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600 WSJS transmitter site vandalized
- Thread starter RadioDaze
- Start date
H
Harvey_Dogg
Guest
Hope the idiot who did this is in jail soon. And he gets his butt sued off.
Vandals Destroy WSJS Towers - RadioInsight
Truth Broadcasting Conservative Talk/Sports 600 WSJS Winston-Salem NC is off the air after vandals destroyed two of its four towers. Owner Stu Epperson Jr. wrote on Facebook, "Today has been one of the toughest days of my broadcasting life…someone has destroyed several of our towers. Criminal...
radioinsight.com
I believe that a short term technical problem with the originating AM of a translator is permitted. I can't find anything in the rules, but I only made a cursory search. The FCC, in general, does not rule where service would be deprived of the community, so I'd guess there is some tolerance / flexibility here.
Technically no.
The only times a translator is legally allowed to operate when their parent station is not is if the parent is an AM daytimer and the translator can broadcast 24/7. See section (b) Federal Register :: Request Access
This will be an interesting case study, then. If they continue to operate the translators... and they have stated that two of the three are on an running the regular programming... will 1) they file for a special permission 2) just operate unknowingly while they make a temporary AM facility operative or 3) tell the FCC they are "accelerating" the new triplexed AM operation but believe keeping the translators on is "in the community interest". I can't see the FCC objecting to either # 1 or #3.
But we have seen a number of cases, such as during the storm damage recovery in SW FL, where translators have stayed on while the AM was being repaired. The question is whether the FCC does no jump in when they see such obvious needs, or whether they don't act because they just don't know.
The Winston-Salem Journal has an interesting article on the collapse that gives more details. Apparently, one of the four towers fell prior to Truth purchasing the station last year, and another--the one with the 101.5 FM translator--fell around Christmas; both of which they thought were weather related before this week's vandalism.
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WSAT in Salisbury was off the air but its translator was running several weeks ago. WSAT is back.
Radio towers toppled by vandalism, owner Stu Epperson Jr. says. WSJS, Winston-Salem's oldest station, is off the air.
Winston-Salem’s oldest radio station, WSJS at 600 on the AM dial, has been off the air since earlier this week after vandals destroyed the last of three working radio towers
Curious, since broadcast stations are licensed and overseen by the FCC, which is a federal agency, are things like destruction of tower sites and removal of wiring and cabling for its copper value automatically federal offenses if they drastically affect a station or take it off the air? If so, are those types of crimes taken seriously and prosecuted strongly, or does the government not have the time/bodies/money/bandwidth to bother?
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