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Vashon Tower Tour

X

xmtrland

I put together a tour of the radio towers here on Vashon Maury Island.

Some high lights are the Eagles I caught flying around the KVI tower.

Jim Tharp and Ernie working on the 1090 phaser.

The KOMO site is like a park. Very nice and well maintained. I think it’s where they got the slogan KOMO country.

I grew up around the KIRO plant. My dad worked weekends there. It was a real treat being able to see the western electric transmitter run while it remained in service in the 70’s

Please feel free to post any corrections, stories or comments about any of the sites. This is a work in progress of course.

The Tour Starts Here:http://vashonradio.com/towertour
 
This is fascinating and I know so many people will appreciate the effort you put into this.

I did a "spontaneous" tour of all the sites last summer and would love to go back out there now, thanks to your site, there is more background to be had. I am grateful they kept the "KING" signage inside the 1090 site above the xmitter! Lot of history there. Also like seeing Arnie Skoog and Jim Tharp working the place ... lots of history there too!!

Few questions that come to mind (and I apologize if they are really dumb ones....!!)

1. What is reason for the base design of the towers? Seems like structurally it would make sense to extend the frame into the concrete ... but I assume that diamond/triangle configuration is for some kind of insulation (maybe lightning related??)

2. Why did KOMO put all the signage AWAY from the road? I didn't even see that side when I went out there ... the engineer I saw there was working on a hobby vehicle and didn't want me disturbing the horses out in the field so I tried to stay out of the way.

3. Is a Phaser a device that separates a signal between multiple towers?
 
The tower base tapers so it can sit on a ceramic type insulator so the tower isn’t grounded. The KOMO towers and KIRO towers are the same type (manufature).

No idea why they put the KOMO letters on the east side of the building. Although in the 40’s when they built it, the trees were not as tall and there is a chance you could see the building from West Seattle along Marine View Drive. You would have need binoculars.

Yes the Phaser splits the signal to the towers and has controls to keep the directional pattern in adjustment. So during the day KIRO and KOMO run the transmitter directly to just one tower (non directional). At night they run the transmitter power through the phaser which splits the signal to the towers at various power levels and phase to achieve the directional pattern.

I have a question…I can’t remember if KVI used the MW5 till they got the new Nautel or did they have a power rock also….???? Any one know?

I’m hopping to find some old picture of the KIRO Western Electric transmitter and post those. I’ll keep you posted.
 
GREAT site!

I used to party with some buddies on KVI Beach (Rule #2 on the sign was usually,...um, overlooked...) But we were always mindful of litter, more than some idiots we saw - we often ended up picking up THEIR mess.

We once got a surprise tour of the 770/1090 facilities in the late '80s. The engineer then was nice enough to let us hairballs in and show us around.
 
This is great.

I do alot of FM work and its nice to see local AM facilities.

Thank You!
 
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