Copper thieves bring down 500-foot Oklahoma radio tower

[rsdsharp]

2. I worked at an FM station where the tower fell.

It was a 600 foot stick, directly above the station. Unlike AM radio, where the tower itself is the antenna, FM uses transmission bays near the top of the tower. The bays are connected to the transmission line, which is encased in copper tubing.

When they rebuilt the tower, an arduous process done by professionals, the tower crew found out the station’s chief engineer had miscalculated the length of the transmission line. They found that they were 4 feet short. At 600 feet above ground. Which they had climbed by hand, hauling all their tools with them.

The tower crew wasn’t happy, and the CE learned some new words that day.