This is a situation that is and will be playing out over and over throughout the country as the decay advances. W*** signed on the air in March 1963. I believe this is the original tower:
W*** tower
As you can clearly see from this picture, this tower has several problems. Aside from the loose guy wires, the rust, and general structural decay, it is bent in several places. Currently, the forces are in equilibrium, but for how long, no one knows. It is certainly not safe to climb. At 144 feet, it is no longer required to be marked or lit, thus, over the years, the paint peeled, the weep holes filed up, and the guy wires rusted and loosened, which leaves us with the situation today.
At the transmitter building, there are other issues with the basement flooding, mold, etc. Truth be told, this station makes no money on its own. It would cost several tens of thousands of dollars to fix all these issues, and for what; a high end of the broadcast band class D AM station which has not shown up in the ratings for fifteen years. Once upon a time, it was a surviving, perhaps not thriving, local radio station. Those times have long since passed.
The question is; what to do with it? Sign it off and surrender the license? Fix all the problems and continue to broadcast? Donate it? If so, who would take it? Or, more likely, wait until the tower collapses and deal with it then.
I’d imagine that there are many others just like it dotting the country. On the whole, the AM broadcasters that are viable would be better off if this dead wood was cut away and discarded.
Back last February, it was reported that FEMA/Department of Homeland Security was mysteriously constructing prepackaged AM transmitter buildings at various PEP (Primary Entry Point) transmitter sites across the country as something call “Primary Entry Point Expansion.” These buildings contain a 5 KW Nautel AM transmitter, EAS gear, satellite equipment (the exact equipment list is undisclosed), and a backup generator all in a shielded (Faraday Cage), prefabricated building placed inside a fenced-in compound at the station’s transmitter site. The buildings are being put in place, but not connected to anything in the outside world. They are planning to have about 80 (the number keeps increasing) of these structures in place by when the project is completed in mid-2013.
FEMA/DHS IPAWS PEP expansion project
Why, inquiring minds want to know, would they do that?
The new buildings and equipment are, of course, not provided to the government for free. I would estimate each unit costs at least $200,000 based on the following:
A new solid-state 5 KW AM transmitter costs $50-55K
A new 35 KW generator costs $23K
A new, shielded communications structure costs $70-85K
Those prices are roughly what a private company might pay, the government procurement costs would be higher. Multiply by 80, which equals at least $16M, perhaps double that when project administration is considered. In the distant past, through something called the Broadcast Station Protection Program (BSPP), FEMA did provide generators, fuel tanks, transfer switches, and occasionally a bomb shelter to key EBS stations throughout the country. In the recent past, FEMA and the government, in general, have been reluctant to fund even mandated changes in the EAS system, first in 1997 when EAS was first implemented and again in 2011 when the CAP modifications were required. Why are they now spending at least $16M to provide EMP-hardened facilities forAM radio stations?
The rationale for this current wave of government spending, as reported in several industryperiodicals, is simply a matter of supplying in-depth backup facilities in accordance with Executive Order 13407. The design of the structure and manner of installation seems to indicate the primary concern of FEMA is some type of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). If an EMP were to happen and it took out the station’s main transmitters, these could be connected to the existing antenna system and switched on. They would provide emergency programming and interface directly with FEMA’s IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System).
The interesting thing about this is that there is a coincidence with the upswing of solar cycle 24. Back in 2008, likely when this project was likely first dreamed up, the predictions were for a great number of sunspots in this cycle. That has not happened and in fact, this cycle is now predicted to be the weakest solar cycle since 1823. Even weak sunspot cycles can create problems, but does that warrant supplying 80 backup transmitters, generators, fuel tanks, and buildings to various AM broadcasting stations throughout the country? Further, solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) are fairly slow-moving events, the sun is well monitored; alerts would be issued and precautions are taken.
One other thing to consider: HEMP (High altitude Electromagnetic Pulse from a nuclear air burst). AM transmitters are more robust when it comes to HEMP than FM transmitters. This is because of their modulation type and frequency of operation. A 5 KW AM transmitter can withstand RF voltages six or eight times its nameplate carrier rating. Tube-type transmitters are even more robust than solid state. The FM broadcast band falls right in the middle of the HEMP fast pulse frequency (72-225 MHz), which will likely resonate in the tuning circuits of the transmitter exposed to it and destroy all of the active devices. Not so with AM transmitters.
A HEMP event would cause catastrophic damage to the electrical grid across wide areas of the continent (see also; Starfish Prime). The voltages instantaneously induced on computer circuit boards and power supplies would be so high, they would likely burst into flames if they were close enough to the detonation. The same for almost all other electronic devices with circuit boards. It would set the country back one hundred or more years, technologically, causing massive disruptions in the food supply chain. Such an act would surely be met with massive nuclear retaliation by the US. The military has not only hardened all of its communications and command facilities, but they have also undergone rigorous EMP testing, finding and fixing design flaws. Thus, the US military’s capacity to wage war would continue undiminished after a HEMP event, a fact that all other members of the nuclear club are surely aware of.
I have been to many, many transmitter sites. They range from mountaintop sites in NY and VT to flat fields with tall towers in Florida to coastal or wetlands AM sites. One site in Massachusetts was located in a state park near Westover AFB. It was formerly the microwave relay site for the Northeast Command and Control bunker, now reused as an FM site for WRNX, Amherst. Access to that site required walking about a mile and a half on a hiking trail, often carrying things like a shop vac, garbage bags, or other stuff. Walking in the woods carrying a shop vac will get you some funny looks by fellow hikers.
Yesterday was my Bridgeport, CT day and I took the time to head out to the WICC transmitter site. There are two ways to get there, one can call the Bridgeport harbor master or harbor police and catch a ride via boat, which is fun. Or one can walk down the beach from the long beach parking lot. If it is not an emergency or nighttime access, I like to walk down the beach. It is about one mile either way. I normally bring my backpack with some basic tools, water, and a sandwich.
WICC towers in the distance
I have been working with another engineer who complains about this.
Pleasure beach former cottage area
Now that the cottages are gone, it is a very pleasant walk.
Osprey on WICC north tower
This Osprey apparently didn’t get the memo: Radio towers are the arch-enemy of birds, actually sitting on one and using it as a good place to scout for lunch is akin to sleeping with the enemy.
United Illuminating pole-mounted circuit breaker
Circuit breakers on new three-phase power circuit installed by United Illuminating last fall.
I wouldn’t want to hike down this strand of beach at night or in a thunderstorm, but on a nice day, it is a pleasant stroll. There are far worse transmitter site access problems. It is a pain if any equipment needs to be taken in or out, that requires some special equipment.
I received this link in the comments of a previous post and found it interesting. The BBC will be closing down 648 KHz, Ordfordness England at the end of March, no doubt due to budget cuts. The site has been in use since 1972. Prior to this, the site was formerly an OTH array, COBRA MIST, which was then adopted for MW broadcasting. The video is 17 minutes long, but, if you are interested in radio history, technical aspects of AM broadcasting, and the like, it is interesting.
These are 600 KW transmitters. As Andy Matheson, transmitter engineer, explains, with a wry smile “I find them (transmitters) very satisfying, I enjoy either day work or shift work, just really working with transmitters has always been very satisfying…” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
