AIR antennas wrongly installed, Kannada programmes meant for Karnataka reach neighbour states
Here is a classic example of how tax-payers' money, worth crores of rupees, is being wasted without serving any purpose. The direct antennas (DAs) at Hosakote of the All-India Radio are wrongly designed and installed. The purpose of installing the DA was to enable the outreach of Kannada programmes in more areas of the state.
For this purpose, the transmitter power was increased to 200 kilowatts from the existing 50 kilowatts during 1989, for better outreach, as the radio frequency (RF) signal was noisy due to increased electronic noise in the atmosphere. As Bangalore is geographically situated in one corner of Karnataka, the DA cardiartic pattern was thought to direct the entire transmission power towards Karnataka. But due the mistake in the design, the DAs were erected wrongly, resulting in main beam of radiate power going towards Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala instead of towards Karnataka. With this effect, the earlier covered districts, with 50kw too, were deprived since 1989. Hosakote is situated near Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border.
In other words, RF power is pumped towards Kerala and Tamil Nadu, particularly the oceanic sector in Chennai. This has led to the wastage of crore of rupees since the last few decades. No authority is willing to take any responsibility of this blunder.
In a letter to the Director General, All India Radio, New Delhi, S Sivaraman, Deputy Director (Engg), All India Radio, Chennai, has made it clear that the radiation pattern from the existing arrangement with the new mast active, and the old mast earthed, is very nearly omnidirectional, with a very slight increase towards the south alone. Thus, it covers a sizable area in Tamil Nadu as well as in Andhra," Sivaraman said.
The letter further stated that as per the directorate design, the projected theoretical pattern with the old mast, phased at 45 degree with reference to the active mast, gives a pronounced gain between 140 degree and 230 degree with proportionate reduction in the other directions, with the minimum between 320 degree and 50 degree. "This in effect will accentuates the radiation towards Tamil Nadu even more and reduce the signal towards the northern districts of Karnataka,'' Sivaraman said in the the letter.
Meanwhile, VG Malagi, deputy director (engineering) AIR, has reported the situation to his superiors. He has tried convincing all the officers who came were in Bangalore on tour, to set right the technical glitch which occurred in 1989. 200 kws of RF power was wasted to non-designated coverage areas, by depriving Kannada listeners. The very reason the capacity of the transmitter at Hosakote was raised to 200 kw was to save public money. When he did not get positive response, Malagi ultimately approached the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, resulting in his immediate transfer to Tura in Meghalaya.
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