This is the Gates Radio Section of
The Broadcast Archive
Maintained by:
Barry Mishkind - The Eclectic Engineer
Last Update 5/2/07
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Gates 250GY 250 watt Transmitter |
The 250GY was designed for the 50th anniversary of Gates Radio, or the "Gates Year" in 1948. It later took on the BC-250GY model name.
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A 250GY, originally installed in approximately 1948 in Augusta, GA |
| Phil Alexander says:
"The ORIGINAL 250GY and 500GY were
circa 1948.
"They and the BC-1J were replaced by the BC-1T and its lesser
powered variants. Many of the "T's" were 1000/250 for the Class IV locals when they got 250 upped to 1kW daytime." |
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Phil says: "The very late model 250T would last forever. A few years after it came out, they had to drop it from the line because they couldn't make enough profit on selling essentially a 1kW box for 250W, and they built a later version of the old BC-250GY. That marketing ploy really caused confusion. Fortunately, nearly all the 250's increased power to 1kW by the time the second BC-250GY came out. "Is it square or round on the corners?" was the standard question. "It has been a long time and I didn't get very involved with it other than to know its name because it was not a volume item, but I seem to recall it had more in common with the T/G's than with the original 250GY until you got to the finals. I don't recall if the later "GY" used the same tubes as the earlier, or not. The later BC-250GY used 810's modulated by 810s. " |
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| Phil notes: "However, Harris had zero understanding of broadcast equipment marketing and demanded no "loss leaders" which is what the BC-250G would have been, had it been introduced. Thus, for the few stations needing a 250W box, they revived the BC-250GY in name and put it in a smaller squared off box which you will find in some of the catalogs circa 1970." |