Can an AM station errect a new self supporter tower?

[qtpieislit]

1340/WHAT AM just demolished a guyed tower and replaced it with a self supporter tower. It was my understanding that self supporters we no longer allowed as new construction. What the general rules on this?

Here is the livemaps earth view of the new tower.
http://maps.live.com/#JnE9eXAuMzk2NStjb25zaG9ob2NrZW4rYXYrcGhpbGFkZWxwaGlhK3BhKzE5MTMxJTdlc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTQwLjAyMzgwMjM2NjU4NzQlN2UtNzUuMTc4NDk5MjIxODAxOCU3ZTM5Ljk4MTAwMDU0NDk5NzUlN2UtNzUuMjQwNzI2NDcwOTQ3Mw==

Google earth has the old tower.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=40.00167,+-75.20972+(WHAT-AM)&om=1

 

[fybush]

1340/WHAT AM just demolished a guyed tower and replaced it with a self supporter tower. It was my understanding that self supporters we no longer allowed as new construction. What the general rules on this?

There's no such rule. Stations are free to construct any sort of antenna structure they want - guyed tower, self-supporting tower, monopole, or any sort of wire antenna strung on such a structure - so long as it meets the minimum efficiency standards for the relevant class of station.

New self-supporters are the exception only because they're more expensive (generally) to build, but if that's all the space you've got for a tower, that's what you build.

 

[littlejohn]

Expense is the limiting factor, not the Rules. On the plus side, the self - supporting tower ofyen has better bandwidth diue to the greater mass of steel up in the air. And, as somneone said, if you don't have the space, it may be the only solution... although you still need space for a ground system.
General rule of thumb, a guyed tower will increase in price as the square of the height, a self - support as the cube.

 

[rew]

I have seen zoning regulations that would not allow a guyed tower to be built.

 

[amfmsw]

We had zoning "issues" when putting WDVR (now WTKU) NJ on the air. The xmtr site was/is located on a peninsula on the Intercoastal Waterway. We, despite the finest engineering reports and simple physics examples proving a vertical collapse, could not get permission to install a 300' guyed tower. The concern was that IF it were to fall in a storm, it would block the nearby bridge, preventing emergency evacuation and damage to the structure. We we limited to 185 ft free standing, thus missing the bridge, and crippling the signal..........

That was 1984-5. Today, with the right "grease", the stick is 100 m, but still a free standing structure.