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Hi all...
Someone could help me to know if there is a metod to check if this kind of A its live or not?
I have found a site on the web wich says that this A its no more operative but I'd like to be sure!!!
Thanks for the help
Safe jumps

Im also trying to figure out if one is live or not i read it was inactive but if its not its very high powered lol....i thought of maybe a voltmeter with one probe on a wooden stick with the other end in the ground.....i know this works with checking live wires on a house. ...i tried it....but as for an antenna i would like to hear an educated way to check am antennas?

Leave one foot on the ground and grab antenna. If you die, its live.
or a voltmeter ?

Better voltmeter

Try a Volt stick we use them as an indicator of the presence of Voltage without actual contact, can even be attached to a stick or piece of wood so as you don't have to get too close. See link below. http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/651623.pdf

Great! Thanks a lot for the help!
Safe jumps
M

wait!

those indicators are made for checking power outlets in your home. they are NOT made for this. do not mount them on a stick and touch the antenna with that. you run a high chance that this will electrocute you.

a wooden stick will be conductive if voltage is high enough!
(also those voltage checkers measure somehow via capacity i suppose, so the do not necessarily work correctly on your power outlet at home if you do not have them in your hand and get them isolated on the other side, so even if it doesnt light up it could be under power)

i dont know what voltage those AM antennas are under, and reading that i doubt anyone above knows for sure. but i would not put my life on guessing that its not high enough to at least hurt me plenty through a wooden stick...
electric shocks really hurt, trust me...

i dont have any good ideas on how to check for sure without risking to set something on fire there, but you could get a long stick poke it into the ground and let it fall against the antenna. if it bursts into flames, its on. (maybe wear glasses and stay away as far as possible).

what about a rubber stick? you should be good if its rubber.

Use a Russian ammeter.

Find a Russian. Have said Russian grasp the left metal hemi-sphere with one hand and the right metal hemi-sphere with his other hand. His reaction (or lack thereof) will give you your answer.

Depending on how youre measuring device works, it may wouldnt display anything if its a rubber stick.

Generally, if you want to find out if somwthing is under (maybe high) voltage, dont poke it with a stick, no matter what kind of stick...

How about a fiberglass stick? I have one rated to 33kV

Hence why I said use one that works through induction so the object wouldn't need to be touched, the stick/piece of wood is merely to give the user some distance from the object

If that is an AM tower, which it looks to be, I would only jump it if it were super appealing for some reason, was the only A around, and/or you know for sure it is dead all the time. Even if you check to see if it's live and it's not at that moment, that does not mean that the power is always off. It could be turned off temporarily for service issues or maybe it is off permanently and then someone decides to lease the tower and turn it back on. Bottom line, if there are still power cables hooked to the tower, don't touch the tower and the ground at the same time. Ideally, if you are willing to take the extra risk of jumping an AM A, bring someone who is experienced for the first off.

i still wouldnt trust those voltage checkers. they are made for measuring AC potential at 50-60Hz, dont know if they light up if frequency is somewhere in the 100-500kHz (or above) range.
could work, but maybe it wouldnt display a thing, or maybe even die internally before it would display something...

this is pretty much against the "leave no trace" rule, but you could check by throwing something metallic inbetween the two spheres (or use the 33kV rated fibre glass stick to put something there, however, dont mix up fibre glass stick with carbon fibre stick...). and if nothing happens, ground the whole structure with thick wire to ensure it stays like that. however, if they would switch it on, they would blow a lot of fuses.

i generally try to avoid those kinds of antennas unless i know its off and i can clearly see a grounding cable/rail, etc.

here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82s5Q3GIO9I

i can only speak of how things are done in the USA, and that here there are many ways to safely find out if an AM tower is active. sometimes there is even a box near the base that has a meter on it!

that being said, i highly suggest just walking away. plenty of people have jumped them and are fine with it, but i have jumped hundreds of towers. those pieces of shit are just a waste of time IMO.

Hi all! Thanks for your input, this A should be a Medium Wave and not an AM tower.
There isn't any "box" near it and yes...its the only "probbably jumpable "
A near me!

Cheers!

Looks am?....as in the whole structure is the transmitter

Mariobat, AM antennas can be short wave (SW), medium wave (MW) or long wave (LW) and some other waves as well. These are descriptions of the frequencies but they are all AM.

I like the singing Russian plants. I ground crewed for some friends who checked an antenna was live by using a 1 or 2 meter long piece of number 8 wire (fencing wire) with a hook bent onto one end. They threw it onto the tower near the ground so that the hook caught on a piece of metal on the tower, the other end touched the ground. We heard a mixture of many radio stations while it was sparking in a few places on the wire where it was touching the ground. Weird because there's no speaker on a piece of wire (or plant).

My friends took a large plastic 40 gallon drum, climbed up onto it, then jumped from it onto the tower. They climbed the antenna, jumped and we took the drum away with us. They threw a long piece of dry wood at the fencing wire to remove it from the tower so we could safely pick it up and take it away.

Problem solved.

Already stated but worth repeating - Medium Wave is AM!

Ok...sorry for my bad knowledge😉 and Thanks to all for the precious input!
Russian's metod seems easy to be applyed...

Safe Jumps
M

Ok so i tested the theory with 2 separate but next to each other 5kw antennas...i wouldnt fuck with much higher then that
One was inactive could see the main power wire removed so with a voltmeter it brings up next to nothing...but the other one was live and using a long bit of conduit and wire tried to test with a voltmeter it wouldn't read it just kept fucking it up....but the wires spark and arc when u touch the antenna....i definitely wouldn't want to fuck with say a 50kw one......coz even a 5kw (5000w) scares me and prob still could kill u......but i know if one is live if u put a bit of wire in the ground and touch the other end to the antenna it will arc like fuck..not really a safe way to do it but yeh

also them little volt stick light up things u use to check power points or if shits live etc they will light up well before u get near a am antenna thats live like 15 or more meters atleast before it

Looking at these photos, my eyes are immediately drawn to the sets of wires running up each of the antenna's legs. These may be energized/transmitting, and may be completely separate circuits from the main mast.

Therefore, please keep this in mind: In addition to the danger of grounding yourself while touching the antenna, it may also be deadly to complete a circuit between those wires and the mast itself.

And just to be sure my point is being made: this is not only relevant for climbing the mast safely; it's also relevant in the event you have an object strike. Strike it gingerly, and don't become a circuit.

Misbehave,

Chris

Thanks Chris! Should they be a simple lighting rod?
M

They could be lightning rods, yes.

It's tough to know for sure unless you're experienced in these broadcast technologies, or you send the lowest-ranking Russian up ahead of you to conduct some tests.

another fun fact... those towers radiate from the ground outwards from the tower mast to around the anchors of the guy wires. not that it's necessarily bad for you, but you're being lit up as soon as you get close to it. again, fuck those things. i hated working on them too.

edit to add a pic of me cursing while climbing.

Thanks to all you guys for the help via PM too!
Have safe jumps.

M