I bought a new Ramsey FM30 FM broadcast band transmitter kit. I have it in hand. I was also sent gratis the repair and upgrade parts for the old transmitter shown here. The most critical item was the final amplifier which is a GAL5 surface mount technology (SMT) amplifier chip. This is the part I determined was bad in the previous report.
The part is very tiny and has no leads (wires) off of it like standard components. Tiny little stubs touch and are soldered to pads on the circuit board. It generally requires very special tools and procedures to work on these parts. Also a very steady hand which I have mostly lost. But where there is a will there is a way.
I was successful in making the transplant with conventional soldering tools and now the old transmitter is back to working at full power. The solder looks a bit rough as I have not cleaned the flux away in pictures.
All the parts you see in the pictures except for several SMT components were assembled, soldered and tested by me. The transmitter has operated for 3 years before the failure of the final amplifier chip. I consider this Ramsey kit and their other electronic products to be well designed products. Nothing can withstand the force of lightning!
There is now music for the Christmas light show!