Basejumper.com - archive

...through a guy wire close to the top.
getting in is no big deal.
what to do?
i never jumped an am tower, but all the time heard stuff like am=black death.
since this one is grounded(never saw that) i wonder...
can someone give me advice?


no elevator, so i will climb all the way.

Short Answer: find another A.

I have never jumped an AM tower because
numerous experienced BASE guys have told
me their stories about puking upon landing,
metal objects get hot, radiation exposure, etc.

the thing is all the others i came across had massive barricades, triple barbed and/or electrified fences...
on that one there is pretty much nothing. a warning sign that cardiac pacemakers could fail in the vincinity, thats all.
and i know that people jump am towers. i just have no experience with it, nor could i reach someone who has yet.

I am sure one of the experienced
guys will jump in here any minute but
the big thing I have read & heard is
that you must use something that
is NOT conductive as a bridge from
the ground to the tower to prvent
frying yourself... wooden ladder,
rubber mats, rubber boots, etc.

Good luck & please be careful.

do you understand what grounded means?

Yes.

I have done some basic electrical work.
Like in a house: black, white & ground.
The last line runs to the foundation to
help prevent shocks.

In your first post you mention this A was
grounded, however, I personally would
still take every precaution...

Feeding a tower that way is called a "Shunt Fed Installation". Not to common anymore, the FCC has a hard time with the array modeling software on set ups like that. On a shunt fed tower you can walk right up and pee on it if you wanted to. Here's a more technical link... http://www.vias.org/radioanteng/rae_02_03_04.html

awesome. thanks a lot!

I had just had a PM a few nights ago with someone about AM towers that are fed in the same fashion but look like a "De-Tuning Kit". If another tower is too close to an AM tower, say a mile or two it can distort the pattern of the AM tower so they add a "De-Tuning Kit" to change the "Wave Length" of the offending tower so it doesn't couple with and distort the pattern. BUT on some towers what looks like a "De-Tuning Kit" is in fact the AM stations "Long Wire Antenna" and they call that an "Unipole" or "Skirted AM". You just have to know what your looking at and look for "Matching Circuits" at the base of the antenna. In this link they refer to it as a "Combipole"... http://www.lbagroup.com/technology/app13.php http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folded_unipole_antenna

If your worried about radiation exposure on an AM tower and your standing at the base of it then your standing right in the middle of it. There are over 130 radial wires buried in the ground all around the tower just as long as the tower is tall. Sort of like the cheap antennas that comes with a home FM stereo but on a grand scale and omni. On the uniploles the tower is being used to replace the ground radials.

I know of a sweet AM tower located
in the middle of sweet golf course with
easy access and good LZ...

However, based on the stories I have
heard and my family's pre-disposition
to cancer, and the abundance of much
safer antennas such far I have elected
to avoid it like a fat girl with the clap.

Do you recommend jumping AM sticks?

Tom if you want to live forever you should just golf around that tower.

If you don't give a fuck you should go jump it.