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Through
creative thinking and perseverance, SCETV's Engineering Division
identified cost savings of more than $272,500 in parts and electricity
by scavenging broadcast transmitter parts from other stations that
no longer use the type of equipment SCETV does.
Knowing
that the old transmitters would be taken out of service at the end
of the FCC's mandated transition to digital television broadcasting,
currently scheduled for 2006, a source of spare parts had to be
found to "get us through until then," said John Crockett,
SCETV's manager of transmission operations, who masterminded the
plan. "The agency decided to try and squeeze a few more years
of life out of the old equipment rather than asking the state for
funds to replace them in the short term."
The transmission department also decided to reduce the power on all of the agency's television and radio transmitters to the minimum legal level. The transmitters were also modified to take advantages of the electrical power efficiencies of more modern designs. The impact on service to viewers was negligible, but the savings significant. Additionally, a lower electrical billing rate was negotiated with one of the power companies supplying SCETV. During the calendar year 2002, energy savings for the transmitters was $75,000 over the previous year. The estimated electrical power savings will continue to increase as the final two transmitters in the fleet are modified in 2003. Winners of the Blue Granite Recognition in April 2003 (see news release) were:
Photos by John Crockett; courtesy of SCETV. The Blue Granite Recognition is sponsored by S.C. State Credit Union. |
For
many years, SCETV has been keeping its fleet of 11 aging television
transmitters on the air for far longer than the standard lifespan
of the equipment. The longevity for a television transmitter is
generally accepted to be 15 years. SCETV's average transmitter age
is 24.7 years, with three being more than 30 years old. The manufacturer
of most of these transmitters went out of business almost two decades
ago, so repair parts are extremely hard to find. 
After
scouring the country for other similar transmitters that were being
retired, SCETV struck a deal with the Kentucky Educational Television
Network to purchase their entire fleet of retired television transmitters
for a token sum of $2,500. To date, SCETV has already used some
of the parts, which would have cost the agency over $200,000 to
procure new, if they were even still available. This represents
a savings of $197,500 with more savings realized each time an additional
part is used.
Also
involved: