Take a ski lift to work day, WBEC style

One thing that I like about the radio engineering job, every day is different from the last, at least when doing fieldwork. Access to transmitter sites can be a challenge, especially in the Winter months. Last Wednesday, I was doing work for WBEC in Pittsfield, MA. Their FM transmitter site is atop Mahanna Cobble in the Bousquet Ski Area.  The summit is about 1,800 feet AMSL and since the terrible rains last month, not been accessible by vehicle.  No worries though, somebody built this nice chair lift for us to use:

Going down!  I forgot to take pictures on the ride up.

The steep part of the hill.

One of two towers, both owned and managed by American Tower Corporation.  This is the older tower that has the radio station, somebody’s translator, some paging and two-way stuff, and sprint PCS.  The other tower is to the right, out of the picture and holds cell carriers.

View to the north over the valley, WBEC-AM’s two tower directional array can be seen in the lower left hand side of the picture.

WBEC-FM’s transmitter, it’s in there somewhere:

Polyphasor surge protector has seen better days.  It suffered some serious damage and was removed from the circuit.  Now, it makes a convenient home for rodents.  Reduce, reuse, recycle:

Something is missing…

Now where did I put that Nitrogen tank?  The site needs a little work and that’s okay, we came to work and get paid.