The progress of the new African broadcast site has been followed by many. Missionary and national staff on site, TWR staff throughout Africa and the world, prayer and financial investors, broadcasters and the people of West Africa have waited with anticipation the switching on of the equipment that would broadcast the good news of the gospel to this region of Africa.

As 2008 ushered into view, the anticipation built to its highest point. The commissioning of the TWR-Benin transmitter was to take place – after several years of preparation and hard work the transmitter was to be switched on for the first time

Monday, 7 January:

Tim Oakes (Nautel commissioning engineer) who would officially examine and then switch on the new 100 kW AM transmitter began his travel to Benin from Canada.

Meanwhile, in Benin, the tuning system and feed line (the system that connects the transmitter to the antenna) showed problems. After 13 long hours, Paul Cox (TWR-Benin station engineer) discovered the problem to be a piece of test gear that was giving false readings.

Also, the injector pump on a 3 kW station generator used to power lights and plugs in the transmitter building seized. Garth Kennedy (TWR-Benin station building manager) and his helper Lazaré spent that day and into the night working on this problem. By the following afternoon, they had the generator running again.

Tuesday, 8 January:

Tim spent the afternoon going through the transmitter to ensure that all was in order. He had hoped to power up the transmitter the following day so TWR could then start test transmissions. Paul, Garth and their teams had worked many long hours to reach this stage.

Wednesday, 9 January:

The transmission line was tested with the hi-pot, that had just arrived with Perry Beabout (volunteer HCJB engineer) in preparation for switching on the transmitter. This device tests for high voltage problems. It was discovered that, unfortunately, an insulator where the power comes through the wall at the antenna tuning hut was defective. Also, they found that incorrect hardware had been used in a tuning unit, and there were two bad connections on the feed line out to the antenna. The team worked until 11:00p.m. to put temporary solutions in place, but replacement parts will be needed for a permanent solution.

While the commissioning of the transmitter was being carried out, Perry tried to set up and align the VSAT (Internet via Satellite). The power supply for the equipment burnt up. A temporary solution had to be found and another power supply ordered.

Thursday, 10 January:

Today the transmitter was turned oin, but without audio. Carrier power (the radio frequency) and the tuning could all be checked. The feed line and antenna appeared to be performing well, with the exception of the defective insulator. For the first time the main generators were being put through their paces, giving power to the transmitter and air conditioner units. The generators and air conditioners appeared to be performing well. However, there was a problem with the transmitter that Tim, the commissioning engineer, had never seen before. Tim and Paul worked until late into the night, isolating the problem and making a small modification to the transmitter to fix it.

Another problem was a high level of RF (radio frequency) on the audio cable coming into the control room. The team had to work on this and made very significant headway in reducing it. Perry’s temporary solution for the VSAT power supply that burned up is working and he is making steady progress.

Friday, 11 January:

The transmitter was powered up and audio is fed into it. All went well. However, due to the defective insulator, the test transmissions are only at 50kW (half power) and 100% modulation. All systems seem to be working well, but there is some interference to the VSAT.

As Tim, together with Abdoulaye Sangho, (TWR West Africa director) drove south through Benin from Parakou to Cotonou, they listened to the signal. They could still hear it all the way into the capital, a five hour drive (300km) during daylight! The long years of anticipation and hard work are seeing excellent results.

Time is now being spent on fixing the problems that have been detected during the past week, following which test transmissions will begin in anticipation of the official commencement of broadcasting on 1 February 2008. Please continue to pray for the team and Benin, the programme producers across West Africa and the co-ordinating team at the Africa Regional office as they prepare for the big day.

Published 17 January 2008