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Empire State Building - climbers

Those two climbers had to know those antennas were not active, at least the batwing. If you watch one video the girl (I think it was the girl) just casually grabs one of the batwing antenna elements, as up she goes.

As Scott Fybush (in #7 above) mentioned, that was Channel 4 & 5's antenna. Channel 4 (by itself) was the first TV antenna up on that building going way back, gradually the other NYC channels went up there until the WTC tower site was completed, then they all moved to the WTC. Channel 2 was the only station that for some reason kept their old antenna & transmitter up in the Empire state Building. Following 9/11 they were back on the air from that old site, the transmitter engineer who knew that old transmitter well, came in out of retirement to help.

I think I got this next comment correct, if not please add corrections.
Some of you might recall, the NYC TV Guide had translators (for all the NYC TV stations), listed in it, when the WTC reached a certain height and after it was completed it was causing bad signal problems in The Bronx. So, each channel got a translator, that were all located in The Bronx.
 
The UHF translators were all at Empire, using directional antennas that aimed north *at* the Bronx and upper Manhattan where the multipath problems were worst.
 
OK Scott, did not know the translators were located on the ESB, Thanks!!!

I recall as a kid we moved, and the house we moved into had a "line of sight" view of the ESB, we were in East Orange, NJ (about 15 miles west of ESB), in the 60's at the time. The house we came from did not see the ESB . . . anyway our trusty Admiral TV got overloaded because I picked THE BIGGEST TV ANTENNA I COULD FINE, from Lafayette Radio, my Dad gave me the money and said - go buy it.
I wanted to DX too.

I put it up, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!

I turned on the TV and it was getting overloaded, didn't do that in the house we came from with the smaller antenna!!! I had to install an attenuator to reduce the signals of the local channels . . . when DXing I took it out.

I HAD FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Weiserguy said:
With all due respect to Lance, Radio Online published an article which answered that question:


(tl;dr answer: yes, for about an hour.)
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With all due respect, Radio World is a different publication, aimed at the engineering community, and is also a print magazine. It is not the online news site which competes (unfairly, IMHO) with Lance.
 
Actually they were lucky they didn't get the"King Kong" treatment.

Seriously they should have never had their names or arrest on TV or posted on the Internet. They got "famous" for a stupid stunt. Sooner or later someone will die trying this. Of course maybe the part of Darwin's theory about the "not smart" of the species dying off might be correct.
 
secondchoice said:
Actually they were lucky they didn't get the"King Kong" treatment.

Seriously they should have never had their names or arrest on TV or posted on the Internet. They got "famous" for a stupid stunt. Sooner or later someone will die trying this. Of course maybe the part of Darwin's theory about the "not smart" of the species dying off might be correct.
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I have suggested, through channels, that (1) the stations that had to switch to their aux sites collectively sue the pair for damages, especially if any damage to the antenna array occurred as a result of their little stunt; (2) Netflix remove their documentary from their library and/or divert any royalties to the owners of the ESB; and (3) they get a little jail time when they unquestionably are found guilty for trespassing, etc.

If Darwin had been correct this time, they wouldn't have gotten back down successfully.
 
I was thinking about the copycats fulfilling Darwin's theory. I believe this was really planned well and they knew to avoid "hot" antennas. Unless you miss stepped, slipped, gusty winds blows you off, or freaked out about the height (like me) it might not been as dangerous as it looked. Still they needed safety harness. I will never test this belief out with or without safety equipment. If you climb towers and want to correct me I will take your word. Step ladders are my limit.
 
secondchoice said:
I will never test this belief out with or without safety equipment. If you climb towers and want to correct me I will take your word. Step ladders are my limit.
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:D

I don't climb towers either and don't even like stepladders all that much, so I hear you loud and clear!
 
Ten years ago, my wife and I were honeymooning in NYC and decided to visit the ESB, as most NYC first-timers do. We got to the 86th floor observation deck and upon walking outside, I felt one of the tiles shake as I stepped on it. I told my wife to enjoy taking pictures outside, I’m staying in.

Even watching the couple climb the tower gave me anxiety.
 
secondchoice said:
Seriously they should have never had their names or arrest on TV or posted on the Internet. They got "famous" for a stupid stunt.
Click to expand...

You, and everyone else with the negative commentary, should watch the very interesting 2024 Netflix documentary about these two. It should provide a better understanding of who they are and why they did this.

I've followed Angela Nikolau's Instagram feed for years. There have always been daredevils in the world who do things like this, whether its climbing skyscrapers tightrope walking over Niagara Falls, things like that. These two consider themselves entertainers. And to their credit, what they did was probably more entertaining than any of the content being emitted from that broadcast tower on Tuesday.

Everyone is talking about them today. Maybe radio should take a cue and try being edgy again. People might start actually caring about what's on.

 
Theater of My Mind said:
You, and everyone else with the negative commentary, should watch the very interesting 2024 Netflix documentary about these two. It should provide a better understanding of who they are and why they did this.
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I don't care why they did this. They trespassed, breaking the lock on a security door, and took unnecessary risks. They should face consequences, including not receiving any compensation for that documentary.

I said that already. Your rebuttal to @secondchoice putting you on their side lowers my estimation of you ... and nothing else.
 
K.M. Richards said:
I don't care why they did this.
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There are too many poorly informed comments about these climbers from people who have not even watched a very well-produced, publicly available profile about them.

Where is the outrage directed at the Empire State Building and its security protocols that allowed this to happen in the first place? There is practically no bigger terrorism target in the world than the Empire State Building, yet these two had no problem waltzing in and getting up to the top.

If they had been stopped by security in the first place, we wouldn't be having this conversation. Frankly, NYC is extremely lucky the people who did this were carrying cameras, not bombs. But I guess it's charges for the people who did no real harm while the ESB management gets a free pass for its good luck.

K.M. Richards said:
Your rebuttal to @secondchoice putting you on their side lowers my estimation of you ... and nothing else.
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You're the keyboard warrior making uninformed comments and saying you don't care so why should I care what you think of me?
 
Theater of My Mind said:
Where is the outrage directed at the Empire State Building and its security protocols that allowed this to happen in the first place? There is practically no bigger terrorism target in the world than the Empire State Building, yet these two had no problem waltzing in and getting up to the top.
Click to expand...

It has been reported by ABC News that they broke the lock on a security door to gain access. That is not the ESB's fault; they had the security installed.

My comments are not "uninformed" and they are based on news reports from reliable media.
 
secondchoice said:
Actually they were lucky they didn't get the"King Kong" treatment.

Seriously they should have never had their names or arrest on TV or posted on the Internet. They got "famous" for a stupid stunt. Sooner or later someone will die trying this. Of course maybe the part of Darwin's theory about the "not smart" of the species dying off might be correct.
Click to expand...
The “Darwin Awards” are a fictitious construct based on evolution. Darwin himself had nothing to do with the creation of this way of “honoring” utter stupidity.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
You, and everyone else with the negative commentary, should watch the very interesting 2024 Netflix documentary about these two. It should provide a better understanding of who they are and why they did this.

I've followed Angela Nikolau's Instagram feed for years. There have always been daredevils in the world who do things like this, whether its climbing skyscrapers tightrope walking over Niagara Falls, things like that. These two consider themselves entertainers. And to their credit, what they did was probably more entertaining than any of the content being emitted from that broadcast tower on Tuesday.

Everyone is talking about them today. Maybe radio should take a cue and try being edgy again. People might start actually caring about what's on.

Click to expand...
They are responsible for their own behavior. They are responsible for making the decision on how to act. They have personal accountability, just like everyone else. They made a bad choice. The mgmt. of the ESB is not to blame. The excuse that it is the fault of the Empire State Building would not hold up in the very unfortunate event that they were injured or killed. The ESB did not "entice" them or encourage them, or "tempt" them in any way.

Broadcast radio did not decline in popularity because there was not enough "edgy" content. It declined due to technological advances of internet service and broadband providers.
 


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