• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

WTVN tower crumples in storm

Just drove by the tower farm and the pieces of the new tower are sitting by where the old one stood. Clearly has been some digging. Construction tape roping off the area around where the tower will stand.
I have a photo on my phone but having a tough time uploading it.
 
Drove out to the south side Friday morning and, from 270, saw some people I believe were construction workers around the site of the fallen/soon-to-be erected new tower. Maybe they're finally getting moving now.
 
Looks like they've dug out the former bases for the former tower and that's about it. Without going on the property, it's difficult to determine if much more has been done. Just shy of two years seems to be an awful long time to rebuild a tower.
 
Considering our national crisis right now, I can't see there being much progress on this in the near future. Maybe I'm wrong, but this hardly seems essential to me.
 
Looks like they've dug out the former bases for the former tower and that's about it. Without going on the property, it's difficult to determine if much more has been done. Just shy of two years seems to be an awful long time to rebuild a tower.

Remember that in many markets tower crews are fully engaged in the TV changes. Except for emergencies, the may see that work on a station that is on the air with an STA the AM antenna issue is very low priorities.
 
Remember that in many markets tower crews are fully engaged in the TV changes. Except for emergencies, the may see that work on a station that is on the air with an STA the AM antenna issue is very low priorities.

It will be 2 years in a few weeks. In an STA in 2018 it was noted the tower was estimated to arrive sometime in October, 2018. It didn't quiet make it. At least a year later. My guess this has been more about foot dragging than rigger availability. Edited to add, also note that in their November, 2019 STA extension request they noted CONSTRUCTION FOR THE REPLACEMENT TOWER IS IN PROGRESS, ONCE THE TOWER INSTALLATION IS DONE, SYSTEM TUNE UP, MEASUREMENTS AND FILING WILL BE COMPLETED.
 
Last edited:
Wow. I'll try to remember to check 610 some night after what usually would be the pattern switch.
As I wrote well back in this thread, I live in an area where the switch is extremely noticeable after dark. For my parents just south of Buckeye Lake, even more so.
Any listeners well to the north of Columbus who have missed 610 certainly will welcome the signal back. When I was up around Tiffin in November, WTVN was nowhere to be found after dark. Not sure how far south you'd have to be to pick up the signal, but my guess is between Marion and Upper Sandusky based on what I've heard in other directions.
 
Wow. I'll try to remember to check 610 some night after what usually would be the pattern switch.
As I wrote well back in this thread, I live in an area where the switch is extremely noticeable after dark. For my parents just south of Buckeye Lake, even more so.
Any listeners well to the north of Columbus who have missed 610 certainly will welcome the signal back. When I was up around Tiffin in November, WTVN was nowhere to be found after dark. Not sure how far south you'd have to be to pick up the signal, but my guess is between Marion and Upper Sandusky based on what I've heard in other directions.

I'm not sure how far along they've gotten with hooking up, testing and so forth. It's only been up about a week at most.
 
Has anyone listened at night to see if they're running the usual night pattern again? I keep meaning to but have forgotten.
 
Sounds like the night signal is back. Didn't get to listen for long, but I did check around 1 a.m. and 610 was not coming in well on the radio I used. I'll check again tonight to get a better listen.
 
Before the tower collapse, WTVN was very listenable in Upper Sandusky. I checked reception in Marion last night and they were lost in the 610 channel noise.
 
That tells me they're still on the 1,250 omnidirectional pattern. I do tend to get some unwanted interference on AM inside my house, but the night I checked, it sounded just as it had in the "old days" with the directional pattern.
I used to listen to 610 when I lived in Toledo and driving between there and Columbus, I remember starting to hear cancellation at right about the 75/475 split on the south edge of Perrysburg. Anywhere south of there, 610 was rock solid. Where I lived on and near the UT campus, 610's night signal suffered from a decent amount of phasing.
 
On 5/15 they applied for another extension. It says in the application "WE REQUEST EXTENSION OF THIS STA TO OPERATE THE WTVN NIGHT ARRAY AT VARIANCE AT 25% POWER WHILE THE DIRECTIONAL ARRAY IS BEING REBUILT. THE REPLACEMENT TOWER IS NOW CONSTRUCTED AND WORK TO COMPLETE THE COMPONENT INSTALL AND TUNE UP IS TO FOLLOW. THE INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE SERVED BY WTVN-AM CONTINUING TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AS WE WORK TO RESTORE THE NIGHTTIME FACILITY."
 
On 5/15 they applied for another extension. It says in the application "WE REQUEST EXTENSION OF THIS STA TO OPERATE THE WTVN NIGHT ARRAY AT VARIANCE AT 25% POWER WHILE THE DIRECTIONAL ARRAY IS BEING REBUILT. THE REPLACEMENT TOWER IS NOW CONSTRUCTED AND WORK TO COMPLETE THE COMPONENT INSTALL AND TUNE UP IS TO FOLLOW. THE INTERESTS OF THE PUBLIC WILL BE SERVED BY WTVN-AM CONTINUING TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY AS WE WORK TO RESTORE THE NIGHTTIME FACILITY."

25% on the night site would really suck to the east and west. Even more than it does at full power. The lower power omni used during the reconstruction at least gave them full metro coverage day and night.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom