Welcome in - we'd like to show you around the KMRY facilities -
... The KMRY vehicle ("Vincent II"), and the front entrance to our building, The Communications Center ...
...Your first view when you come through our front door - the lobby area, with Rick Sellers' office in the back.
...The main studio, where Eric C. Walker and Julia Kent do our weekday morning and afternoon shows and Dave Franklin does the Sunday Polka Show. The computer monitor on the left is attached to the "Smartcaster" which holds our commercials and other audio, and plays them back at the proper times - automatically - when we join our network. On the right, you can see the stack of audio sources - from the top, two mini-disc player/recorders, two compact disc players and - on the bottom - a cassette deck.
...The
Newsroom.
On the left, the news/website computer. On the right, the
audio console controls sound from a variety of sources,
including the mini-disc player and compact disc player atop it, the telephone and the news computer.
Yes, that's an original Collins Radio console -
Our Production Room, where commercials and even complete programs are produced. Remodeled in late 2006 to early 2007, the room features the former control room console, a new computer, and a rack of equipment including a telephone interface, two compact disc players, a mini-disc player-recorder, and a cassette deck.
A portion of
our conference room.
A visit to the KMRY transmitter site
- before the Flood of 2008, which probably destroyed the building and definitely
severely damaged any equipment still inside it.
The KMRY transmitter building in
northwest Cedar Rapids. The site is
adjacent to the Cedar River (good earth ground - essential for AM radio vs. FM
which requires height).
The tower is 1/4 wavelength of our frequency,
1450kh, or 180 feet.
Key equipment inside the transmitter building. On the left (as you face the
picture) is the Harris DAX-1 transmitter (serial number 0001). That's
right - its the very first AM digital transmitter off their assembly line!
On the right, a rack of equipment including a Harris Dexstar digital stereo
generator, plus two sound processing devices (the "black boxes" at the
top). The transmitter was saved and placed in the garage at our
studio location during the flooding.
Especially for Rockwell-Collins employees
and retirees, here's the standby Collins transmitter in operation, with the tube
filaments glowing brightly. Click the picture for the full size version,
where you can read the meters. This was the main transmitter for KLWW,
KCDR and the early days of KMRY - a 1961 Collins 20-V-3, manufactured in Cedar
Rapids. KMRY's engineer, Jim Davies, resurrected this transmitter so
it could be used on the air during times routine maintenance was performed on
the main transmitter. Photos of the 20-V-3 being loaded for its post-flood
trip to Minnesota are on our flood page.
The transmitter building also had a large back-up power AC generator (not pictured) which eliminated annoying "down times" during power failures. It was completely covered by flood water, and its status remains unknown but doubtful.
