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Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
181–190 of 259 posts
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#182How did they not notice this immediately themselves instead of having a landscaping crew notify them? When I was a broadcast engineer, we were required to constantly monitor the on-the-air signal. In addition, that tower is live. How did they disconnect it without serious shock?
A small-town radio station likely doesn't have a 24/7 monitor. And it is AM, which they seem to be have kept running only to facilitate their FM license. I bet they just sent it a feed and checked on it ever few days/weeks. If a small AM station drops off the air, would any listeners think to inquire about why?
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
Two to four people showed up in a pickup pulling a flatbed trailer, armed with battery powered metal saws and a dream. The rest should be self-explanatory. You could rent all of the equipment for a few hundred dollars: a 3/4 or 1-ton truck, a 30-40’ flatbed trailer, and a few portabands/angle grinders. Hi-vis vests and hard hats also lend an air of legitimacy.
Hi-vis vests and hard hats at night are still super suspicious. No legit crew would do this kind of thing at night.
Is there any reason to believe it was done at night? It does not sound like they have any idea when it disappeared, or how long it was gone before they noticed.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
The tower seems to be in a relatively remote field, and the tower seems pretty small (judging from [1]). Cut it down and in to pieces with a few battery-powered grinders, put in a van or two (or a small truck), and off you go. I suspect this may be easier than it appears at first sight. [1]: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/08/us/stolen-transmitter-rad...
> The tower seems to be in a relatively remote field you pretty much just described every single tower site.
Kinda but some are more remote then others. Some are in a field next to a neighborhood and shooping center and some are surrounded my 100's of acres of crops.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#185Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why even cut the cables? Wouldn't they just back out the tensors at the anchors and do it all under control?
That's how I would do it without remote cutters, a small shaped charge, or thermite. Fall direction will be completely out of control, so it would be worth being close to the tower to reach a safe area.
I don't see how you would have less control by backing off tensioners vs. destructive approach. You don't have to release all guys at once in either case.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of my earliest memories of something in the newspapers was, as a teenager, finding out a picture in The Guardian was of any entirely different conflict, more than a decade earlier, albeit in the same country. The media did not really care much about accuracy then, and its even worse now.
This is more and more a problem, not just with images. Even most of the higher quality (better researched) Youtube channels are fast and loose about using irrelevant stock footage to go along with their narration. Of course the channels with AI voice-over are universally terrible at this. I know a lot of this is content creators have limited access to good visual content. A naval historiographer I follow will show, f…
>> A naval historiographer I follow will show, for instance, ship photos or archival video that is not exactly the ship or event he is describing.
It isn't about money or resources. Even the biggest budget Hollywood productions regularly pass off incorrect ships in full understanding that most viewers cannot tell a sloop from a brig. Sometimes it is about cost or practicality, but more often it is about which ship comports with audience expectations.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#187The image of another tower used in the article is pretty confusing. This https://apnews.com/article/radio-station-tower-stolen-am-fm-... > one apparently includes the real one, which I think makes the theft appear more within the realms of possibility.
The one in the article looks like a stripped down Long Lines[0] microwave tower, not anything at all like a radio broadcasting tower.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#188The image of another tower used in the article is pretty confusing. This https://apnews.com/article/radio-station-tower-stolen-am-fm-... > one apparently includes the real one, which I think makes the theft appear more within the realms of possibility.
The caption is infuriating: > "A different radio tower, which has presumably not been stolen"
I think it's a good caption? I also think it's probably not been stolen
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#189If stuff like this surprises you, then you haven't seen David Copperfield make an airplane and statue of liberty disappear.
I'm not sure if you're trying to make some sort of joke or not, but that's not really related at all. This tower thing was just something in a remote location being dismantled in between regular visits, which is not at all how Copperfield accomplished those illusions.
Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says
#190https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZSxb8QIIa4 jeff geerling made a video on this, has some details on FM/AM translators, and how difficult it is to dismantle a tower.
Wouldn't it be easier to destroy the supports, causing it to fall?
As long as the power is off, this seems faster.