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MT. WILSON FIRE THREAT?

KNX 1070 has dispensed with its usual audio simulcast of (the left coast
feed of) 60 Minutes 7-8 PT and is continuing with its coverage of the fire.
 
Is Anyone Recording Any Airchexx Of Whats Going On Or Gonna Record The Transmitters Go Off If They Get Hit? Also Are There Any Stations Off The Air Now Or Are They All Still Broadcasting.
 
chrisradioanimal said:
Is Anyone Recording Any Airchexx Of Whats Going On Or Gonna Record The Transmitters Go Off If They Get Hit? Also Are There Any Stations Off The Air Now Or Are They All Still Broadcasting.

Regarding TV, KFLA-LD ( Ch. 8 ) seems to be the only signal missing at this moment.
 
I would expect that if somehow power doesn't go first, that transmitters would shut down due to overheating if there if fire around the buildings, but the retardant manages to protect the facilities. Just because signals go down won't necessarily mean facilities are lost. Imagine the CEs at the remote telemetry controls watching coolant temp (TVs) and deciding to shut down proactively to protect the rig.
 
Winds, which came up suddenly and pushed flames north, have now (in the last 30 minutes) gone to calm, stopping the rapid rate of attack at this time. This could help with Mt. Wilson, for now. Estimates were that it could also take 4 hours or more to reach the top, if the winds cooperated.

Still, "substantial danger" but speculation of total devastation are unfounded. Flames would have to be there for quite some time to destroy towers, such as the CBS2 1000' foot stick. Mt. Lukens & Mt. Disappointment also possibly affected (back up sites) but no significant mention of those sites being in danger at this time.

The federal telecom sites, as well as local emergency sites would need to take a major head on inferno to be totaled. I would think that most transmitter sites are concrete block fortified and many with flame retardant construction would need a huge hit and prolonged heat for transmitters to be devastated. Cabling and transmission line heliax and coax, however, another problem. They would be gone, but can be quickly replaced, as would fiber optics, power, etc. which would melt. Flames would have to be very high to hit the antennas, except the low level (100 foot) ones.

Just speculating, but the CBS stick at 1000', if melted (like the World Trade Center did) would take quite a punch before collapsing unto itself and falling down the mountainside. It is, from what I remember, a bit of a distance away from the other section of the tower cluster.

I did see the Univision site, however, and have some concerns for there, despite it appearing to be elevated above ground somewhat.

Fire acreage tomorrow morning expected to be announced at 100,000 acres, according to CalFire management.
 
Dave Randall of KRTH just made a short statement that if Mount Wilson burns they will go to a lower power backup tower and that some listeners would lose their signal.
 
Sad to report two firefighter fatalities. This is from that Mt. Gleason rescue Larry Welk in CBS2 chopper found. How tragic... these firefighters are doing a tremendous job. KNX has this press conference on right now.
 
So what are the issues here:
1. Many of the stations do not have that high an antenna elevation above the ground.
2. Heat and smoke and the air conditoning systems.
3. Power.
4. Feed line.
5. STL
Any one of which can and will take you down.
 
Towercam does look bad. The big 4-light tower to the right looks like some structure at its base is burning. KTLA has been running a screen crawl directing viewers to their website in case of loss of over-the-air signal. Never seen anything like this in 50 years...

-- Doc
 
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