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KFI Tower Is Now Standing Tall

E

emailfailed

Within the past week I've noticed KFI's rebulit antenna/transmitter reaching high into the sky after all this time.

Any word when the new antenna/transmitter will be in operation?
 
emailfailed said:
Within the past week I've noticed KFI's rebulit antenna/transmitter reaching high into the sky after all this time.

Any word when the new antenna/transmitter will be in operation?
Click to expand...

It is apparently topped out at the full vertical height. Now, they have to build the top hat on top, then tune it to the transmitter. They are expecting to be on with 50 kw again before Labor Day.

While there is work on the tower, KFI broadcasts at about 10 kw from one of the old KRKD towers at Montecito Heights.
 
I'm surprised KFI is only running 10KW, the signal in the high desert in northern Los Angeles county is stronger now than when it was running 25KW from the back tower, and very close to when it was 50kw from the big tower. It is as strong as any 50KW L.A. area station except 710 AM, whoever would guess such results would come out of the Montecito Heights site.


Steve
www.knjoradio.com
Updated with new mug shots
 
XRQKFM said:
I'm surprised KFI is only running 10KW, the signal in the high desert in northern Los Angeles county is stronger now than when it was running 25KW from the back tower, and very close to when it was 50kw from the big tower. It is as strong as any 50KW L.A. area station except 710 AM, whoever would guess such results would come out of the Montecito Heights site.
Click to expand...

It's tough to tell when they are on the aux tower with 25 kw or on the KRKD tower with 10 kw. Even when there is wind and they can't work, I believe the go back to the aux with 25 kw.

On Saturday, when they were apparently working, the signal died in San Bernardino going east on the 10. Usually, it listenable to Desert Center.
 
Did they ever put a hat on the back up tower? The signal seems better than when the tower first fell, back then there was a bit of noise in the background, now its clean even in Tehachapi.


Steve
 
Sam Lit said:
DavidEduardo said:
While there is work on the tower, KFI broadcasts at about 10 kw from one of the old KRKD towers at Montecito Heights.
Click to expand...

David,

Do you happen to have the geographic coordinates for a satellite earth view of the Montecito heights tower?
Click to expand...

Go to the FCC search tools, FM and get the location for KXOL's aux transmitter. If you put them into Google maps you get a satellite view.
 
XRQKFM said:
Did they ever put a hat on the back up tower? The signal seems better than when the tower first fell, back then there was a bit of noise in the background, now its clean even in Tehachapi.
Click to expand...

From what I can see from the 5, the tower looks like it is top loaded, but it does not have a tophat.
 
DavidEduardo said:
XRQKFM said:
Did they ever put a hat on the back up tower? The signal seems better than when the tower first fell, back then there was a bit of noise in the background, now its clean even in Tehachapi.
Click to expand...

From what I can see from the 5, the tower looks like it is top loaded, but it does not have a tophat.
Click to expand...

The top loading of the auxiliary tower is accomplished using the uppermost guy wires. If you check Scott Fybush's site he describes it and I also have seen pictures. I'm not sure how they did the old 1150 tower at Montecito Heigths. Probably use the guys there too. There is an engineer's drawing on the FCC site as an attachment to the application which shows the top hat structure for the new main antenna.
 
nmoore6676 said:
The top loading of the auxiliary tower is accomplished using the uppermost guy wires.
Click to expand...

Yep, that is what I said. Other than a tophat, using the top guys for top loading is the only method of increasing the electrical height. I did not think I could see insulators on the top guys, which is why I believed the tower to be top loaded.

I have built towers where I put 6 guys on the top section instead of three, and even have put a skirt wire around the the 6 above the first insulator.

Probably use the guys there too. There is an engineer's drawing on the FCC site as an attachment to the application which shows the top hat structure for the new main antenna.
Click to expand...

I was told the tower in use has top guys uninsulated out about 60 feet.
 
KFI application exhibit demonstrates a hexagonal structure about fifty feet across for the hat. In their exhibit, they go on to explain in detail a Method of Moments analysis technique was used to determine the size of the hat. At this height and at 640 kHz, it is debatable as to if it has much (if any) impact on the real world signal or just increases the efficiency only in the theoretical. FCC rules require at least 362 mv/m/km/1kw for compliant Class A antenna and top loading can be used to achieve this. At one time (and it might still be the case) the FCC required a graphical plot of the MEASURED current distribution on all antennas that employed any degree of top loading. This was a pain because a tower climber would have to carry a shielded loop and a meter onto the excited tower and call down the relative field measurements every few feet all the way to the top. This data was then submitted in the 302 application for direct measurement of power.

w/
 
DavidEduardo said:
[ Other than a tophat, using the top guys for top loading is the only method of increasing the electrical height.
Click to expand...

I should have conditioned this with "in a series fed tower..." as things like unipoles will exhibit changed electrical heights from a standard series fed vertical.
 
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