Who's Tower is this.. On Sharp Ridge

[Mid West Clubber]

Its the tallest tower on Sharp Ridge and had the Flashing Strobe Lights... Back when i was a kid I used to think it had to be WOKI's Tower since they had the strongest flamethrower signal,, but I couldnt figure out while driving on I-640 all the radio stations would be jammed and unlistenable,,, I assumed this was due to Front end Overload,,, but ive noticed these days I dont get jammed so bad when driving near Sharp Ridge,, I dont know if radio's just have better filtering than back in the 80s and 90s, or if the Sharp Ridge Towers had to regulate the excessive RF in the area,,, I remember seeing these apartment buildings at the base of Sharp Ridge and I always thought how bad it would suck to live there cause you couldnt get any radio reception.. It wasnt until years later that I found out that WOKI wasnt even licensed to serve Knoxville but was originally a Oak Ridge station and the actual TX was somewhere around Oliver Springs, Lake City area,,,, Probably why the signal went so far north into KY,, but it was weak at times over in Dandridge on a boombox,, Sometimes WKSF Asheville was louder and stronger............ So back to the subject.... Who operates from the tallest tower on Sharp Ridge with the Flashing Strobe Lights,,,,, That is if they are still using the Strobe Lights.. I know the Sharp Ridge Towers were visible at night coming south on I-75 about 15 miles north of Knoxville.

 

[knoxbob]

More than likely that is WBIR-TV 10.

 

[radio30]

Clubber, I believe the tower you are talking about belongs to W B I R-T V Channel 10. If I have my info straight and my memory is correct, it was built several years ago to replace a much shorter tower. The old channel 10 tower is still standing. It's the one with the weather radar (ball-like structure) sitting in the middle of it.

I'd like to go up there sometime and check out all that is up there. Not sure how to get in there though if you even can do it without something that is 4 wheel drive. That is quite an elevation.

 

[SuperQ]

The big one is Channel 10. It's easy to drive up there. Turn on Broadway across from Shoney's and follow your nose up the hill. South Central's studios are on the east end of the ridge. There is a so-called "park" up there as well, although there's not much more there than a picnic table.

There are a number of small towers on the ridge that you don't even notice from down below...

 

[radiorob2.0]

Since WBIR was famous for their 1700 plus foot tower east of the city, I have to ask,why did Channel 10 move to Sharp Ridge?

 

[jimking]

Since WBIR was famous for their 1700 plus foot tower east of the city, I have to ask,why did Channel 10 move to Sharp Ridge?

The reason given at the time was that all the rooftop antennas in East Tennessee were pointed at Sharps Ridge, giving Channel 10 a ghostly image on many area TVs. As if it matters anymore.

The FM 100.3 transmitter is in the Cumberland Mountains above Lake City.

 

[thatWguy]

The FM 100.3 transmitter is in the Cumberland Mountains above Lake City.

It's on Cross Mountain (ele 3540') or "the Flag Pole", as it's otherwise known, to be exact. That's near the greater metroplolitan Briceville area ;D ; the highest point east of the Mississippi River and west of the Appalachians. Pirkle told me he "won it in a poker game from the Air Force". Sounded funny, then I found out it did originally belong to the Air Force as an important radar listening point. How Pirkle actually got access to put the FM transmitter (along with about 30 other various transmitters) up there would be an interesting story. I was up there 4 times with as Buster's helper, and was always amazed at how windy it always was. Even on a windless, sunny day down below, the winds never seem to be lower than about 40mph up there.

Through some sort of bureaucratic FCC mixup, Prikle got permission to put the fully-charged 100KW station up there giving WOKI one of the widest coverage areas in the mid-south.

 

[SuperQ]

Pirkle didn't win it in a poker game. He leased the "radio transmission rights" for the top of the mountain from the coal company that owned the mountain. His contract specified that if they ever got that far up the mountain to strip for coal, he would either have to move, or buy the coal they couldn't strip. Just about then the bottom fell out of the coal industry, and Buster quit having to dodge loaded coal trucks barrelling down the one lane road.

Coincidentally, Pirkle also got options on just about every available mountaintop where 100.3 would fit. So when George Mooney and WKGN went looking for tower sites to file for 100.3, every place they went said some city dude gave them a few hundred bucks just for the right to talk to them first about towers on their hilltop. The resulting delay caused Mooney's application to be filed too late. Even in the early 70's, the man could do some deals.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

If it was that windy up there, I bet it got really cold to go up there in the Winter, especially for the Tower Climbers.

I bet MT Mitchell where WMIT 106.9 is and also MT Pisgah where WKSF is located where Windy and col as well.

Why is it that Knoxville doesnt get much snow in winter, but you go just a bit North, or go Over around Asheville NC its always snow covered???? Is K-town shielded from the Snow and wind cause its in a valley surrounded by Mountains? How often do you guys even get Snow in Knoxville, I only remember one really bad one.

 

[The Beave]

Cl

If it was that windy up there, I bet it got really cold to go up there in the Winter, especially for the Tower Climbers.

I bet MT Mitchell where WMIT 106.9 is and also MT Pisgah where WKSF is located where Windy and col as well.

Why is it that Knoxville doesnt get much snow in winter, but you go just a bit North, or go Over around Asheville NC its always snow covered???? Is K-town shielded from the Snow and wind cause its in a valley surrounded by Mountains? How often do you guys even get Snow in Knoxville, I only remember one really bad one.

Clubber...

If you are able to (legally) go to the site the there should be a sign on the tx building or the fense with a sign with an FCC ARN site number.

When you know the site # then you should be able research it on the FCC database. (Public website)

 

[tennvol]

Why is it that Knoxville doesnt get much snow in winter, but you go just a bit North, or go Over around Asheville NC its always snow covered???? Is K-town shielded from the Snow and wind cause its in a valley surrounded by Mountains? How often do you guys even get Snow in Knoxville, I only remember one really bad one.

Good question. When I was growing up here, we had a lot more snow than we do now. When we moved back here from Florida four years ago, I promised my daughter that she would miss at least one day of school each year because of actual snow fall. Hasn't happened yet. Other than a light dusting, we have had nothing to speak of in that time.

 

[Raingus]

Why is it that Knoxville doesnt get much snow in winter, but you go just a bit North, or go Over around Asheville NC its always snow covered???? Is K-town shielded from the Snow and wind cause its in a valley surrounded by Mountains? How often do you guys even get Snow in Knoxville, I only remember one really bad one.

We use to get at least 2 or 3 big snows in January and February. That's not the case anymore of course. I also remember us having extremely cold weather here in Knoxville in the 70's & 80's. I remember around Christmas of '83 and '89 that it got down below zero degrees at night with day time highs between only 5 and 10 degrees at times. The ground was frozen so hard that it was like concrete. Plus we got a couple of heavy snowfalls in early 1985 along with our record setting low here in Knoxville that same year which was -24 below zero with at least one foot of snow on the ground.

I believe the last time we had below zero temps was back in January of 1996 when it got down to -8 below with snow on the ground also.

I do believe being in this valley and surrounded by all these mountains has a lot to do with why we get less snow than everyone else. I think it's a combination of some (Non-Global Warming) climate changes and the fact that weather goes in cycles.

 

[SuperQ]

"If you are able to (legally) go to the site the there should be a sign on the tx building or the fense with a sign with an FCC ARN site number."


A tower only has to have an ARN number if its over 200 feet (or within sight of an airport runway). A lot of those towers on top of big mountains aren't more than 100-150 feet. There's no point other than to create more vertical real estate. And its easier to put up three 100 footers than one 300 footer.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

Yeah I think the old WOKI 100.3 tower was only 100 foot, but was so high up on that mountain it was still a fame thrower,,, I bet up on the mountain where WOKI,,,The old WOKI on 100.3 Im meaning is really really cold in winter, and probably gets alot of Snow in that Area.. Asheville NC and all throough that area gets really cold with alot of Snow, probably due to Elevation, but then you get down to Greenville and Spatanburg and its like 20 degrees warmer.. It dont really start getting really tropical like until you get down around Columbia SC...

In FEB 2002 we had a snow storm in Myrtle Beach SC that froze my car doors shut and closed all the roads,, the locals said it hadnt snowed there any more than flurrys in at least 10 yrs..... Just my luck huh.... Even in Myrtle beach SC our usual weather was anywhere from high 40s to high 60s during the day, but at night it would drop down to 25 or 30,,, so the carolina coast has alot of rapid temperature change in winters, but the cold wind from the Atlantic would probably make Knoxville actually more mild at times.

I remember being in Knoxville just maybe 2 yrs ago, and seeing a Hotel that had 2 LIVE REAL PALM TREEs out front,, is it normal to be able to grow Palm trees in Knoville,, I dont even think Atlanta has many if any Naturally growing non maintained Palm trees,,, I usually never see them farther north than Columbia SC or Outer Banks NC,, but I have seen a few very small and unhealthy ones in Ocean City Maryland and even one realy little one in Washington DC...... In fact I know a few people here in Indiana that manage to keep Palm trees Alive,, I dont know what they have to do to keep them alive, but our Indiana Winters are very cold.

 

[csneed5]

Just to let you know, WATE's Spectracite Tower has strobes, too. Occasionally, they have them on at low power.

Everybody might have been asleep, the night that WATE-TV activated and tested the emergency high power strobe lights on its tower. Nobody else has an emergency . I was coming through town one morning about 3 AM, and the strobes on WATE's tower were 10 times brighter than WBIR's. They were going off every split second, and dwarfed everything else on the ridge. I used to work there, so I called an engineer friend of mine, and he told me the police and the station got calls about them because they were so bright and noticeable.

I'm told WATE's is the only tower that can have them on emergency high power when needed, and the station was only testing them that night because of an FCC requirement. The rule is, in times of extreme fog, their strobes can be on emergency high power, because theirs is the tallest tower.

 

[csneed5]

Just to let you know, WATE's Spectracite Tower has strobes, too. Occasionally, they have them on at low power.

Everybody might have been asleep, the night that WATE-TV activated and tested the emergency high power strobe lights on its tower. Nobody else has an emergency authorization for strobes that bright. I was coming through town one morning about 3 AM, and the strobes on WATE's tower were 10 times brighter than WBIR's. They were going off every split second, and dwarfed everything else on the ridge. I used to work there, so I called an engineer friend of mine, and he told me the police and the station got calls about them because they were so bright and obtrustive.

I'm told WATE's is the only tower that can have them on emergency high power when needed, and the station was only testing them that night because of an FCC requirement. The rule is, in times of extreme fog, their strobes can be on emergency high power, because only theirs is the tower in the middle of the antenna farm on the ridge.

 

[Mid West Clubber]

The only towers ive seen on the ridge with strobes were the really big one, and the much smaller one.. Which one had the Emergency ones,, the big one or the little one, cause my question earlier was for the Biggest lke 2000 foot tower on the ridge with the strobes,, not the smaller little 2 to 300 ft tower they have up there... Which one had the Emergency strobes,,, I wouldnt think it would have been the smaller one.

 

[w9wi]

Through some sort of bureaucratic FCC mixup, Prikle got permission to put the fully-charged 100KW station up there giving WOKI one of the widest coverage areas in the mid-south.

Best I can tell 100.3 is not grandfathered to any excess power -- they're operating right at the maximum allowed for their antenna elevation.

Unless their listing in the CDBS database doesn't reflect their actual facilities?

 

[csneed5]

Hey Mid West Clubber.. as you look at the ridge from the downtown direction (looking north):

From left to right, the REALLY tall tower at Sharp's Gap to the left of I-275, is WVLT-TV (it has a candelabra at the top)..
The middle tallest one in the middle of Sharp's Ridge is WATE-TV's new digital tower (it has a smaller 1,153 foot tower right beside it), and the tall silver tower on the right is WBIR-TV's old analog tower (it has a self-supporting tower, also right beside it).

The three tallest towers are 1,500 feet or higher (WATE-TV's is the tallest one).
The red and white-painted tower on the far right, next to Broadway is WMAK-DT's (it's also the old WTVK Channel 26 tower), at 1,017 feet.

WBIR-TV's silver tower doesn't have any red flashing lights on it at all.. it's the one always flashing strobe lights.
WATE-TV's has red lights that flash all the time, but it's the one with emergency high intensity strobe lights that only flash during heavy fog.
To my knowledge, WVLT-TV's tower only has red flashing lights.

The smaller 300-foot towers all have strobes, but they're not authorized to flash any brighter than they do now.

Go to Wikipedia.com, and put in "Sharp's Ridge," and you'll see the technical article I wrote for the antenna farm.

 

[csneed5]

I'd love to trek back up to the Flag Pole again.. haven't been up there in 30 years, along with a TV buddy of mine. When I told Johnny we were going, he even offered to give me a key to the transmitter building, because he said 'you'll need the rest when you get there.' He is a character. You're also right about the wind.. it's always blowing at least 30 MPH up there..never stops. And it's chilly, even in the summer.

We parked and hiked up. It was clear day and a wonderful view, though.. clear to the Smokies, down the Cumberland Escarpment towards Chattanooga, up to Cumberland Gap into Virginia, north into Kentucky, and west to the Monterey, Tennessee area. It's just hell to get to.. you'll pay for the view.

Nostalgia beckons.. If any of you plan a hiking trip up there, please let me know. I'm there.

Holston Mountain in the Tri-Cities and its radio & TV stations also makes a good trip.. you can drive there; I go up there all the time.. also Camp Creek Bald (Viking Mountain) outside Greeneville and WEMT-TV (a driving trip, too).. Chilhowee Mountain, where 107.7 and 102.1 both are (another driving trip).. also, Mt Pisgah and WLOS-TV (that's the highest TV broadcast antenna in the Eastern United States now.. hiking the last 200 feet up are not pleasant..better be in shape).. Haven't driven to 106.9 at Mt. Mitchell yet.