Darkman
09-18-06, 08:59 PM
Stations Unite in Tower Project
By Glen Dickson, STAFF
(Broadcasting and Cable) _ A single tower will perform double duty for two Georgia stations that lost their 1,000-foot broadcast towers in a June helicopter crash. Raycom Media and Barrington Broadcasting will build a 1,000-foot tower for WFXL and WALB Albany, Ga., with completion targeted for February sweeps.
The stick, which should cost around $3 million, will feature a "T-top" structure with a cross-bar on top to support both a VHF antenna for Raycom's WALB station, an NBC affiliate, and a UHF antenna for Barrington's WFXL, a Fox outlet. Digital television antennas for both stations will be side-mounted lower on the tower.
As reported in the June 19 B&C , the WFXL tower was severely damaged when it was struck by an Army helicopter on a training mission June 1, an accident that killed four of the five soldiers on board.
The collision cut one of the tower's supporting guy wires, making the structure likely to collapse and placing the adjacent tower for WALB, located 150 feet away, at risk. During a controlled demolition, one of the WFXL stick's guy wires lashed out and brought down WALB's tower as well.
Getting by on Low Power
Since then, both stations have been broadcasting from temporary low-power facilities atop WALB's studio. With high cable penetration in the Albany market and carriage of local signals by satellite operator EchoStar, WALB and WFXL executives estimate that only about 10% of their audience was affected.
"The ERP [effective radiated power] is respectable, and we're doing okay," says Keith Bland, senior VP of technical operations for Barrington...
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=66327 )
By Glen Dickson, STAFF
(Broadcasting and Cable) _ A single tower will perform double duty for two Georgia stations that lost their 1,000-foot broadcast towers in a June helicopter crash. Raycom Media and Barrington Broadcasting will build a 1,000-foot tower for WFXL and WALB Albany, Ga., with completion targeted for February sweeps.
The stick, which should cost around $3 million, will feature a "T-top" structure with a cross-bar on top to support both a VHF antenna for Raycom's WALB station, an NBC affiliate, and a UHF antenna for Barrington's WFXL, a Fox outlet. Digital television antennas for both stations will be side-mounted lower on the tower.
As reported in the June 19 B&C , the WFXL tower was severely damaged when it was struck by an Army helicopter on a training mission June 1, an accident that killed four of the five soldiers on board.
The collision cut one of the tower's supporting guy wires, making the structure likely to collapse and placing the adjacent tower for WALB, located 150 feet away, at risk. During a controlled demolition, one of the WFXL stick's guy wires lashed out and brought down WALB's tower as well.
Getting by on Low Power
Since then, both stations have been broadcasting from temporary low-power facilities atop WALB's studio. With high cable penetration in the Albany market and carriage of local signals by satellite operator EchoStar, WALB and WFXL executives estimate that only about 10% of their audience was affected.
"The ERP [effective radiated power] is respectable, and we're doing okay," says Keith Bland, senior VP of technical operations for Barrington...
( The entire article is at the following source: http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=66327 )