Tower hunter (cont'd)

[Dan Strassberg]

My guess is WVAA 1390 in Burlington VT. Despite the station's
high-on-the-dial frequency, its 5/8-wave tower, at 442', is about 10' taller
than the three 87-degree towers of nearby WDEV 550. WFEA's Blaw-Knox tower
at 175.5 degrees is only about 360' tall. It may once have been taller. Many
of those old Blaw-Knox towers went up before the optimal electrical length
of medium-wave towers had been determined. Blaw-Knox equipped these with
adjustable-height flagpoles at the top. I checked WGAN; its 71-degree towers
aren't even close, nor are WEZE's ~340-footers. WTAG's towers are slightly
taller than WEZE's but still well shy of 400'. WVMT's towers are 400', as is
one of WZON's and both of WHJJ's. No need to check WICC or the Pawtucket
550, since they don't run 5 kW (the question limited the contest to 5-kW
regional-channel stations), and I'm pretty sure that Pawtucket's towers are
relatively short, partly because they are top-loaded. Same is true of WHYN
and WGIR. WGIR's towers ARE unusual though; they are both self-supporting
AND guyed--a very rare combination. The guys probably have nothing to do
with structural support; the top portion of the guy wires forms a top load
for these very closely spaced towers (~45 degrees). The close spacing is
also unusual and not generally thought of as good design practice.

--
Dan Strassberg, dan.strassberg@att.net
eFax 707-215-6367

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Drown" <revdoug1@verizon.net>
To: "Boston Radio Interest Board"
<boston-radio-interest@rolinin.BostonRadio.org>
Sent: Sunday, July 23, 2006 2:09 PM
Subject: Tower hunter (cont'd)


> While we're on the subject of radio towers, here are a couple of good
trivia
> questions (and no, I don't know the answers):
> 1.    What is the tallest tower (or set of towers) for a 5 kW regional
> station in New England?
>
> 2.    What is the oldest tower for same? (I'm guessing WFEA, but I really
> don't know.)
>
> -Doug
>