Maintaining signal receiving sites can be a challenge, for many reasons.

For example, the signal received by satellite dishes is very tiny. While the use of parabolic dishes can achieve some significant gain figures, it also means proper alignment of the dish and the LNB is critical to solid reception. For that reason, the use of a “dish finder” and/or spectrum analyzer is normally required for peak alignment.

Maintaining a clean, good received signal has its own challenges, especially during “sun fade” (twice a year the sun will be found in alignment with the dish, and “natural noise” overwhelms the transmitted signals.

In some locations, lawnmower engines have been known to “jam” a satellite dish.

High winds and major storms can easily “turn” a loose dish, warp it, or hit it with a lightning bolt. Another physical danger to a dish might come from a car or truck that evades traffic control devices (poles, concrete blocks, fences) to “bump” the dish.

And then there is heavy precipitation, from rain or snowstorms, that can cause signal fade, either by absorbing the signal, or changing the physical structure of the dish and the LNB focal point. During some seasons, it becomes the engineer’s duty to go out and sweep the dish (unless, of course, he can talk an intern into the job!) to keep signal deterioration from killing the program audio or video.

In fact, sometimes, after a storm has passed, the engineer will go out to check on the condition of the dish and, occasionally reports back that “the storm has left it as a basket case.”

Yes, there is a lot that can affect satellite reception.

For that reason, it is common for engineers to exchange stories about how they get the snow out of the dish, remove wasps from the LNB, or otherwise mitigate issues with local interference, etc.

And, when visiting another’s site, it is time to take a quick look at their dishes is warranted – who has the biggest dish?? (!), mounting dishes at acute angles to the horizon, or some unusual scheme to protect the dish and LNB.

So, as you consider your dishes, perhaps you have a story to dish? Let us know!

This is another in our series of pictures that come from real installations, pictures that sort of make you scratch your head a bit. Our friend, the late Richard Haskey, would put it this way: “That’s the worst I’ve ever seen!” And then he would smile. Sometimes you just have to improvise to […]

Because the public at large is often frightened by scaremongers regarding the effects of RF radiation, broadcasters need to be aware of those areas at transmission sites where RF radiation can be an issue.

The OSHA and the FCC have, in recent years, focused more attention on the measurement and signage for protection of the public. But, then there are some members of the public that have their own approach.

At one time, tower crews regularly would climb through operating FM antennas or merely jump onto an operating AM stick.

If you could not see the RF, it could not hurt you, they reasoned. Some would eschew footware while working on steel.

We Do Know More Today

Today, with much more science behind us, we are much more aware of the interaction of radio waves and the human body.

So now the routine, especially at shared sites, is checking with RF exposure meters and using RF suits, coordinated power reductions – or just plain go off the air during antenna installations and repairs, unless there is an auxiliary antenna and/or site that can be brought on line.

With all this attention – and with the required posting of warning signs – even non-broadcasters are getting more and more cautious around transmitting antennas.

Of course, as with any precaution, things can get a bit out of hand.

A Very Cautious Contractor

We were told this story about an older air conditioning man who, along his new helper, came out to a broadcast site a couple of years ago to repair an A/C unit.

On the way up to the site the veteran mechanic instructed his younger helper to be careful – and not to be touching anything because of “all the RF that was flying around on the site.” It seemed like he was suggesting a decent precaution – at least he was instructing his assistant to err on the side of safety.

Nevertheless, when he got out of the truck it was apparent that his level of concern was more than usual.

The question is: is it OSHA approved?

The engineer who took this picture realized the mechanic was genuinely scared about standing next to the tower.

As you can see clearly, he was wearing his homemade tin foil “family jewel protector.”

Talk about priceless!

The fellow’s name and location are redacted to protect the … err … protected.

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Have you seen something strange at a broadcast site? Please share your pictures with us! Names, and places are optional; embarrassment is not the goal, rather finding a teaching moment.

Wiring a studio can involve a lot of wires. Providing easy access to circuits for testing or changing inputs or outputs without having to open up the console usually is preferred. That is why so many engineers use punch blocks to allow that easy access. However, fast forward a decade and sometimes that […]

Here is another in our series of pictures that will make you laugh, groan, or (and we really do hope not) spit up your coffee. Of course, your facility looks nothing like this, does it? Time and again, no matter how carefully a studio or transmitter site is planned, almost immediately – even […]

The days are long gone when station engineers were tasked with the regular duty of cleaning and waxing the transmitter. It is always nice to have a nice clean transmitter in a nice, clean, air-conditioned room, right? Unfortunately, that is not always reality. Engineers often are more firemen than anything else. Applying wax […]

When this set of pictures was first posted on the Internet, it was hard to believe that the tower involved had not just collapsed and caused all sorts of problems. It was, however, a poster child for so many towers where there have been no regular inspections or maintenance programs.

Don Barber of L&S Enterprises in Titusville, FL was the source for these pictures. His crew was sent out to change the configuration of the double unipole antenna that was mounted on a 302- foot tower, along with some work to paint the tower and replace the wiring for the obstruction lights. But, as Don said: “It all came to a halt quickly.”

As Barber’s workers approached the 250-foot level, they were somewhat startled at to see a situation that you could only describe as “hard to believe.”

One of those truly “it is hard to believe your eyes” situations

As the climber got closer, the view became even less appetizing. It indeed was what he thought he had seen – a rather nasty gap in the leg.

This tower leg wasn’t designed to have a window

As you can see from the condition of the tower and paint, over a long period of time, something “ate away” the metal.

Obviously, the electrochemical reaction, aided by the pull of the unipole supporting wires did a good imitation of a hot knife going through butter.

By the time when these pictures were taken, only the bracket itself was holding the tower leg in place.

Only a tiny, buckled bit of the tower remained

It was only a small gap, obviously hard to see from ground level. But with only a tiny, buckled bit of the tower leg remaining, the gap would have been more than large enough to bring the whole tower down if any stress from high winds, for example, had occurred.

Just imagine if you were on that tower and came to that spot.

Barber relates that the climber stopped what he was doing and got off the tower immediately. Repairs to the tower were carried out shortly thereafter, and at last report, the structure was stable.

An Instructive Experience

The reason to show these pictures is to provide a vivid, visual reason to show why it is important to schedule regular inspections of all your towers. Clearly, it would not have taken much longer before this station would have been off the air for a significant period of time.

Remember it is a “tower system.” Each of the members is important, from the steel itself to the insulators, guy wires, and anchors.

The basic lesson is to ensure someone regularly takes the time to do a good inspection of each tower in your care. Develop a checklist – or check out this article and hire a good tower crew to do a thorough inspection

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The Worst I’ve Ever Seen is a periodic look at some of the curious things that can be seen at broadcast facilities.

It is not our intention to embarrass anyone but to realize that doing everything perfectly is not always possible. Nevertheless, after we chuckle a bit, it does remind us to check out our own facilities.

Do you have a picture showing the “lighter side” of broadcasting? Please share it with us by sending it to: Editor@theBDR.net

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