More Mica Peak Adventures…
In late November, the trusty old UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply, not the parcel delivery service) on Mica Peak gave up its last Watt. This device keeps essential electronic broadcast equipment alive during the (hopefully) brief period of time between when a power failure occurs and when the emergency diesel generator fires up and takes over the load--typically, about 40 seconds. This UPS can’t keep the actual transmitters running (about 35 kW)—but it DOES keep KPBX and the other support gear active. Even during normal operations, the UPS protects our gear from surges and other power-line indiscretions. We quickly ordered a replacement unit that (of course) arrived during our December snows.
On Wednesday, January 3rd, General Manager Cary Boyce and I took advantage of a relatively mild lull in the weather to install our replacement UPS. While the mountain road was drivable up to our spur road cutoff, there was no driving past that point. From there, it’s a ¼ mile trek uphill in the snow to the transmitter building. So we loaded the 75 pound beast onto a plastic toboggan and hauled it up to the site. Once we arrived, installation was mercifully quick and uneventful.
