Impressive Broadcast Tower Sites

[rjoc@webtv.net (Rod O'Connor)]

As one who grew up in Mass (Quincy, Pembroke, CapeCod) I always thought
the 4-tower array of WPLM Plymouth was a cool site driving down Route 3
from Boston to the Cape. At nighttime the alternating aircraft warning
lights were rather mesmerizing.
Driving north up Route 3 thru Plymouth, just after the Route 44 exit,
you could  visually 
line up all four towers into one if you were in 
the passing lane before the Cherry Street exit.  Since Route 3 was
rebuilt in the 90s that effect is gone. 

The Route 128 Needham site was and still is  impressive..I still pull
off into the Ground Round parking lot, if I have time, and admire the
towers.

Here in Maine I like both the WGME tower in Raymond, and the WCSH-TV
WMEA-FM  tower in Winn Mtn. in Sebago. The WMGX tower off 295 in
Portland is impressive, as it looks like a lot of  environmental impact
must have been accounted for during construction, with it being on the
edge of a saltmarsh.

If tower lovers want to check out some neat sites in Eastern Maine I
would suggest:

1. Black Cap Mountain, off Route 9, Eddington, about 10 miles east of
Bangor, It's the home to Maine PBS' WMEH-TV with the highest tower on
the summit along with Maine Public Radio's WMEH-FM antennas. They are
also the only towers lit at night of the several on the summit.  Also on
the summit is WVII-TV's tower. It is weird looking in that it has a very
short tower, but high antenna mounted atop. Nearby is a tower for
Cumulus Broadcasting's WEZQ 92.9. Cumulus' other FM stations for Bangor
are scattered around the Bangor area.

2.Bald Mountain Dedham, just off Routes 1A and 46 is an easy climb and
home to 2 FM towers WKSQ 94.5 on the NE side of the mountain, and  at
the center of the peak is the WWMJ 95.7 tower, located next to the old
Fire tower.

3. Ryder Peak, Holden, off Route 1A home of the WLBZ TV tower. One of
the shortest towers I have seen with a vintage BatWing antenna on top.
Very hard to see from the highway, but provides an excellent view of the
Bangor area and points north.

4. Conant Hill, Meddybemps (10 miles SW of Calais) near junction of
Routes 214 and 191 is the site for Maine PBS' WMED TV, Channel 13 tower,
which also houses antennas for UHF TV Translators W57AQ (Rebroadcasting
WLBZ Bangor) and W61AO (Rebroadcasting WABI Bangor) Adjacent is a three
hundred foot tower which is shared by Maine Public Radio's WMED 89.7 and
was recently heightened and topped by WCRQ 102.9 antennas.

5. DownEast Maine's only twin AM towers are on Newbury Neck on Unon
River Bay, 5 miles SW of Ellsworth and the home to WDEA-1370. Very easy
to see, and literally straddling Newbury Neck Road, the guy wires extend
into the bay on the east tower, and cross the road on the west tower.
The last time I drove by there a few months back the towers were in
desparate need of a new coat of paint, and the wooden catwalks between
the towers looked pretty rickety. 

Outside of Maine, on my travels around the country I have also been
impressed by the KIG/KIRO/KOMO towers on Queen Anne Hill Seattle, Mount
Sutro, and of course Mount Wilson, Los Angeles.  Ester Peak, outside of
Fairbanks Alaska also has a unique TV/FM site specially designed for the
Arctic.

Rod O'Connor
Southwest Harbor, Maine