NET On Air with new Pawnee City Transmitter

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET) recently installed a new 1.2kW translator at its Pawnee City, NE location about an hour and a half southeast of Lincoln, NE. A The weather was a brisk 32 degrees and windy thanks to the prevailing winds that have nothing in their path in the Mid-West. A good day to be outside in Nebraska as no snow or freezing rain that can occur this time of year.

There was a bit of a challenge getting the unit down the path along a muddy corn field. The snow had melted due to the surprisingly warm weather over the Superbowl weekend but we had some good movers. During this work the old transmitter was decommissioned and new electrical installed. After the old unit was removed and the new unit was at the doorway began the work of getting it connected and operational.

With the help of NET engineers the work was completed quickly and before going to air a complete “Proof of Performance” was performed into a dummy load. Once passed the new system was brought on air with less than 8 hours of downtime. I have to admire the folks in Nebraska have a great work ethic and never shy away from hard work or bad weather.

The folks in Pawnee City, NE can continue to enjoy NET programming for many more years to come. If you ever get a chance to visit the town there is a great café on F Street. This installation is part of an overall project to replace nearly a dozen translators around the state of Nebraska due to equipment refresh and channels displaced by the FCC repack. The vendors include Gates Air, Rohde and Schwarz, ERI, Katherine and K-Tech. 

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications (NET), including Nebraska’s PBS & NPR Stations, is the statewide public media service dedicated to creating opportunities for Nebraskans to engage with critical issues, compelling stories and quality entertainment. NET serves each of Nebraska’s 93 counties with 52,560 hours of programming each year on four television and two radio channels, plus online and mobile content. In addition to providing free, high-quality educational programming for children, NET provides programming in the arts, award-winning news and current affairs information and emergency alert services. 

NET Technology is hiring; check us out at https://netnebraska.org/basic-page/about-net/career-information.