WATO Oak Ridge, Tennessee tower falls

Force Commander · Post by **Force Commander** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:25 am

http://www.oakridger.com/stories/032608 ... 2695.shtml

genlock · Post by **genlock** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:46 am

It took the station TWO DAYS to find out that the tower fell down?

"While the station remained on the air for two days, personnel discovered the fallen tower Thursday, forcing Horne Radio to shut down WATO due to exposed wires and other variables which were deemed unsafe."

Looks like the hard drive that was running the station failed to check
tower lights or base currents.

Force Commander · Post by **Force Commander** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:45 pm

Don't you have a feeling there is a fine on the horizon? Now that this is hitting the trades (already in http://www.allaccess.com) it will be difficult for the FCC to ignore that the station was at least out of pattern for 2 days before discovering and taking action.

Cameron · Post by **Cameron** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:07 pm

Force Commander wrote:Don't you have a feeling there is a fine on the horizon? Now that this is hitting the trades (already in http://www.allaccess.com) it will be difficult for the FCC to ignore that the station was at least out of pattern for 2 days before discovering and taking action.

Lessee...

Tower light violation(s) - check.
AM Fencing requirement violation - check.
Directional monitoring violation - check.
Directional field-strength violation - check.
Harmful Interference violation - check.
Exposed rf radiation/current violation - check.
Form of payment the US Treasury receive from the licensee - check.

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:19 pm

Force Commander wrote:Don't you have a feeling there is a fine on the horizon? Now that this is hitting the trades (already in http://www.allaccess.com) it will be difficult for the FCC to ignore that the station was at least out of pattern for 2 days before discovering and taking action.

A sad illustration on the state of (some) broadcast operations today.

Arp2 · Post by **Arp2** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:44 pm

Hoosier Daddy wrote:A sad illustration on the state of (some) broadcast operations today.

...but this is exactly the kind of station you guys say you want!!

...small-town station owned by a small owner that's kept it local-ish with small-town school sports and local church services....

I don't get it........

Hoosier Daddy · Post by **Hoosier Daddy** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 11:29 pm

Arp2 wrote: ... exactly the kind of station you guys say you want ... small-town station owned by a small owner that's kept it local-ish with small-town school sports and local church services....

Yep. Absolutely. Underlined. Bold face.

I don't get it.

You didn't go far enough. Add the part about giving a damn and/or having your shit together so you'd realize you had a tower on the ground. Surely to God there was a transmitter meter reading messed up or an alarm or your transmitter's failsafe shut you down because when you went to the night pattern you set the grass on fire or a listener called and said they can't hear you in Nagatuck Falls anymore but a farmer reported five electrocuted cows caught in a barbed wire fence next to the antenna farm ...

Lester · Post by **Lester** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:28 am

Arp2 wrote:
Hoosier Daddy wrote:A sad illustration on the state of (some) broadcast operations today.
...but this is exactly the kind of station you guys say you want!!

...small-town station owned by a small owner that's kept it local-ish with small-town school sports and local church services....

I don't get it........

I agree with HD... if the tower fell and the station was nothing more than fire and forget satellite programming (except for the occasional local sportscast), I'm pretty sure no one here has advocated such a beast.

Big Media · Post by **Big Media** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 9:41 am

If a tower falls in a field... and no one is around to hear it... does it make a sound?

I swear, this sounds like something that would happen to Rosco Peters, rest his soul.

Cameron · Post by **Cameron** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 8:14 am

Big Media wrote:If a tower falls in a field... and no one is around to hear it... does it make a sound?

I swear, this sounds like something that would happen to Rosco Peters, rest his soul.

Only after the plate current, voltage, and base-current meter had been altered downward to reflect legal operation.