New STL for

Tanga Transmitter

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Arriving in Kisosora, Tanga

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new antennenmast

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Rain washed away all around pegs!

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Building a box

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Lore is mixing the concrete

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Puring the concrete to reinforce the pegs

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Lore is smothening the surface of the new mast base

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Coupling antenna

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Transmitter, Telemetry on the top shelve, new internet connection at the bottom

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The internet connection consists of a TTCL router, a exstreamer and a small coupling transmitter with its power supply

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Watering the concrete after one week

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We packed the second half of the old antenna mast to be reconditioned in Moshi

 

Since we put up the new antenna tower in Tanga on the 10th of July we wanted to cement its base and the pegs for the wires holding it. They had been washed out by the year long rain. But we wanted to connect this work feeding the program to the transmitter in another way. With so many new radio stations coming especially in Kenya we get more and more interference feeding it from Kilimanjaro through the air.

We wanted to feed the transmitter in Tanga just as we feed the transmitter side in Morogoro already using the internet.

We applied for the DSL line since a long time. We followed it up each time we came to Tanga personally. We paid for it twice. We phoned now the responsible person twice a week and luckily it seemed to be ready.

So we left for Tanga Tuesday 9th of October from Moshi and arrived in the afternoon.

After a Meeting with pastor Ngoda we started to build the wooden boxes for the concrete. But when it became dark we first looked for a place to stay over night. Fortunately we got a accommodation in Mbuyukenda.

The next morning we went to the TTCL office asking about the DSL line we had applied and paid for at Kisosora. I got the receipt and we went to the building officer responsible for new connections. "Within one or two days it will be there! We already checked the site for connection!"

So we continued at Kisosora mixing the concrete and pouring it into the boxes we made the day before. When we finished it we had nothing more to do. So we went to the beach with the children. After all I had holidays!

I called the TTCL nearly every day. "On Wednesday or Thursday it will be there!" they replied. Calling on Thursday I got no answer. So we started to return to Tanga on Friday morning. Unfortunately it was a public holiday. Waiting for the ferry in Pangani I tried to call again, and I got the responsible one from TTCL on his mobile phone. "We connected and tested everything yesterday night!" he told me. "You can connect your transmitter on the line!"

We were very lucky to hear the good news we were waiting for such a long time! And really we found the line reaching up to the pastors office. "They checked it already with this telephone!" pastor Ngoda told me. So we connected it to the transmitter mast and installed all the equipment needed in the small transmitter hut. We tried to test it after we have finished to fit everything. But unluckily the line did not had any DC or ring voltage when calling it! So they had not finished it connecting it on the other end!

We tested the transmitter by plying music from a memo stick and made sure all the settings in the router were correct. We were so sad that all the listeners could not listen to our programs especially during this holiday and the weekend to come since also the feeding signal from Mlalo was not there.

After watering the concrete to make sure it hardens very well we packed the second half of the antenna mast onto the car carrier. But since it was late afternoon already we spent another night in Mbuyukenda before we returned to Moshi.

I called again the TTCL on Monday. I got the answer that they are still working on the problem. But in the evening I got the reply everything is working fine by now. I checked the DSL account and really the exstreamer draws the data from the internet!

Now we are glad that our listeners in Tanga can receive the signal in a good quality again as long as the internet is working!

 

Martin