WGN to move transmitter

[rfry]

Below for the sake of curiosity is a quick look at the effect of the WGN tower move if it used just a connection from the base of the new tower to the common point of their existing set of radials.

 

[CADXER]

Some details about the proposed data center that will be built right next to the reconfigured WGN antenna towers.

WGN, Nexstar Selling Part Of Broadcast Tower Site For New Elk Grove Village Data Center - Journal & Topics Media Group

Proposed data center site plan at the current WGN broadcast tower site at 720 Rohlwing Rd., Elk Grove Village. (Elk Grove Village submitted image) Another one million sq. ft., three-building data center is proposed for a location just outside Elk Grove Village currently owned by WGN Radio and...

www.journal-topics.com

Basically WGN owns 100 acres of land at the current site and will retain 35 acres for their towers. The rest will be sold and used for the new data center.

 

[CADXER]

Here is the WGN application to move/replace the aux tower as well: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/pr...timportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=103683

 

[Kemosabe]

If WBBM could move to the WGN site somehow, would the FCC allow 780 to return to 50 kW ND?

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

It's too close to diplex 780 to 720. Nearby possibly, as before. But it would increase overlap with WSGW 790 after being licensed further away and reducing overlap. Possibly by measuring actual overlap with WSGW with measured signals and conductivity. Possibly other overlaps need to be considered also, like WNDZ 750.

 

[CADXER]

WGN's application to slightly move their tower was approved by the FCC. The construction permit is good for 36 months.

 

[pjc1961]

The annexation of the WGN towers into Elk Grove has been approved:

WGN radio towers annexed into Elk Grove, with data centers and pickleball courts to come

Long an unincorporated neighbor, WGN radio's transmitter site is the newest corporate citizen of Elk Grove Village under the 102-acre property annexation approved by village trustees Tuesday. But the...

www.dailyherald.com

Part of the deal is Nexstar building pickleball courts, a parking lot, restrooms and a sidewalk
with that land being leased back to Elk Grove.

 

[CADXER]

The application by WGN to move their aux antenna was also approved by the FCC the other day, so everything is ready for the move of both antennas to happen. According to the article posted in the previous post work around the site should start within year and a half.

 

[cc333]

How are they going to manage this without going off air for an extended period? Do they have an FM simulcast people can use as a fallback? They almost certainly have an online stream, so perhaps that?

If they do need to go dark for a bit, it might allow for some interesting DX possibilities.

c

 

[tvnut]

The new tower will go up close to the current tower; I’m sure the guy wires will be arranged just so to not conflict. I can see them running lower power days and being off overnight for the big work to take place, especially with the ground system. You could get it done more quickly by arranging with another station for a temporary diplex, as WMVP did with WLS, but with who? Would a 720-890 combo work (740-860 does in Toronto)?

 

[fybush]

Why would they need to go dark? The transmitter building isn't moving. They can put up one or the other new towers (main or aux) and switch to it before taking down the old ones.

 

[davideduardo]

Will the ground system extend to the buildings like some other shared sites? Otherwise, if they don't have a full ground system, there would possibly be some compromise of the service. What about the Auxiliary tower?

What I have seen done with similar systems is that the old ground is preserved and foundations poured over it. Then the exterior walls and roofs of the new structure are build with mesh screening.

In the case of KTNQ (50 kw, 4 towers, 1020 AM in LA diplexed with 1150, also high power) the walls and roof are screened and the parking area has a "web" of copper wiring strung at roof level. like a net and tied to the roofs and walls.

The FCC really has to think about what Mexico has done, moving nearly all AM stations to FM. It's a shame though. WGN has to be one of the 10 best legacy stations nationwide.

Mexico did not move all stations to FM. They changed the old second adjacent rules to allow them at the same COL. But a bunch of AMs in several of the largest markets (Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla, Guadalajara) had no place to go for all but one of the AMs. And along the US border, they could move very few as the old channel allocations and separations are regulated by treaty A few AMs did not want to file to move due to cost

Mexico has allowed the vacated AM frequencies to be reapplied for, and some have come back to life, often as non-commercial stations with some in one of Mexico's over 120 indigenous languages and dialects.

It's a shame to compromise this most impressive facility. Will the FAA allow them to have a new tower of the same height? People have said that KFI just isn't the same with the shorter sectionalized tower.

The KFI tower was lowered due to objections by nearby airports. In Chicago, there was no collision with a plane and, apparently, no proximity with low altitude flight paths.

 

[davideduardo]

The new tower will go up close to the current tower; I’m sure the guy wires will be arranged just so to not conflict. I can see them running lower power days and being off overnight for the big work to take place, especially with the ground system. You could get it done more quickly by arranging with another station for a temporary diplex, as WMVP did with WLS, but with who? Would a 720-890 combo work (740-860 does in Toronto)?

Entire ground systems have been replaced with no reduction in power. In fact, the major concern is RF exposure by workers on the project.

There is no such thing as a "temporary diplex" as the design of the two signal combiner/rejector and ATU has to be broad enough at each frequency but highly rejective on the other. That takes custom construction and design and a new rejection network for the station already on the system. Further, and existing tower was likely designed for a precise wavelength of its station, such as half-wave, quarter-wave or 5/8 wave in height. So the "borrowed" tower may net be the best height for the second station, requiring additional matching in the ATU.

 

[davideduardo]

Why would they need to go dark? The transmitter building isn't moving. They can put up one or the other new towers (main or aux) and switch to it before taking down the old ones.

A single tower non-directional antenna is about as simple as they come.

 

[davideduardo]

Not sure why they can't put the Data-centre somewhere else.

Many AM stations are prolonging their lives by selling valuable land and moving elsewhere. Often, stations were built in the 30's and cities have grown and land is often worth much more than the station.

So the station buys cheaper land "farther out" or relocates into an area the is not a prime real estate zone. The owner makes a one-time windfall profit on the land and the station continues to do what most AMs are doing... fading away.

The KABC land in LA was sold a couple of years ago for about 10 times what the station itself is worth. A few years before that, the KHJ land was sold for about five or six times what the station itself was worth.

 

[cyberdad]

.Mexico did not move all stations to FM. They changed the old second adjacent rules to allow them at the same COL. But a bunch of AMs in several of the largest markets (Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla, Guadalajara) had no place to go for all but one of the AMs.

This is not un;ike Canada, where the number of AMs has been sharply reduced. Mostly by AMs migrating to FM. Most of the AMs remaining have nowhere else to go . Or have simply opted to stay put. But a few are big signal SRC stations (the French version of the CBC). These are basically in provinces where the Francophone population is small and widely scattered, so building a network of FM stations to serve a handful of listeners each with network and local content would be impractical. Especially with the availability of streaming and HD subchannel options.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

Except in rare instances, 5/8 wave (225 Electrical Degrees) monopoles are not ideal, even though the horizontal radiation is maximized. That is because there is a large minor lobe in the pattern at about 60 degrees above the horizontal plane, causing serious fading problems with 50000 watt Class A stations in particular, since the skywave ends up within the ground wave range of the station, especially during Critical and Nighttime Hours. In cases where there is next to no groundwave where the skywave comes back down, like a Class C 1000 watt station in an area with bad conductivity, this is not a problem, and the only way to increase the range of a Class C 1000 watt station.

Long ago, most nondirectional Class A 50000 watt stations optimized their antenna heights at around 190-195 degrees, which allows greater groundwave fields with only a slight minor lobe toward straight up.

Cities are often at low local elevation, where rivers and streams, lakes and oceans, carry and hold organic matter into the nearby soil, making it silty, with more ionic salts, and improving conductivity. As you move away from many of these cities, the elevation usually increases, the soil is usually more sandy and gravelly, even rocky, as rains and streams carry away the silt and ionic salts, and making those sites less conductive, causing disappointing results on many rebuilds.

Hilltops are great for FM transmitters, but for the above reasons, and because the power goes into a greater than hemispherical space, and the efficiency is lower. WCCW 1310 and WCCW-FM 107.5 are good examples, which David is also familiar with.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

I meant to add that these are the reasons hilltops are not good for AM stations.

60 degrees above the horizon corresponds to a distance of 70-80 miles, well within the service areas of many Class A AMs.