Monday, August 30, 2010

P-u-s-h it back, p-u-s-h it back, w-a-y back!






That was was the project over this past week. Adventuring where no others had gone before, the cooling radiator for TX 5 was moved outside the building and placed into a custom-made box.

The new transmitters which will be installed later this year, will require air-conditioning to keep them cool. It was felt that leaving the radiator inside (from the remaining TX) would cause too much heat to build up within the building. Because moving and locating this radiator outside had never been done before, the TWR engineers put their heads together with others outside TWR and came up with an ingenious plan:

The main radiator was put into an air pleuum with a 3000 CFM fan. This was set outside under a porch roof that protects the system from the weather. The pleuum was installed above the air-conditioner duct work to conserve space. The 3" steam pipe was then insulted (inside the building) to reduce the load on the air-conditioner. The condensate pipe from the radiator was attached to the existing pipe inside the transmitter.

Since the move, there have been some bugs that had to be worked out, but overall, the crew is very pleased with the project, and over the past few nights, the transmitter has not tripped off as it had been during the first few nights after the move.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Disassembly of TX 4











In the hit TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the cast seems to delight in the gutting and removal of an old home that is going to be made over. As the show progresses, we see a new and better home being built. During the second week in August, the TWR crew had a similiar experience as they gutted and removed Transmitter Four in preparation for newer and better transmitters within the building.

You can imagine the fun they had as they tore into the TX, taking it apart and tearing it to pieces! Over a couple of days the TX was stripped of its' aluminum parts, while later in the week with the help of two volunteers Rick Guerrero and Rich Dahilig, the remaining portions of the TX were removed; steel parts gutted for recycling, and salvageable electronic parts sent to storage for later use.

Yet as the TX was being disassembled, I couldn't help but think how blessed the people who were present at its' dedication 28 years ago would have been. They would have prayed for long-life, dependability, and that it would serve its' purpose . . . to reach Asia for Christ so that lasting fruit is produced. Through the grace of God, TX 4 has done just that, and we retire it with joyful hearts.

"the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

Monday, August 9, 2010

Promises


As I drove to work this morning I saw this beautiful rainbow over the KTWR antenna field and the two containers holding the two new transmitters. This sight made me reflect on Gods promises:

1. (Rainbow) Genisis 9: 11-13 " I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

2. (God's word) Isaiah 55:10-11 "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it"

I look forward to the day when God's word "waters" Asia with his life giving word from the new transmitters.