[wx3k]

  I certainly feel the love here. Anyone else in my life would think I have lost it entirely. 

I may be picking up a Collins 20V sometime in the near future if the arrangement works out....   and All 1300 lbs of it. Yikes ! I must be crazy 

Nah, the 20V is well within the 'sane' realm of BC transmitters, if there is such a thing. Now, when you decide to haul home a Raytheon RA-1000 or similar, then we'll start to look atcha funny. 2400 lbs, thick steel cabinet, BIG iron....yeah.

The lift gate truck is the way to go. You want the large truck, it's good for 2000 lbs lift. I recently moved my 300G south using one of these and it was a walk in the park. If you're using it locally, it's probably $100-$150 for the day (24 hrs) and WELL worth it. Check the gate design and if you have a choice, go with the cast aluminum 2 pc as opposed to the steel diamond plate, as the latter has a much steeper lip to get over, difficult with casters.

As others have already suggested, some stout pipes are just the ticket if you have to slide the thing on its side. I've found that some hunks-o-2x4 come in handy too for blocking and lifting/levering.

Unless the thing is already gnarly looking, be sure to use plenty of packing blankets. Penske rents these for $15/doz. when you rent their trucks. I drape them over the transmitter and tape them together by wrapping packing tape around the outside once it's covered.

Of course, good rope, straps, whatever else is needed to secure the beastie. If the cabinet doesn't already have casters, add some as Rick mentioned. It took several people to wrangle my 300G around initially. Now sitting on casters, I can move it easily myself. You'll appreciate this the first time you need to get behind it for something. 

[WB2YGF]

I certainly feel the love here. Anyone else in my life would think I have lost it entirely. 

Not me. I know better. Ever since you got that rack full of ATV equipment I knew you were into big projects.

[wx3k]

Not much has changed in that regard <ROTFL> !!!!!!

I certainly feel the love here. Anyone else in my life would think I have lost it entirely. 

Not me. I know better. Ever since you got that rack full of ATV equipment I knew you were into big projects.

[WA1HZK]

Do whatever you have to do. It's worth it. Nothing like hitting the PTT on one of those.
Keith

[Opcom]

In addition to removing transformer iron and capacitors, it is best to remove the tubes and pack them carefully. 

I moved two RCA transmitters without a hydraulic lift-gate truck.  Once all the iron is out, the transmitter is much more managable.   For the first one, I used two furniture dollies.  See BTA1M photo, showing the iron being moved before the transmitter is loaded.  Rather than a lift gate, I used a u-haul with a loading ramp.  With the transmitter on its side, two furniture dollies made loading up the ramp very easy.  (BTA1M pictured prior to move from WD4TC shack.)

For the BTA1MX from WABV, I used the two-dolly technique to get it out of the station, then a large-wheeled hand truck to move it across the unpaved parking lot to a utility trailer.  I placed wood in the trailer to prevent scratching the paint, laid the rig on its side, and slid it in.  Open trailers or pick-up trucks rent cheaper and are more economical to operate than a big lift-gate truck.  Should be all you need.

The only problem I encountered was standing the rig up in my basement.  The transmitter is 7-1/2 feet high, and to move from horizontal to vertical it had to be positioned BETWEEN floor joists overhead, otherwise it would not clear.  I used a "come-along" to lift the rig from horiz to vert, one person operation.

In the first picture, I see the modulation iron on the left dolly, the one factory-wrapped with black tape? Can you please tell me if that is from the M or the X, and some time, if you have time, could you measure the center to center of the core bolts and also core thickness? I think you might have just identified the "COL Tucker"'s modulation iron. Mine has no label and I have not been able to tell which transmitter it was from.