Basejumper.com - archive

How do I know if a tower is an AM tower. I have been on the FCC web site but I dont have a clue. Can anyone help me out. PM me and i'll send you the site number.

dude, that information sooo out there for the ones who are not lazy to look.

AM towers (for the most part) are radiators themselves - thus they are NOT grounded. you are likely to see insulators on the guy wires, and a large insulated base with some rings on the bottom. Alot of the smaller AM stations towers are much skinnier, shorter and have shitty wooden fences.

but the best advice I can give you is to stay away. It's just not worth it. Not that it can't be done, but why ? It's like jumping cliffs in headwinds - it can and is done, but the chances are NOT on your side.

insulated base :

 
>>Those AM tower pics are horrifying, yet I was unable to look away.
Like when a monkey swallows a hand gernade.

Make up your own mind after reading the article below.

http://www.wired.com/...h/news/2004/08/64579

I have been trying to post pics but cannot for some reason. Here is a link to some more pics.

http://mcnally.cc/wmid.htm

The rings you see below are a kind of transformer and how they power the lights on the tower wiithout running a wire, which of course would ground out the tower.



NickD
BASE 194

I guess we'll just leave that one alone.... unless you want to go first of coarse.

But we dont know what it is yet.

If it does turn out to be an AM tower then it will be very important to ascertain the power output of the tower. Some towers you will definitely want to leave alone unless you enjoy radiation sickness. Others can be of a power level that is acceptable to some jumpers and then some people refuse to go near anything that is AM. AM is definitely not good for you so don't waste time getting up and off. Either way all the info you need is pretty easy to come across on the net.

[iamageek]

That is the coolest thing I have seen in a while... They are not a kind of transformer, they are a transformer... An isolation transformer.

In large concert sound systems we use the very same technology to eliminate "noise" from the power grid to the sound system by using typical transformers you see on a power pole or in your back yard, not to step up or step down voltage, but to "make our own neutral" and isolate the secondary from the primary (meaning we have full voltage but no direct path to the building's power circuits) to prevent the sound system from being grounded in more than one spot... All things that make the system buzz with noise...

I am a geek - I get all excited by seeing induction.
[/iamageek]

>>I am a geek - I get all excited by seeing induction.<<

Then just in case you haven't seen it already there's a really cool website by a retired KFI (the tower pictured in the above posts) engineer named Newcomb Weisenberger. I had an email conversation with him some time ago and he taught me a lot about AM towers. (Not all of which I was really capable of understanding).

When he asked why I was so interested, and since KFI had already been knocked down by an airplane strike, I told him the stories of us jumping it. He promised not to say anything, and thought it was pretty cool and a side of the tower he never considered before. But basically he really stressed how dangerous hot AM towers are. Of course most AM towers are not as powerful as this one, but KFI was pumping out 50,000 watts of power. When the atmospheric conditions were right people could hear KFI on the other side of the world.

When Newcomb worked at the tower, before everything was automated, one of his jobs was to go out to the base of the tower occasionally and wipe down the big glass insulators. He said he'd always do that as quickly as possible and get the hell out of there.

He also asked me how the hell we got onto the tower without being electrocuted and when I told him we leaped across from the small maintenance shed near the tower he said that would be the only way to do it. He also told me none of the maintenance type tower workers, the guys who painted and changed light bulbs, would ever climb the tower when it was powered up. KFI had a much smaller secondary tower on the property and they would switch the signal over to that one when maintenance was scheduled.

http://www.oldradio.com/...s/stations/LA/nw.htm

And here's a site that documents the fall of the KFI tower. They are trying to rebuild but the locals at the close by Fullerton airport are balking even though the airport and the tower co-existed for almost 50 years before the Cessna coming out of that airport crashed into it.

http://www.earthsignals.com/images/kfi/index.htm



NickD
BASE 194

Nick you look like Eric Estrada and why are two of the other dudes in Dolphin shorts?

KFI should be my local A .

Maybe we should start a "re-build the KFI" campaign...or a campaign to close Fullerton airport. Dumb shits from Fullerton are crashing into houses and shit all the time.

Here are a few updates on if they will rebuild. As far as I can tell the final decision was to be made this past summer, but so far the below is all I've heard. In any case it looks like the new tower won't be rebuilt to its original height of 720-feet (AGL).

The station has submitted a plan to the FAA (they are involved due the tower's proximity to Fullerton airport) to put up a new 684-feet (AGL) tower. On the old tower nobody much jumped it from the very top as it would put you open right level with a set of guy wires. Six hundred feet was the normal launch point, but, on the new tower it'll depend on how it's configured. (If they ever do build it).

As for the danger levels involved in jumping hot AM towers - in general I'd advise everyone to take a pass and find safer pickings. But on the other hand everyone who jumped the crap out of KFI is still alive and kicking so there's that . . .

In any case, read up on Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMR) and inform yourself before making a final decision.

NickD
BASE 194

FAA Takes Another Look At KFI Tower Hazard Potential

California radio station KFI can't rebuild its tower near Fullerton Municipal Airport -- yet. That's the word from the FAA after the city of Fullerton appealed its decision to allow the station to rebuild the tower, knocked down when it was struck by a Cessna 182 in December, 2004. Two people died in the crash. Local pilots had fought a long campaign to at least force KFI to equip its 820-foot (MSL) tower with strobe lights. That never happened. Since the accident, KFI has petitioned the FAA to allow the construction of a slightly shorter ( 684-foot) tower on the same site. "I'm pleased the FAA accepted our petition," Fullerton City Manager Chris Meyer tells the Whittier Daily News. "We believe there are very valid reasons why the tower should not be constructed above a height of 500 feet. "Source: Aero News.

http://www.calpilots.org/...article.php?sid=1987

Sunday, October 21, 2007
FAA to study radio tower risk Fullerton and Caltrans say KFI tower in La Mirada would be pilot hazard.
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County (CA) Register

FULLERTON - The Federal Aviation Administration has agreed to further study whether a reconstructed radio tower would threaten the safety of pilots flying in and out of Fullerton Municipal Airport. The previous tower at the La Mirada site less than two miles northwest of the airport was toppled and destroyed in 2004 when a small plane slammed into it, killing the pilot and his wife.

The FAA review comes in response to petitions filed by the city of Fullerton and the aeronautical division of the California Department of Transportation that say, in essence, that the tower poses an obvious hazard because a tower in that spot has already killed two people.

"It's very encouraging to know that they will take another look and that state transportation officials are re-enforcing that it could be a risk," said Rod Propst, manager of the Fullerton Airport.

The FAA previously made a determination that a rebuilt tower would pose "no greater risk" than the previous tower.

La Mirada City Planner Rueben Arceo did not return phone calls seeking comment. But he has said that his department agrees with the initial FAA findings. "We think a little more study will verify that," he said last March.

At the time, La Mirada officials decided to further study the issue and pulled back on approving plans. That city's Planning Commission is set to review an environmental-impact report about the tower on Nov. 15.

Local pilots and Fullerton officials have strongly opposed plans to rebuild the tower to 684 feet. The old tower rose to 760 feet.

Critics say anything taller than 500 feet would pose a high risk to pilots. Last Tuesday, the Fullerton City Council passed a unanimous resolution opposing the location and height of the tower.

The FAA must finish its review before the La Mirada City Council could give the tower final consideration.

FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said officials there are reviewing the petitions and likely will have an opinion by the end of November.

"We're just happy they're giving it a good look," Propst said.

http://www.calpilots.org/html/print.php?sid=2012

Monday, March 5, 2007
La Mirada to study KFI tower
Officials will conduct a full review of a proposed radio tower that Fullerton pilots say would be in their path.
By ERIC CARPENTER
The Orange County Register

LA MIRADA – A proposal to reconstruct a radio tower – destroyed in 2004 when a plane slammed into it, killing two people – will get a more detailed review than previously planned before the La Mirada City Council gives it final consideration.

La Mirada officials will conduct a full environmental-impact report, allowing for more public comment on the project, according to a letter sent to Fullerton City Manager Chris Meyer.

"We still stand behind the Federal Aviation Administration finding that this would present no greater hazard; we think a little more study will verify that," La Mirada City Planner Rueben Arceo said.

Fullerton officials have strongly opposed KFI/640-AM radio's plans to rebuild the tower at 16608 Trojan Way, less than two miles from the airport. The tower would rise to 684 feet. Fullerton-based pilots have said any tower above 500 feet would pose a glaring safety hazard to air traffic.

In December, the La Mirada Planning Commission recommended approval of a negative declaration on the project – a less-intense review of the tower's potential impact.

La Mirada leaders said in the letter that they believe they have adequately reviewed the proposal, but want to include more information from the FAA.

"This finally shows that La Mirada is meeting what I would call the reasonableness test, taking the time to adequately look at the impacts of this project," Fullerton Airport manager Rod Propst said.

The move will likely delay the La Mirada City Council's vote until summer.

http://www.ocregister.com/.../article_1598480.php

On that site - now why would some prankster install a windsock? I doubt they climbed down:


Ever meet the dogs?

Two neat pictures of people dealing with live AM towers:
glove.jpg and suit.jpg

http://www.basejumper.com/...post=1910196#1910196

I have also seen t's with only the AM Spires on top and are not isulated from the ground. You would oly be around the spire for a short time at the exit point. Is this still a problem?

ok one more AM topic question.

a tower transmits 5kW day and 790watts at night. that seems like a minute amount of power

thoughts ???

Also would a tower with that little power even spark when grounded (night) ?

If your body provided a ground to the tower at night (outputting 790w), depending on the voltage/current (P=VI=790), the resistance of your body (how wet your skin is, for example), the path of the ground (through your heart = bad), it could kill you.

Radiation wise? No clue.