Mount Wilson Expected To Burn

[Bongwater]

Gary Lycan, who writes the radio column for the Orange County Register emailed me about 5:30 pm saying that channel 7 was then saying the fire was to hit Mt. Wilson as of sunset or later tonight. Gary was asking which FMs and TV stations would be affected, so I got the information for Gary from transmitter site expert Scott Fybush, and I don't think he'd mind me passing this on to you all tonight.

Jim Hilliker
Monterey, CA

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-----Original Message-----
From: Scott Fybush [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 7:10 PM
To: Jim Hilliker; [email protected]
Subject: Re: FW: URGENT REQUEST/mt wilson fire

Hi Jim and Gary,


The following FMs are there (on Mount Wilson), though the stations with asterisks have
backup facilities at other sites:

89.3 KPCC, 91.5 KUSC, 92.3 KHHT, 93.1 KCBS-FM*, 93.9 KXOS*, 94.7 KTWV*,
95.5 KLOS, 97.1 KAMP*, 99.5 KKLA, 100.3 KSWD, 101.1 KRTH*, 101.9 KSCA,
102.7 KIIS, 103.5 KOST, 104.3 KBIG, 105.1 KKGO, 105.9 KPWR*, 107.5 KLVE

The following TVs are there or on adjacent Mount Harvard, and I know of
no backups:

2 KCBS, 4 KNBC, 5 KTLA, 6 KSFV-LP, 7 KABC, 9 KCAL, 11 KTTV, 13 KCOP, 18
KSCI, 22 KWHY, 28 KCET, 34 KMEX, 40 KTBN, 44 KXLA, 46 KFTR, 50 KOCE, 52
KVEA, 54 KAZA, 56 KDOC, 58 KLCS, 62 KRCA

Now THAT's gonna be a LOT of dead air....if worse comes to worse....DXers are gonna have fun though.....

 

[ocer]

This is what 98-7 just tweeted a few hours ago on Twitter:
987LA Remember! No matter wht happens, we'll b streaming live online@ http://987fm.com

I thought the 98.7 transmitter wasn't on Wilson, is it located nearby as well?

KIIS also has similar messages on their twitter:

"(P. 1/2) Breaking News! KIIS FM MAY GO OFF AIR DUE 2 THE FIRES...NEVER FEAR, ONLINE STREAM IS HERE! WE'LL ALWAYS BE LIVE @ http://kiisfm.comabout 18 hours ago from web"

"Remember! No matter wht happens, we'll b streaming live online@ http://kiisfm.com 4 cont. live coverage of the fires--> http://bit.ly/t0tQc"

 

[rbrucecarter5]

The Mt. Wilson Observatory link is down. That cannot be a good thing.

 

[narkspud]

The Mt. Wilson Observatory link is down. That cannot be a good thing.

Like Hooked on Phonics, it works for me.

http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/images/towercam.jpg

 

[kenglish]

I'm getting network timeouts, probably due to the number of users trying to access it. Just try over and over.

 

[observer8057]

This may have already been answered, but the KYSR transmitter is far from Wilson at the Briarcrest site (usually called "K-JOY" in the industry.) That is the big, self-supporting tower visible from most of the San Fernando Valley, and much of the basin, as well. It began life as KMGM, then grew under Art Crawford as KCBH (the BH from its Beverly Hills Post Office/adjacent location above Coldwater Canyon.) Ultimately it became KJOI and KXEZ. Because it is in a very upscale neighborhood just off Mulholland, the transmitter (and former KJOI studios) are in a large home. The site is also used for a number of other communications services, as well as relay points for TV ENG, if I recall correctly. To see it on a map, here are the coordinates. 34° 07' 08" N, 118° 23' 30" W

 

[observer8057]

Perhaps an easier way to find the Briarcrest site: The address is 2555 Briarcrest Road, Beverly Hills CA 90210. (Some older documents put it on Alto Cedro Drive, but that is the current, official address.)

(It is actually in the City of Los Angeles, not Beverly Hills, but there is an interesting situation in our area where homes with a "BHPO" [Beverly Hills Post Office] address fetch more dollars than those with a Los Angeles street address, even if they really are in L. A. and not Beverly Hills.