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Corpus Christi Area - Unlit, abandoned Three-Stick AM Array NOTAM needed

I'm reasonably confident this story was written about KCCT 1150.

If you look KCCT's tower site up on Google Earth's street view, you can see an old guy wire tangled in the guy wires. I don't see any guy wires missing. If that is still the case, there is no cause for alarm on that front, although I can see how a resident could be concerned. Even if the guy wires totally failed, there is only one building close enough to the tower base to be in any danger, even if the tower didn't crumple when it fell.

But can we talk about this story? The journalist didn't give any landmarks (such as a street name), didn't publish the name of the owner, or the identify station which broadcasts from the site. It isn't clear why they tried to get comment from the US Navy. The US Navy has a training center for its Naval pilots some 15 miles away from these towers. Further, the FAA has not stopped accepting NOTAMs (NOTice To Air Men) due to the government shutdown, so it's not clear why any of that was mentioned. I looked up the current NOTAMs for Corpus Christi and there are some tower light failures listed, but I couldn't be bothered to determine if one of the ASRNs listed there was the same as the towers in from this story.
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
But can we talk about this story? The journalist didn't give any landmarks (such as a street name), didn't publish the name of the owner, or the identify station which broadcasts from the site. It isn't clear why they tried to get comment from the US Navy. The US Navy has a training center for its Naval pilots some 15 miles away from these towers. Further, the FAA has not stopped accepting NOTAMs (NOTice To Air Men) due to the government shutdown, so it's not clear why any of that was mentioned. I looked up the current NOTAMs for Corpus Christi and there are some tower light failures listed, but I couldn't be bothered to determine if one of the ASRNs listed there was the same as the towers in from this story.
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You're watching NBC 6 Eyewitless News.
 
The towers are 213.91 feet tall per the FCC filing so they would have to be lit. If under 200' and >5 miles from runways then it might be possible to remain unlit.
Using the NOTAMS list for CRP I did not find the particular tower set listed.
 
SnottyNose799 said:
Maybe they were paid to cover which station it is? Money talks a lot.
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Where do you come up with these totally random ideas you spout of? Even as just a guesstimate, thats a pretty serious accusation you dont just lob around with zero proof and an insult to journalists
 
PTBoardOp93 said:
I'm reasonably confident this story was written about KCCT 1150.
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Looking at the story, that would appear to be exactly who it was.

PTBoardOp93 said:
But can we talk about this story? The journalist didn't give any landmarks (such as a street name), didn't publish the name of the owner, or the identify station which broadcasts from the site.
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If you watched, rather than read, the story, the reporter showed she was contacting "Reina Broadcasting." She also showed a map of where she was, though it wasn't clearly labeled.
 
SnottyNose799 said:
I haven't checked out this story too carefully, but couldn't they sell the land?
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Admittedly, it is difficult to answer questions like those when some of the relevant facts are not known. (I am as in the dark as you about the details.)

Is that tower array on real estate that is desirable for development? It was mentioned that there is a Naval Air Station not very far away and that it is used as a training site for pilots. Maybe flight approaches and takeoffs come so close to that parcel that residential use would not be attractive to home buyers. I don't know, I'm only guessing, but that thought comes to mind, since very few airport facilities are isolated geographically from the rest of their areas now.

If, as appears to be the case, it is about the station at 1150, do they have any workable options to move the station and diplex? Or is it a hopeless case destined to join the list of silent and surrendered licenses? Either of those situations make it much more likely that the ground the towers are on would be worth something, even if for industrial development.

Your question is one that should be part of the discussion, but as they say the devil is in the details.
 
SnottyNose799 said:
I haven't checked out this story too carefully, but couldn't they sell the land?

Either way I hope an aircraft doesn't crash into the unlit tower...
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General and commercial aviation is supposed to be at or above 1000 ft. over populated areas, unless taking off or landing at an airport. Law enforcement and EMT helicopters have exemptions. The military is supposed to be above 1000 feet but there is no real enforcement of this and also there is some training that is below radar detection. If you are 5 miles or more from a runway air traffic should be at least 1000 feet above ground.

IMHO:
If you have a tower that has to have lighting, you have the moral obligation to do the right thing. Also should something happen, there should be some kind of law about endangering the public. Then a lawyer should sue you for much more than your insurance if there is injury a loss of life.
 
SnottyNose799 said:
I haven't checked out this story too carefully, but couldn't they sell the land?
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Maybe, but I believe at least one of the company's FM's broadcasts from that site.

While I'm not super-familiar with Corpus, I don't think that tower site is in a particularly good area either. Not that the land might not be worth something, but I don't think the next great real estate speculator is going to buy it to put a premium, bougie housing development there!
 
SnottyNose799 said:
I haven't checked out this story too carefully, but couldn't they sell the land?

Either way I hope an aircraft doesn't crash into the unlit tower...
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I worked for a 2 tower AM years ago that had occasional issues with its tower lights, requiring a NOTAM to be filed... and our line at the station was, "If a pilot is about to crash into our towers, hes got alot more to be concerned with than our towers". We'd of course rectify the issue as soon as we could and after it happening 2 or 3 times, we finally rectified it permanently when we figured out the cause for the tower lights going out.

this problem would occur about once every 3 months, .. id leave home about 3/4 a mile from the station and from about 1/2 mile be able to see the lights werent on at 530am like they should be...and after 2 to 3 times of it happening, we discovered the fuse would be blown when we'd go to inspect things and surmised that the fuse was blowing when the lights attempted to go on. We dont know why that would happen, seemingly at random, but that was the cause for the tower light outage. The fuse would be replaced by the owner the same afternoon after i reported a NOTAM, then wed test to make sure they went on.. When the problem started happening, id do a visual inspection in my backyard at night.

I'll tell you, its real disconcerting to b e going into work and see lights on the towers clearly not on.. not the semi anuerysm you wanna have at 530am. But the FAA's NOTAM Reporting phone # and our tower reg numbers were on a sheet of paper on the studio equipment rack
 
I hope the statue of limitations has ran out. I put a 20 amp fuse on a tower lighting circuit with an Austin Ring type transformer even though the fuse holder was labeled 15 amps by the previous engineer. It was an old class 4 station (now C) too close to a general aviation airport. It's been over 4 decades and nothing burned down.
 
secondchoice said:
IMHO:
If you have a tower that has to have lighting, you have the moral obligation to do the right thing. Also should something happen, there should be some kind of law about endangering the public. Then a lawyer should sue you for much more than your insurance if there is injury a loss of life.
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And, those towers are only a "smidgen" over the 200 foot height that might qualify them for no lighting at all. One solution is to have a crew take a section or two off the top and get an engineer to bring his OAB and re-tune the tower. A minor FCC filing will be needed, but that is all.

The ongoing savings will pay for that fairly soon... if they even have enough for that.

Of course, in some locations even at 200 feet they may be required to light them.
 
SomeRadioGuy said:
I'll tell you, its real disconcerting to b e going into work and see lights on the towers clearly not on.. not the semi anuerysm you wanna have at 530am. But the FAA's NOTAM Reporting phone # and our tower reg numbers were on a sheet of paper on the studio equipment rack
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In many areas, tower riggers are not on instant call as they are so busy doing cellular towers. I'd be interested in knowing whether any stations with lighting issues have encountered delays because of this, or do tower maintenance companies give priority to emergency situations where towers are unlit or present some other hazard.
 
SnottyNose799 said:
KUKA has no translators, but they do have a booster.



I remember reading about certain daytime AM stations in the area operating double the power and at night... Can't remember which one but some of these operators are crazy.
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Why yes, yes they have a translator.


Am stations operating at night when they shouldnt or with higher power then licensed at night is nothing new...... AM stations operating with day power at night is nothing new. Operating with double the power by day? Now that I doubt.
 


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