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I simply stated tower lights are one layer of a "safety layer cake" The NOTAM's are "backups" for failed lights. (next layer). It's a safety "cake". Cars have a layered approach too. Most cars have seatbelts. Then there are air bags. If all else fails cars are designed to "crumble" to absorb the wreck.
Unless you are flying under 1000 feet, the tower lights and this tower are a "non factor". A pilot who wants to reach his / her's next Birthday who is going below 1000 feet in any area will read the ALL NOTAMs for this area. If I was pilotting aircraft now, I would double check everything, especially with the possible lack of air traffic controllers at some towers.
It
SomeRadioGuy knows his stuff and I'd say knows as much if not more than I do at twice the years in the business.
Ownership is something I have not experienced. I have acted as owner, like Paul. In other words you do all the work of an owner because they hired you to run the station. You had to do it all. When you didn't know, you had on the job training with nobody to ask. Gotta love radio to survive such a gig! I'd trust anything from SomeRadioGuy but not so much for you Surfdude1061
Ownership is something I have not experienced. I have acted as owner, like Paul. In other words you do all the work of an owner because they hired you to run the station. You had to do it all. When you didn't know, you had on the job training with nobody to ask. Gotta love radio to survive such a gig! I'd trust anything from SomeRadioGuy but not so much for you Surfdude1061
Read SomeRadioGuy's response. If a station has a tower "issue" such as lighting failures, once it notifies and follows procedure, there is not any significant issue. As long as a fix for the problem is specified... with any delay properly explained... there is no other action.
There are many reasons why a repair can be delayed. The most significant one is weather, which can prevent a tower crew from performing repairs. No government agency sanctions stations for "bad weather".
What difference does that make?
Whether a person is an owner, manager, chief engineer, contract engineer or chief operator, they (should) know their responsibilities as to notifications and repairs.
Unless you know the in's and out's of running a radio station, Mr. Surfdude, don't talk smack about the professionals that are trying to school you on the rules. I be starting my 9th year, as a LPFM operator in February 2026. Excited over it.
Dan <><
P.S. I handle everything outside of keeping the books and fixing major breakdowns. When something goes wrong, I'm always on top at fixing it myself. If I can't, that's when I call the engineer.
B.T.W. Many of the radio engineers and tower crew people may have more than one radio station they have to keep up with. Why it might take them time to address a particular issue you may be noticing.
Dan <><
P.S. I handle everything outside of keeping the books and fixing major breakdowns. When something goes wrong, I'm always on top at fixing it myself. If I can't, that's when I call the engineer.
B.T.W. Many of the radio engineers and tower crew people may have more than one radio station they have to keep up with. Why it might take them time to address a particular issue you may be noticing.
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It's nice to see a knowledgeable and well informed LPFM operator here. Sometime honor us with a chronology of how you got interested in LPFM and managed to get a license and go on the air!
That, along with weather, is an important fact to acknowledge in getting any tower lighting malfunction resolved.
Add in the fact that parts may not be instantly available for some functions as well as the general accessibility of an antenna site due to things like floods and storms and we understand why the authorities like FAA and FCC give considerable leeway in getting issues resolved.
As a longtime broadcast engineer who used to hang out here was fond of saying....."Good Lord!"
Tower lighting is just one of several issues that broadcast engineers deal with, that are not well understood by the general public. There are certain individuals that, shall we say, are inordinately concerned with the public safety aspects of towers and lighting.
A few years ago we had a five-tower AM array that had three lit towers. Any time we had a burned-out beacon, a local resident would send me an officious-sounding email warning of aircraft safety issues if we didn't get that beacon fixed right away. He also would contact local government in the town where the site was located and pester them about it.
At one point I got a really weird email from him claiming that there was a discrepancy in the licensed heights of the towers at this site, because he had driven near the site and they all appeared to be different heights from his vantage point. I guess he was not familiar with the concept of parallax.
Tower lighting is just one of several issues that broadcast engineers deal with, that are not well understood by the general public. There are certain individuals that, shall we say, are inordinately concerned with the public safety aspects of towers and lighting.
A few years ago we had a five-tower AM array that had three lit towers. Any time we had a burned-out beacon, a local resident would send me an officious-sounding email warning of aircraft safety issues if we didn't get that beacon fixed right away. He also would contact local government in the town where the site was located and pester them about it.
At one point I got a really weird email from him claiming that there was a discrepancy in the licensed heights of the towers at this site, because he had driven near the site and they all appeared to be different heights from his vantage point. I guess he was not familiar with the concept of parallax.
It was through this chat room and God's leading, that I was able to pursue this LPFM radio station. Many of the posters here, helped me pursue this dream and taught me everything I needed to know about the business. (Alan McCall from WDXD-LP was the main person behind that) Prior to the LPFM radio thing, I was a part time DJ at our local AFR station but when they moved from Selma, that stint ended and for a time, I kept on Praying for God to let me return to the radio business. When a previous window was opening for LPFM radio wannabes, I was very interested in pursuing one. (Not this most recent one) As time progressed, I started to pursue this dream, with God's backing and things started to fall in place. Had some bumps along the way but was able to smooth them out. In 2017 I was able to sign on with this radio station and as they say, the rest in history. Over the years, I continued to learn so much about the business and was taught by many professionals, who take part in this chat room and others from my immediate area. Now that I have learned so much, I can share what I know to everyone.
Dan <><
P.S. When I made the statements about the engineer and tower people having more than one radio station to keep up with, I was serious about it. As an example, My own engineer has several he has keep up with, along with the ones he owns and operates. When a breakdown occurs, he'll fix it but there are times, when I have wait my turn because he's a very busy man and has more than just mine to keep going. Sometimes he might be going through health or family issues. After all the man is pushing in his mid 80s and he isn't the young dude he once was.
In Closing: Sometimes when a breakdown occurs, there might be more than just a simple fix to resolve the issue. Parts or broadcasting gear replacements have to be ordered and they can be very costly. Just to even get the engineer to come and fix little ol' me, can be very costly too, depending on the amount of time it takes for him to fix the issues.
Finally: There's a lot involved in running and maintaining a radio station. Before you speak smack, Mr. Surferdude, you need to learn more about this business and let the pros tell you what all is involved with the daily operations of it.
Dan <><
P.S. When I made the statements about the engineer and tower people having more than one radio station to keep up with, I was serious about it. As an example, My own engineer has several he has keep up with, along with the ones he owns and operates. When a breakdown occurs, he'll fix it but there are times, when I have wait my turn because he's a very busy man and has more than just mine to keep going. Sometimes he might be going through health or family issues. After all the man is pushing in his mid 80s and he isn't the young dude he once was.
In Closing: Sometimes when a breakdown occurs, there might be more than just a simple fix to resolve the issue. Parts or broadcasting gear replacements have to be ordered and they can be very costly. Just to even get the engineer to come and fix little ol' me, can be very costly too, depending on the amount of time it takes for him to fix the issues.
Finally: There's a lot involved in running and maintaining a radio station. Before you speak smack, Mr. Surferdude, you need to learn more about this business and let the pros tell you what all is involved with the daily operations of it.
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Deleted member 112817
Guest
Thank you Allen!!!! Since I was attack by a bunch of football players on this page!
Not only does my engineer does radio work, he also does some tv work and serves on his Church's Mission board. From time to time, he travels to various places and helps build Churches or add to existing ones. This man is indeed one busy dude. So you see Mr. Surferdude, there's an example of one person who keeps busy and stays at it. To refer to us pros as football players, is demeaning indeed. You wouldn't last in this business, if someone allowed you to work with them. Chances are, you would clash with the ownership or other employees, if they didn't bow to your agenda. We pros know we're doing and already know what our job is and who we're targeting with our product. If we don't deliver, then we would be protested against and more than likely have to shut down.
Dan <><
P.S. In my case, since the Christian/Gospel market is small here, I want to be sure that both the black and white populace hears those songs they like best and I know will work. To leave out a group of people and tell them no I'm not playing anything for you, would lead to my ultimate demise.
Dan <><
P.S. In my case, since the Christian/Gospel market is small here, I want to be sure that both the black and white populace hears those songs they like best and I know will work. To leave out a group of people and tell them no I'm not playing anything for you, would lead to my ultimate demise.
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Posts like this reassure why I decide to not share what I do on a day to day basis.
Back to the original topic. Since there is a notam in place the and FAA is aware, if the tower lights issue is not resolved by the date you (as the operator or reporter) confirms with the FAA, document the notam in station logs, they are WAY more lenient on tower light outages than in the days of old.
Put your tiki torches and pitchforks away, until you are faced with a put on your big boy pants situation like a oddball tower outage. just chill out, if its truly a gross negligence issue, the proper agencies will remedy it...remember, you don't own the radio station.
ATC has remote monitoring gear for their owned tower sites, they already know. Which Paul Walker confirmed.
Back to the original topic. Since there is a notam in place the and FAA is aware, if the tower lights issue is not resolved by the date you (as the operator or reporter) confirms with the FAA, document the notam in station logs, they are WAY more lenient on tower light outages than in the days of old.
Put your tiki torches and pitchforks away, until you are faced with a put on your big boy pants situation like a oddball tower outage. just chill out, if its truly a gross negligence issue, the proper agencies will remedy it...remember, you don't own the radio station.
ATC has remote monitoring gear for their owned tower sites, they already know. Which Paul Walker confirmed.