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Dude, where's my antenna?

T

ThatVoice22

KYST AM 920, the new "Patriot Talk" station has a lousy signal north of Houston and also has no FM translator, and it needs several.
The weird story below underscores why AM stations should always have an FM translator, which WJLX in Alabama has one at 250 watts to cover its small town, even though thieves dismantled and stole the AM antenna. The question will be whether to rebuild the AM antenna or not.
www.insideradio.com

An Entire 200-Foot Tower Stolen From WJLX-AM Jasper.

Thieves toppled and stole the 200-foot tower of classic hits WJLX-AM (1240) in Jasper, AL. The theft was discovered late last week and also included the transmitter and other equipment.
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
 
I'm getting more and more convinced that the future of AM is, just as it was in the past, a long wire on some roof and a counterpoise ground or maybe a buried old car! Land and copper are just getting too expensive to justify the limited advertising revenue. If the FCC would allow that, and still allow a translator, we could save or extend the life of some stations.
 
ThatVoice22 said:
KYST AM 920, the new "Patriot Talk" station has a lousy signal north of Houston and also has no FM translator, and it needs several.
The weird story below underscores why AM stations should always have an FM translator, which WJLX in Alabama has one at 250 watts to cover its small town, even though thieves dismantled and stole the AM antenna. The question will be whether to rebuild the AM antenna or not.
www.insideradio.com

An Entire 200-Foot Tower Stolen From WJLX-AM Jasper.

Thieves toppled and stole the 200-foot tower of classic hits WJLX-AM (1240) in Jasper, AL. The theft was discovered late last week and also included the transmitter and other equipment.
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com
Click to expand...
There exist numerous additional extraordinary accounts in the Radio world, yet this particular one is unparalleled. Wow!!!!
 
I am surprised there wasn't an alarm at the site. * If the thieves got around the system shouldn't a "silence" alarm in the control room go off? I assume they have a contact engineer. Don't most "check" their stations occasionally?

IMHO: This was not a "one night" job. Taking down a tower and hauling it off in the dark would be difficult and noisy. Surely if done at night someone near would have "seen lights" or heard something. I would think twice about wondering around rural Alabama (or anywhere rural in the USA) in the dark. Too many gun owners. Are there any door bell cameras around? If hauled the tower was hauled off in the day sections of tower will not fit in pickup beds. If the tower was sawed up and sold for scrape a check of dealers within a hundred miles would be easy for a component police officer.

The owner is not blamless. He should have at once a day pushed the AM button on his car radio. I just wonder if the AM transmitter even worked?

Will the insurance company investigate? Last time I checked EAS still applies to AM stations. I wonder which Federal agency could be involved? The local emergency folks might be interested too. AM is the "lowest common form" of communication with the public during a disaster.

When they apply for a STA, will they have to explain why the translator didn't "automatically" shutdown when the AM quit working since nobody paid any attention to the AM.

*A swap out with a local alarm company shouldn't impossible if cash is tight. There are "wireless" systems that can be cheaper than a commercial phone line.
 
secondchoice said:
Will the insurance company investigate?
Click to expand...
Brett Elmore told NBC News he doesn’t have site insurance:
www.nbcnews.com

Alabama station in disbelief after 200-foot radio tower stolen

Radio station WJLX can no longer broadcast its AM programming since the incident.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com
"Unfortunately, the site was not insured. We're a small market station, but we're going to get back, and we're going to be back on the air as soon as we possibly can," Elmore said.
Click to expand...
 
The whole “missing tower” story seems fishy for a number of reasons. It is in a remote area, yet access to the area would certainly draw attention to a 200 foot tower being removed from the property, even in sections. IMG_2994.jpegIMG_2993.jpeg
 
secondchoice said:
I am surprised there wasn't an alarm at the site. * If the thieves got around the system shouldn't a "silence" alarm in the control room go off? I assume they have a contact engineer. Don't most "check" their stations occasionally?
Click to expand...
Likely they did "the deed" at a time when they knew the station probably was 100% automated, such as nights or weekends. I mean, "station's on but nobody's home".

Contract engineers are often "on call" and only visit when they are asked to go to the station or transmitter.
secondchoice said:
IMHO: This was not a "one night" job. Taking down a tower and hauling it off in the dark would be difficult and noisy. Surely if done at night someone near would have "seen lights" or heard something.
Click to expand...
Again, it's like what I earlier posted of seeing a moving truck in front of a house down the street. It it's not a friend's home, you say something like, "maybe the next owner will paint over that ugly yellow fence" and ignore the movers. Meanwhile, the "movers" are stealing everything of value in the home.
secondchoice said:
I would think twice about wondering around rural Alabama (or anywhere rural in the USA) in the dark. Too many gun owners. Are there any door bell cameras around? If hauled the tower was hauled off in the day sections of tower will not fit in pickup beds. If the tower was sawed up and sold for scrape a check of dealers within a hundred miles would be easy for a component police officer.
Click to expand...
Again, we did not see this. Maybe they brought in a flatbed and took the sections away. Scrap tower metal is not worth much.d
secondchoice said:
The owner is not blamless. He should have at once a day pushed the AM button on his car radio. I just wonder if the AM transmitter even worked?
Click to expand...

True. And elsewhere folks are wondering if this is just to mask the fact the AM may not have been on for years.
secondchoice said:
Will the insurance company investigate? Last time I checked EAS still applies to AM stations. I wonder which Federal agency could be involved? The local emergency folks might be interested too. AM is the "lowest common form" of communication with the public during a disaster.
Click to expand...
What local government agency has a staff member whose job includes checking every so often whether the local stations are all on the air? And AM is useless to the 40% of Americans who don't have a radio at home any more.

EAS does not apply if you are off the air, such as with daytime radio stations. Many smaller stations that are losing money (over half are, in fact) don't buy insurance.
secondchoice said:
When they apply for a STA, will they have to explain why the translator didn't "automatically" shutdown when the AM quit working since nobody paid any attention to the AM.
Click to expand...
I don't think any translators are so equipped.
 
Wonder if the FCC would allow a traffic information system to be used. A STA of 250 watts should be accepted. A rooftop downtown might work. He might get some help from a ham operator on rigging up an antenna. Set up a go fund me page to get a good transmitter. I forget the price for Nautel 1kw but I believe it is the $16 to 18k range.

Ignoring the FCC is not a smart option.

Another option is to rent an HD2 or 3 from WXJC or some other FM.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Likely they did "the deed" at a time when they knew the station probably was 100% automated, such as nights or weekends. I mean, "station's on but nobody's home".

Contract engineers are often "on call" and only visit when they are asked to go to the station or transmitter.

Again, it's like what I earlier posted of seeing a moving truck in front of a house down the street. It it's not a friend's home, you say something like, "maybe the next owner will paint over that ugly yellow fence" and ignore the movers. Meanwhile, the "movers" are stealing everything of value in the home.

Again, we did not see this. Maybe they brought in a flatbed and took the sections away. Scrap tower metal is not worth much.d


True. And elsewhere folks are wondering if this is just to mask the fact the AM may not have been on for years.

What local government agency has a staff member whose job includes checking every so often whether the local stations are all on the air? And AM is useless to the 40% of Americans who don't have a radio at home any more.

EAS does not apply if you are off the air, such as with daytime radio stations. Many smaller stations that are losing money (over half are, in fact) don't buy insurance.

I don't think any translators are so equipped.
Click to expand...
I believe this is a class C AM. They can legally run 24 / 7. I am not sure of the emergency response hierarchy in AL, but the local 911 center should have the ability to access the local radio stations and cable systems. Reverse 911 is a good thing to have but our local 911 has a difficult time connecting with some VOIP services.
 
secondchoice said:
I believe this is a class C AM. They can legally run 24 / 7. I am not sure of the emergency response hierarchy in AL, but the local 911 center should have the ability to access the local radio stations and cable systems. Reverse 911 is a good thing to have but our local 911 has a difficult time connecting with some VOIP services.
Click to expand...
But there is no requirement for any station to be on the air at specific time or dayparts in order to be available should there be an EAS activation by "authorities".
 
Most FM stations run 24 / 7 thanks to PC automation. Class C AMs do too unless there is really high power rates. If you are a part of the community, the police most likely know your (or the sales person's) phone number. I have been called at 3am to put on emergency weather statements by the 911 folks in the past. There have been occasions where class D AMs have stayed on the air all night during an emergency. You can't run commercials and you should inform the FCC why you did it next business day morning. If you have ever lived in a small rural town, you tend to count on your neighbors, local folks and businesses.
 
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