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fire

Reminds me of the Tiger Mountain fire. I would think the VSWR alarm would turn the Tx off immediately during a fault. I think the problem is the plastic radomes. Probably could do without a radome in Atlanta with a roto-tiller antenna. Different story with a very narrow band antenna. I read that the Tiger Mnt fire had inop VSWR and pressurization was corrosion of a bolt that failed leading and fell into the element.
 
RadioDoogie said:
How long do they expect the repairs will take?
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I have no idea. Not my domain. I am sure they will have to service or replace the damaged antenna, at least that lower element, but I am sure the phasing harness and related hardware got toasty, as well as the feedline. I am sure Cumulus engineering are working that out. I am also sure I'll have to be there or someone from my shop to make sure nothing happens to our 800 antennas, they are lowest on the mast on two side arms and that RF subsite is a CRITICAL one for our public safety trunking system which serves more than 8,000 subscribers and provides vital downtown (and even further out) users including FCSO, FCMD, cities of College Park and Hapeville also are on our system and this site does wonders for getting good inbound signal into places there. We have 14 other sites and are simulcast, but the Westin is the big mouth for downtown.

I am glad 99-X is back. I was a junior in high school on 10/26/1992 when the station was born. First time I heard Pearl Jam's Alive was on the station. Really resonated with me. Radio was the soundtrack of our lives. The people who ran that station really put their heart and soul into it and you could hear it. RIP Sean Demery, your legacy lives on and thank you for bringing us real radio.
 
IMHO This should not have happened. I have never seen an FM station over 1000 watts transmitter power that didn’t have a pressurized transmission line to keep the moisture out. IIRC they changed power around 2015 and the antenna system should have been checked then. It should not be all that “leaky”. Some stations use to have “dryers” that have alarms when they fail. Then there is the nitrogen gas tank system. The last regulator I was responsible for was “mechanical”. A huge temperature difference could change the pressure. I checked the pressure every time I was in the transmitter room, at least 3 times a week. My best guess is the regulator pressure gauge was not “checked” during the period when the daytime temps went from 60 degrees to signal digits at night for a couple of days then back up to 60’s. I bet an “o” ring failed. It happened to the Challenger. Why they used ray domes with increased wind load instead of antenna heaters is another question.

How many engineers with transmitter experience does Cumulus have in Atlanta? I realized the “Digital” folks can be based almost anywhere there is an internet connection. An experienced transmitter person should physically check things out more than “once a quarter”. This will cost more than an engineer’s annual salary to fix.
 
I met the CE for Cumulus Atlanta. He is a very vetted professional and responsible for 6 stations. I don't know if they have pressurized feedline or not, they are adjacent to my "shelter within a shelter" on the parapet. My feedlines go up to the roof through a raceway, we use 1 and 7/8 hard lines for our transmit and receive antennas for the 800MHz system and our UHF DMR. None of it is pressurized as they are short runs.

I do have 14 other RF subsites I care for, three of them use pressurized feedline. The line dehydrators have alarm connections and Motorola Solutions monitors this (and a ton of other parameters) from their NOC in Libertyville, IL and will call me if there is an issue. I am sure the same type of stuff is used in broadcast, and could be monitored remotely if the system starts leaking or moisture is detected.
 
Update: the cause of the fire was a direct lightning strike. The 4 bay antenna will be replaced along with the feedline. My counterpart at our MSI service shop has been in touch with Cumulus engineering. No specifics on timeline as the antenna has to be ordered and of course this will be a logistical gymnastics effort.

Really appreciate what broadcast engineers do. Looking back on that day, it was one of those days I got up and just felt weird. It was a county holiday. I kept hearing "Dante" from "Clerks" say "and I wasn't supposed to even be here today!" as I rode down I-20 in my g-ride to get to the Westin. Just glad no one got hurt, and damage to the system wasn't worse than it was and did not stop this GREAT station from rising. Guess it will be a true phoenix against the ATL skyline.
 
Not much could've been done to prevent that. Great info; thanks for sharing. Must've been a rogue strike (those do happen), as I don't believe there was much bad weather in the area at the time.

Is WNNX on a DA pattern? I wonder if that could prolong full restoration time?

In my part of the country, a popular FM station suffered a lightning strike at their TX site maybe 18 months ago, and I want to say it was a good 8 or 9 months before they were back to full power with RDS, HD Radio, etc. That station has 50 kW Omni of ERP.
 
It’s very frustrating when people hide behind screen names and criticize people, when they have zero factual information. Atlanta is a major market and with the possible exception of me, there is exceptional engineering talent in the market. The current Cumulus engineering team is no exception. They were on top of the problem, and when they needed parts to get back on the air quickly, they knew who to call. I’m not sure that issue could have been handled any quicker, or any better.

CK
 
Charles Kinney said:
It’s very frustrating when people hide behind screen names and criticize people, when they have zero factual information. Atlanta is a major market and with the possible exception of me, there is exceptional engineering talent in the market. The current Cumulus engineering team is no exception. They were on top of the problem, and when they needed parts to get back on the air quickly, they knew who to call. I’m not sure that issue could have been handled any quicker, or any better.

CK
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While I see your point, I wouldn't get too bent out of shape in this case. The Radio Discussions threads are akin to a bunch of radio people (including a few old curmudgeons), sitting around and chatting about radio topics and whatever else comes up and wherever those conversations lead. In the case of one or two of the posts above, it appears they were commenting, based upon what was known at the time. The fact that it was a lightning strike changes things up a bit.
 
Mikey Radio said:
While I see your point, I wouldn't get too bent out of shape in this case. The Radio Discussions threads are akin to a bunch of radio people (including a few old curmudgeons), sitting around and chatting about radio topics and whatever else comes up and wherever those conversations lead. In the case of one or two of the posts above, it appears they were commenting, based upon what was known at the time. The fact that it was a lightning strike changes things up a bit.
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The fact of the matter is, they called out good, qualified individuals with no factual information whatsoever. They do it without being brave enough to say who they are, much like yourself. If you want to go toe to toe with professional engineers and second guess them, man up and say who you are.
 
Had someone said lightning my post would have been different. It has been my personal experience since the antenna is attached to the tower and the antenna usually comes out unscathed. Towers get hit by lightning and usually the transmitter is the first piece of equipment to be damaged. If you are lucky you reset a couple breakers and you are good. Is the part about the transmitter being OK correct?

I have personally seen lightning can do weird stuff. Back in the early nineteen nineties WIKI had their studios at the tower site*. One time lighting fried half of the circuit cards in the automation system and left everything else ok.

Never worked with ray domes, but I guess they will catch on fire. I still question the use of ray domes verses heaters. I have worked at stations in a lot colder areas that did not use them. I have seen the Westin Peachtree building hit by lightning back in 1977 when stuck in traffic on the downtown connector. 94.1 and 92.9 were both on that tower at that time, and both were back on the air in less than 5 mins.

BTW: I am an old curmudgeon. I have used “air names” for decades when working in radio. It stopped crazy “fans” from calling me in the middle of the night. Lots of other folks have used air names in radio for a long time. It is part of the business. Since it’s the “World Wide Web” I use a screen name, but if you can PM me if it is important to you.

*At that time, WIKI was on 100.1. They moved to a 95.3 and had to build a new transmitter site a several miles south as part of 100.1 in (Winchester) Lexington KY going C2 deal, who paid for the new site, antenna, and tower. The studios have since move across the river in Madison IN where the revenue is.
 
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Lightning hit one of my sites and blew the RX antenna off a 400 foot SST. Didn't even take out tower top amp on my receivers, but obliterated the antenna where nothing but fragments left. Superior grounding and surge suppression prevented it from getting into the repeaters thru the RX multi-coupler. There is a reason why we R56.

I could not have recovered as fast as Cumulus did. I have a small set of spares. If the antennas were damaged, I'd be off the air from that site. The system would still live, but with a major coverage hole. Again, the Cumulus CE beat me to the site and came from further out. I can't say enough about that level of response and dedication. So glad we share a rooftop with professionals.
 
Somewhat related question: Are there any broadcast antennas on top of the Bank of America building? Would broadcasting from that building be more advantageous than the Westin?
 
DefinitelyIan said:
Somewhat related question: Are there any broadcast antennas on top of the Bank of America building? Would broadcasting from that building be more advantageous than the Westin?
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Not that I know of. I doubt BofA would allow an antenna on the tip of the building. Maybe under it in the lit-up open space, but I wonder how much signal blockage would result from an antenna being stuck in there.
 
DefinitelyIan said:
Somewhat related question: Are there any broadcast antennas on top of the Bank of America building? Would broadcasting from that building be more advantageous than the Westin?
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Years ago, there was a low-power signal for something called Atlanta Channel, which conveyed to visitors what was going on in Atlanta, on the B of A building. But there was never a "real" broadcast signal on that building.
 
Reported as the tallest building in Atlanta. There are a few ham repeaters located in the facade that make up the building top. Good coverage but some people say the coverage is not equal due to partial blockage. No issue for ham, but I don't think the FCC would like all the diffraction from a broadcast antenna located here with all the steel re-radiators. I think the pattern would be a mess at 100 MHz. I'd say the facade is about 80% open and 20% blocked (metal)
 
The BOA building façade was designed to not interfere with radio signals. It probably does better with some bands than others. Bellsouth used to license the education frequencies that are currently licensed to T-Mobile. Bellsouth used the licenses for an over the air cable offerings called Bellsouth Entertainment. The broadcast to the metro area was from the top of the BOA building.
 
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