COHASSET BROADCAST

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Broadcasting from COHASSET

1978.JUN
Picture is Lower Cohasset
My good friend Gil (pilot) and I were flying over Cohasset.
Voses Store: upper left (in the curve)
Trailer park and Cohasset store: center picture

I was casually planning - perhaps only mildly ruminating - on how to control two sites, separated by all these hills and pine trees: The transmitter site, not shown and to the north 5 miles, and the other site, the studio, to the south 12 miles. What was the best method? There was Radio, Microwave, or Phonelines. Actually, more than anything else, Gil and I just wanted to go flying that day. From up here, one can not help but think about all kinds of stuff...

Voses store is upper left inside the semicircle of a road. I have slowed down inside this curve - literally - several thousand times over the years. The road heading northeast from the curve is Lower Vilas. Approximately 5 miles north of here is my seven acres, located on Upper Vilas. Here, I first practiced with remote control, and began to control a site. My place was ideal: I was only one mile away, and could jump in my truck and make quick changes at either end.

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."
- Voltaire

I was going to be taken to court if I did not drastically remove pictures. Legally, I can not show you much. I personally think the censorship is ridiculous, but what do I know. This site was the birth place for one of my systems. The company stuff that I was forced to remove has been replaced with personal stuff. But it is still an interesting page...

The town of Cohasset itself is located five miles south of the site that I later controlled. Lower Cohasset (in the picture) is located at an elevation of only 1500 ft and Upper Cohasset is at an elevation of 2800ft. South is right hand side and is toward Chico.

1976.MAR
3500 ft At COHASSET
looking back down toward Chico

Chico is in the distance.
My work constantly gives me opportunities for beautiful views...

I once lived in Cohasset.
RULERMAR

aprox 1953

My control systems would later control this large superturnstill antenna. I was only a kid, seven years old, when this antenna was installed. And I had no idea that I would some day control it later in life.

RULERMAR

1973.JUN
Early morning ice sickles.

RULERMAR

Weather environment is a big factor in any control system; a real "killer" of a challenge.

I have walked-in many, many, many times - emphasizing the point for remote control.
Time may be of the essence; and several times, I have totally blocked the road with a four wheel drive and walked in. I would usually have the problem fixed before the plows came, which needed passage. I would have time to go back and remove the truck.

I have taken a snow mobile in a few times.
My good friend Russ Pope, executive vice president of Golden Empire Broadcasting, gave me a snow mobile - a gift from the company. Sure was fun spinning around in the snow with a machine that I did not have to buy! A company even kept the license tags up for me. What a gift! I used it to help other companies as well - and all with Russ's blessing. You can see, with this kind of trust, I easily obtained the green light for my remote control system.

I have taken a snow-cat in a few times. A snow-cat is much larger and more capable than a snow mobile. I would park it down at the store, five miles away. There are reasons to park at the store:
The roads may not be graded at night;
and the store may be the only accessable location by truck.

Such is the environment in which my control systems had to perform; in deep snow, in destructive lightning storms, in merciless winds, and with total loss of PGE power. Places like this establish a real proving-ground for a control system. What works on paper will never work here. A virtual world does not exist here. This is reality.

RULERMAR

In the winter, snow laden tree limbs will glow as they touch PGE lines. With these unstable conditions equipment is difficult to control. In the summer, and in a dusty environment, equipment will overheat. A control system is soon beyond it's capabilities.

RULERMAR

2005.03.29
No matter how good a control system, a control system must have controllable equipment.

The trees help keep road dust out of the High Voltage. Dust in the transmitters just keeps maintenance higher than it needs to be. Stations have gone off the air due to dust. Indirectly, my control control systems must counteract contamination and the effects of dust.

RULERMAR