The coordinates on your attachment match the 105.3 tower.
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93.3 tower destroyed
- Thread starter RadioRonnie285
- Start date
Wow I thought i checked that one. Oh well good for them. I guess this situation will suprise me
So assuming the STA is approved, WVFJ will be going from 400 watts at 371 meters to 18,000 watts horizontal, 15,800 vertical at 254 feet.
The towers are next to each other so what's going on here? Is WVFJ borrowing a transmitter, and the 105.3 site has a more powerful spare?
And this doesn't tell us whether the felled tower will be rebuilt.
The towers are next to each other so what's going on here? Is WVFJ borrowing a transmitter, and the 105.3 site has a more powerful spare?
And this doesn't tell us whether the felled tower will be rebuilt.
I reached out to the station, maybe they will respond. The letter in the application said that they were buying a transmitter to put on that tower and would arrive by mid April. The 4 inch feed line on the tower will be utilized which will enable the station to get the transmitter installed quicker. The statement mentioned that it will take many months to rebuild the destroyed tower but I just think that it will take longer than that. The 60 dbu map pushes the signal to the limits in southwest atlanta for the STA signal which is the edge of the licensed 60dbu signal for the full power c0 signal.
They are buying a new ERI antenna that they will be attaching to the tower. Not a transmitter. Transmitters are usually housed at the base of the tower. They could be moving an existing transmitter from the damaged site to feed the new antenna. Whatever transmitter they will be using will be at the base of the tower housed where an old UHF rig was located.
Well when I drove down to Columbus yesterday afternoon the 93.3 signal still seamed weak in the areas closest to the WALR aux site and most of 85 still had a weak signal. Well things have changed, I was on 185 headed back and decided to a dial scan about 30 minutes north of Columbus on my way back and 93.3 sounded clear and then the HD popped up. I wonder if they are planning on getting this tower site and transmitter turned into the new permanent site. So I Jammed to 93.3 HD 3 all the way to Riverdale Road on 285 without a cut out but still it was on 98% of my home in northern Stockbridge. Now that I work in Fayetteville I will have my HD3 back. So the new 18000 STA is on the air.
I work close to the site where the storm hit back in January. I’m gonna go by there in the next week or so just to look to see if they’re doing anything to the site. Also, they are doing their spring fundraiser starting April 25. They are a little more forthcoming with information so I feel like they’ll let us know something then.
I am getting updates from the station and this was just phase 1 to get the station back at some capacity. According to their information they are planning to rebuild at the original site. They have been talking about it on air and next week is their friend riser and I feel they will gives us a time line.
Alright so as one of the Radio Training Network WVFJ engineers it felt only right to jump on in.
First off yes, the tower was hit with an EF2 tornado according to the NWS and Insurance. There is a clear path of the tornado that goes over one of the guy anchors.
Next a HUGE thank you to Cox radio, on helping us get on the air with a little Nautel VS1, a circulator, and a whole bunch of adaptors. Yes we did move to a new tower, with a rushed 6 bay ERI antenna, this is our current STA home, and will hopefully become a new permanent AUX site. We took over the line and building from an old Media Flow install. We moved the Nautel GV20 that was at WVFJ's main tower site to get us on the air for now with a Nautel VX6 on order for a permanent install.
YES we are rebuilding the tower, I'm not at liberty at the moment to discuss specifics but I will say as I type this I'm watching the crew haul away tower sections, and YES it was insured.
Maybe I'll post a time line of events and how it happened as an engineer for the site if anyone is interested. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer what I can!
First off yes, the tower was hit with an EF2 tornado according to the NWS and Insurance. There is a clear path of the tornado that goes over one of the guy anchors.
Next a HUGE thank you to Cox radio, on helping us get on the air with a little Nautel VS1, a circulator, and a whole bunch of adaptors. Yes we did move to a new tower, with a rushed 6 bay ERI antenna, this is our current STA home, and will hopefully become a new permanent AUX site. We took over the line and building from an old Media Flow install. We moved the Nautel GV20 that was at WVFJ's main tower site to get us on the air for now with a Nautel VX6 on order for a permanent install.
YES we are rebuilding the tower, I'm not at liberty at the moment to discuss specifics but I will say as I type this I'm watching the crew haul away tower sections, and YES it was insured.
Maybe I'll post a time line of events and how it happened as an engineer for the site if anyone is interested. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer what I can!
We on the engineering staff love LF! I learned so much working those late nights!
Is there a way to rebuild where that's not the case?
I'm not sure what you are referring to, but we will be doing all new anchors, and a new base for the tower as we are going with a different manufacturer, and will be increasing the strength of the structure. What I was stating was you can see where the tornado went. There is about a 80-100 foot swath of missing trees, and that path goes over one of the inner guy anchors.
Rather than speculating as to whether a site or existing tower will work, I go to the following links and plug in the numbers.
www.fcc.gov
Then I compare it to the distance separation rules at this site.
www.law.cornell.edu
In addition, use this linked site to determine how far the contours go out for the contemplated facility.
www.fcc.gov
There are other utilities on the FCC.gov site, and also many tools on the REC site which are similar, and in some cases better than the FCC site. These include HAAT calculations and FM power.
The FCC utilities are a little clunky, but work with a little extra effort, expertise, and ingenuity, compared to the newer expensive software.
To be completely satisfied, I would have to have software that now ranges into $30000 to $40000 or more. Back in the 1990s, Peter Moncure/Radiosoft introduced reasonably priced software for the early Technical Engineering Consultant and station engineers, DOS based, but it is no longer available. It has some utilities that are timeless if you correct for more recent rules.
These types of people often come up with better plans and ideas than the overburdened top companies in the field. Often, you can spot mistakes and missed opportunities in their applications online. The FCC and station lawyers don't always spot the mistakes either, and the applications are approved.
Often, the station engineers and their advisors are more motivated to find every missed opportunity for their stations and local clusters than big firms.
Yes, you can always go to a lower class facility or 73.215 site and be closer, but notice from the 73.207 link that on second and third adjacent channels, you can only get from about 60 miles down to about 53 miles fully spaced going from Class C0 to Class A fully spaced, to a Class C0 station as a reference example.
As noted before, an AUX facility only has to stay within the 60 dBu F(50,50) licensed contour, and doesn't have to consider all the other considerations, except RF exposure requirements.
Preliminary FM Study
The Preliminary FM Study uses the FM Query to generate a list of stations, applications, allotments, and petitions for rulemaking that WILL be considered during review of an FM, LPFM, or FM translator construction permit application. This analysis is based only on the spacing considerations in...
Then I compare it to the distance separation rules at this site.
47 CFR § 73.207 - Minimum distance separation between stations.
In addition, use this linked site to determine how far the contours go out for the contemplated facility.
FM and TV Propagation Curves
This function uses the FM or TV television propagation curves to compute the distance to a service or interfering contour, or the corresponding field strength at a given contour distance.
There are other utilities on the FCC.gov site, and also many tools on the REC site which are similar, and in some cases better than the FCC site. These include HAAT calculations and FM power.
The FCC utilities are a little clunky, but work with a little extra effort, expertise, and ingenuity, compared to the newer expensive software.
To be completely satisfied, I would have to have software that now ranges into $30000 to $40000 or more. Back in the 1990s, Peter Moncure/Radiosoft introduced reasonably priced software for the early Technical Engineering Consultant and station engineers, DOS based, but it is no longer available. It has some utilities that are timeless if you correct for more recent rules.
These types of people often come up with better plans and ideas than the overburdened top companies in the field. Often, you can spot mistakes and missed opportunities in their applications online. The FCC and station lawyers don't always spot the mistakes either, and the applications are approved.
Often, the station engineers and their advisors are more motivated to find every missed opportunity for their stations and local clusters than big firms.
Yes, you can always go to a lower class facility or 73.215 site and be closer, but notice from the 73.207 link that on second and third adjacent channels, you can only get from about 60 miles down to about 53 miles fully spaced going from Class C0 to Class A fully spaced, to a Class C0 station as a reference example.
As noted before, an AUX facility only has to stay within the 60 dBu F(50,50) licensed contour, and doesn't have to consider all the other considerations, except RF exposure requirements.
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Answering Roddy, I guess they could build a freestanding tower like the old Channel 17 tower in Atlanta but one that tall would co$t $evere buck$. I don't know what wind rating a free standing tower that tall would have. A direct hit by a tornado F 2 or greater would be difficult to figure out. Wind rating aside then there is the "twisting" winds in a tornado. Also how do you figure tree limbs, cars, and whatever else is in funnel cloud.
IMHO: It would be better to spend money on an aux. site with coverage that includes the most doner money and have good insurance than go the freestanding route.
IMHO: It would be better to spend money on an aux. site with coverage that includes the most doner money and have good insurance than go the freestanding route.
Ignore the "SORRY" message on the video and click on it. It will take you to the video. I am amazed the transmitter building did not get in the tangled mess.
