Harris Corporation Supplies Turnkey Transmission and Studio System to
WQRZ-FM in Hancock County, Mississippi
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Station essential to providing emergency information to local residents
following Hurricane Katrina
CINCINNATI, October 19, 2005 - Harris Corporation's (NYSE: HRS) Broadcast
Communications Division (BCD) has played a key role in rebuilding WQRZ-FM, a
low-power FM station serving Hancock County, Mississippi that was nearly
destroyed by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. WQRZ-LP was the
country's first Amateur Radio-based organization granted a community broadcast
FM station, hitting the airwaves in January 2003. Since then, the 24/7 station
has been the premier source of information to Hancock County residents,
providing music as regular programming but also offering communication
resources and automatic Emergency Alert System (EAS) broadcasts to local
listeners in times of emergency.
"We are passing on in-depth information to listeners about where to go
for FEMA assistance, the Small Business Administration, medical center and
shelter locations, and where to get a hot meal, ice, clothing and bare
necessities," said Sara Allen, an independent contractor assisting with WQRZ
operations. "The hardest part of the update is reading the list of those still
missing since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. But the feedback I've had from
the public is that WQRZ has been a very important resource to the people of
Hancock County. They are listening and trusting the source as we are attached
directly to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) by way of the Public
Information Office, and that co-location decreases the risk of faulty and
inaccurate information."
As Hurricane Katrina approached, WQRZ-FM Chief Engineer Brice Phillips,
who operated the station from his home two miles from the Mississippi Gulf
Coast, relocated the station's existing 100-watt FM transmitter, the EAS, a
portion of its four-bay antenna, and some studio components to the Hancock
County EOC to continue broadcasts. When the storm hit on August 29, Phillips'
home was destroyed, but the station's tower and a 10-foot by 10-foot shed
survived. In the ensuing days, Harris engineers pre-built and shipped a turnkey
studio system to the Hancock EOC featuring Harris resale products, including a
Mackie VLZPRO mixer, a Denon 951FA CD player, microphones, headphones, wiring
and cable. A Harris Quest® 1 kW FM transmitter from the Harris factory in
Quincy, Illinois, was tuned and tested, crated and shipped to Phillips. Mark
Goins, a Harris BCD national accounts manager, pulled all of the studio gear
together and made sure it reached its destination in time. Harris also worked
closely with Dielectric, which designed and built a one-bay antenna with
transmission line for use with the Harris Quest transmitter and existing tower.
Once delivered, Gary Minker, president of Radio Works RF Consulting and a
Harris contractor, headed the task of cleaning and converting Phillips' shed
into a transmission facility. "The working conditions were far from ideal with
the heat, bugs and unbelievable amounts of mud," said Minker. "We removed a
foot of mud from the shed, rinsed it with water and drilled holes in the floor
for drainage. We used repeater boxes, which had been used for local police and
amateur radio communications before being destroyed in the storm surge, as
stairs for access to the shed to create a new transmission facility. The Harris
Quest transmitter frequency was changed from 98.1 to WQRZ's 103.5 frequency,
and we set the transmitter to mono so listeners using state-distributed
transistor radios could pick up a stronger signal. Tower climbing, line
sweeping, connector installation, antenna settings, and modulation testing were
just some of the other tasks performed at the transmitter site. We then built
the studio at the new Hancock EOC's site at the Hancock Vocational Technical
School seven miles from the transmitter. The entire project was completed in
just four days."
The Harris Quest transmitter has boosted WQRZ's signal output to 1300
watts - 13 times its previous output - thanks to special temporary authority
from the FCC that was secured by Allen. This has allowed Phillips and Allen to
cover greater distances with these important broadcasts. Minker reports that he
received clear car audio from the station at the Mississippi-Louisiana state
line 15 miles from the site.
"WQRZ's original purpose was to be the center of information for Hancock
Country, providing trained radio operators to communicate public safety, health
and property protection information to local residents," said Phillips, who
also serves as broadcast division director of Hancock County Amateur Radio
Association, Inc. "We are very lucky that our tower escaped unharmed and are
very appreciative of the help we received from numerous organizations and
engineers. With the help of Gary Minker and his crew, plus the equipment
supplied by Harris, we rebuilt quickly and transferred our temporary on-air
operation to the new system with less than 45 minutes of off-air time."
The state of Florida also donated a generator to keep the transmitter
on-air due to the lack of electricity in the region. The generator was almost
lost when Hurricane Rita blew through the area, but Phillips moved it to higher
ground to ride out the second storm. Phillips reports that the new transmission
system has been running perfectly since going on-air. There is no fixed date
for changing the studio location, and it could be at its current home for up to
several months. "The station is fairly portable at this point," said Allen, "so
all that's required is to move the installed equipment to another site, connect
it, and go back on the air in a fairly brief amount of time."
Hal Kneller, manager of National Public Radio Initiatives for the Harris
BCD's Radio Broadcast Systems business unit, was instrumental in coordinating
the Harris response to procure, pre-build and deliver the new studio equipment
and FM transmitter. "It is gratifying to know that Harris employees across the
company can come together very quickly to make the near impossible very
possible. This was not just a Harris BCD project. Harris' Government
Communications Systems Division (GCSD) Homeland Security unit contacted us with
a general description of what was needed, and we immediately turned to BCD's
Quincy, Illinois, factory to ensure rapid shipment of the Quest transmitter.
GCSD had been in contact with the Florida Emergency Operations Center, which
was coordinating all of Florida's hurricane assistance to the Gulf Coast. This
became the staging area for all the broadcast equipment coming in from
different locations. We all feel a great sense of satisfaction from being a
part of this crucial project."
About Harris Broadcast Communications Division
Harris is an international communications and information technology
company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries.
With headquarters in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual sales of over
$3 billion and has 12,600 employees - including 5,500 engineers and scientists
- dedicated to the development of best-in-class assured communicationsT
products, systems, and services. The company's operating divisions serve
markets for government communications, RF communications, broadcast
communications, and microwave communications. Additional information about
Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com.
# # #
Contact Information:
Mary Beth Harnett
Harris Corporation
Broadcast Communications Division
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
513-459-3620
Robin Hoffman
Pipeline Communications
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
973-746-6970
For additional information and photos, visit
www.broadcast.harris.com/news/
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