Transmitter sites tend to be out of site and out of mind for many and that’s one of the many reasons we partner with broadcasters. Routine site visits and maintenance are a big part of our services. I’m continually amazed at the different types of ingress we discover. This time it was high reflected power on the transmitter that had me walking outside to, literally, see what was up. Here’s a case of, “Hurry up and zip tie the coax to the tower.” I can image the project manager realizing cable management hardware was overlooked in the parts order or perhaps it was simply left behind at the office. Either way, time is money on the tower and it appears 180 feet of 7/8 inch cable wasn’t properly attached to the tower. Now it’s twisted up in our customers antenna. Suddenly, I recalled a recent conversation I had with one of the staff about how the station was usually strong in a particular part of his drive home but lately seemed to drop out entirely. It all makes sense now. It’s not uncommon to find abandoned cables and coax on a tower. Wether it’s owned or not I’m sure we will be looking into cleaning up this tower soon enough.
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Beautiful weather for a Tower job! If I can’t be on a bike, this is the next best. ... See MoreSee Less
4 years ago
Installing a Shively SLV 2-bay temporary. Amazing it is performing almost as well as the 9-bay we are troubleshooting! ... See MoreSee Less
4 years ago
Out with the old, in with the stinking tree is in the way! I had hoped that the new satellite (AMC-18) would be visible. Especially since this site will be moved in late August. So it may be time to bring in an arborist or be off the air for a month. Next step, find a cheap 3 meter dish to put up for a month. ... See MoreSee Less
4 years ago
Successful drop of two towers in a residential neighborhood. It was a bit of a stop and go project as we tried to schedule around the power company removing services so we could do the drop. We unexpectedly got the go last Wednesday. I'm very grateful for a hard working crew. We recycled three tons of steel and didn't set any grass fires with cutting torches and hot saws running all day for three days. Good times! ... See MoreSee Less
4 years ago
A little crack in a resistor could lead to big problems later. Resistors by nature get hot. They are resisting the flow of electric current after all. It is always wise to inspect resistors first whenever opening a power supply cabinet, especially bleeder resistors. Bleeder resistors are in circuit to slowly drain voltage from high voltage, high capacity capacitors. They are primarily a safety feature and a reason to always use the grounding stick across capacitors before troubleshooting a power supply. If bleeder resistors fail to do their job then get ready for a big bang at the end of the grounding stick. I've only had one such awakening but I'm sure my life was saved by the grounding stick that day. ... See MoreSee Less
My grandfather was a lineman. I think this sort of fun is in my blood.