Tower Questions...

[Radio Loon]

Okay, I'll admit it. I find my self fascinated with radio (tv) towers. I have some questions though. I live in Texas City, and out that way by Moses Lake, there are 2 or 3 towers, which look to me to be very tall. However I don't know how to judge them. Are the red and white sections a generic length? (FCC specs maybe?). I also know of a tall one out on 2004 in the Hitchcock area, looks pretty tall also. (I always want to be that guy that changes the bulbs at the top) Anyway, call me a freak, I just like the dang things, heh. Are there websites that give stats and info on towers in the area (nationwide?) and maybe some videos or images of ones being built. (I have seen the one that fell in houston). Thanks for any info!

radioloon

[mcammack]

> Okay, I'll admit it. I find my self fascinated with radio
> (tv) towers. I have some questions though. I live in Texas
> City, and out that way by Moses Lake, there are 2 or 3
> towers, which look to me to be very tall. However I don't
> know how to judge them. Are the red and white sections a
> generic length? (FCC specs maybe?). I also know of a tall
> one out on 2004 in the Hitchcock area, looks pretty tall
> also. (I always want to be that guy that changes the bulbs
> at the top) Anyway, call me a freak, I just like the dang
> things, heh. Are there websites that give stats and info on
> towers in the area (nationwide?) and maybe some videos or
> images of ones being built. (I have seen the one that fell
> in houston). Thanks for any info!
>
> radioloon
>

I too am fascinated with them.  I think that its pretty cool that they are that friggin tall.  Wikepedia has a pretty good list of masts.  Here's the link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_masts

[Mike_O]

> > Okay, I'll admit it. I find my self fascinated with radio
> > (tv) towers. I have some questions though. I live in Texas
>
> > City, and out that way by Moses Lake, there are 2 or 3
> > towers, which look to me to be very tall. However I don't
> > know how to judge them. Are the red and white sections a
> > generic length? (FCC specs maybe?). I also know of a tall
> > one out on 2004 in the Hitchcock area, looks pretty tall
> > also. (I always want to be that guy that changes the bulbs
> > at the top) Anyway, call me a freak, I just like the dang
> > things, heh. Are there websites that give stats and info on
> > towers in the area (nationwide?) and maybe some videos or
> > images of ones being built. (I have seen the one that fell
> > in houston). Thanks for any info!
> >
> > radioloon
> >
>
> I too am fascinated with them.  I think that its pretty cool
> that they are that friggin tall.  Wikepedia has a pretty
> good list of masts.  Here's the link.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_masts
>
The FCC site www.fcc.gov will tell you all you want to know and more.  Go to the Antenna Structure Registration section.

Another place is www.fybush.com Scott writes a weekly colume that has a Tower(s) Site of the Week.  There are plenty of pictures of the towers and the history of the towers.  You can go back and veiw previous issues of the weekly newsletter and look at towers.  

Your two towers by Moses Lake near an inlet are for KYST 920 Texas City.  The towers are 101.2 meters tall, or about 340 feet.  The ARSN (Antenna Registration Structure Number) is 1234865.  The towers are 1.8 meters above mean sea level (AMSL).  The physical address for the towers is 3702 29th Street North; Texas City, TX.  The owner of the towers is Hispanic Broadcasting, Inc.; 7322 SW Frwy; Suite 500; Houston, TX 77074; Attn: Cruz Velasquez.  The fact the towers are owned by Hispanic Broadcasting and they own KYST radio, is why I believe those towers are for KYST.

The best I can come up with for your tower in Hitchcock is for KOVE-FM 106.5 Galveston.  It is at 29-18-01.0N 95-06-40W; 10335 FM 2004 in Galveston County, TX; Hitchcock, TX.  The tower is 419.1 meters tall; the ARSN is 1047753 and was Constructed 01/01/1995.  The FAA Study Number is 98-ASW-2945-OE and the FAA Issue date is 07/22/1998.  There is a boatload of information on the ASRN, I only scratched the surface.

Hopes this helps.  Give Scott's column a try, I think you will find it interesting.  www.fybush.com

I just tried another thing, go to any search engine like www.google.com or www.dogpile.com and enter Radio Towers, you will get all kinds of responses.  The first hit I got was for KUHF 88.7 The University of Houston station.  To read about the tower and a picture go to www.uh.edu/engines/epi982.htm

Mike O

Edited by Mike_O on 06/21/05 10:16 PM.

[Jarod]

It's funny you should bring up this subject right now.  Just last week, I happened to take the new Fort Bend Toll Road, and it goes smack dab right thru the middle of a bunch of towers.  I'm guessing these are the "Missouri City sticks" that I hear about.  I'd never been that close to a tower before, and I must say they are pretty impressive!  I really had no idea how massive they were...not to mention the "little shacks" that I'd always imagined were at the base of them, looked to be pretty sizeable buildings.  It seems like there were three or four towers on each side of the tollway between Hwy 6 and the Belt.  Anyone know which ones these  are?

> Okay, I'll admit it. I find my self fascinated with radio
> (tv) towers.

[CW]

> Okay, I'll admit it. I find my self fascinated with radio
> (tv) towers. I have some questions though. I live in Texas
> City, and out that way by Moses Lake, there are 2 or 3

Probabaly 920 AM...I think it is out there.

> towers, which look to me to be very tall. However I don't
> know how to judge them. Are the red and white sections a
> generic length? (FCC specs maybe?). I also know of a tall

In towers below a certain height, the Orange (not red) and White bands are equal length with a max number of 7. I dont recall the range but on TALL towers, the number of bands increase to another odd number (odd makes the top and bottom bands the same color: Orange...actually 'Aviation Orange'...BTW on A&M's campus, they tried to paint a tower red (maroon) and white...the FAA made them redo it with Orange (which is UT's color!) I need to check Part 17 on where the break over is...if you can figure out the length of the band, just multiply by 7 for most towers for total height but on tall towers (like 1200+ ft), the numbers of bands will increase and will max out on their length...

> one out on 2004 in the Hitchcock area, looks pretty tall
> also.

The Hitchcock tower is likely 106.5 KOVE's at 1200ft.....if you looked south to SW from there, you would see the two 2000ft towers at Liverpool (one is 107.5's; the other is American Tower owned and has a TV station (Telefutura I think) and a couple of lower height non-comms on it..

(I always want to be that guy that changes the bulbs
> at the top) Anyway, call me a freak, I just like the dang
> things, heh. Are there websites that give stats and info on
> towers in the area (nationwide?) and maybe some videos or
> images of ones being built. (I have seen the one that fell
> in houston). Thanks for any info!

The FCC ASR web site is a good one:
http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistrationSearch.jsp is direct to the Registration page....gives you plenty of info..all tower heights are listed as meters (multiply by 3.28 to get feet)

I had a video of one of the new 1500ft towers in DFW being built but have misplaced it.....Also plan to take video of the 1400ft Dewalt (the old TV2) tower when they blow it down later this year

[Radio Loon]

> Another place is www.fybush.com Scott writes a weekly colume
> that has a Tower(s) Site of the Week.  There are plenty of
> pictures of the towers and the history of the towers.  You
> can go back and veiw previous issues of the weekly
> newsletter and look at towers.  
>
> Your two towers by Moses Lake near an inlet are for KYST 920
> Texas City.  The towers are 101.2 meters tall, or about 340
> feet.  The ARSN (Antenna Registration Structure Number) is
> 1234865.  The towers are 1.8 meters above mean sea level
> (AMSL).  The physical address for the towers is 3702 29th
> Street North; Texas City, TX.  The owner of the towers is
> Hispanic Broadcasting, Inc.; 7322 SW Frwy; Suite 500;
> Houston, TX 77074; Attn: Cruz Velasquez.  The fact the
> towers are owned by Hispanic Broadcasting and they own KYST
> radio, is why I believe those towers are for KYST.
>
> The best I can come up with for your tower in Hitchcock is
> for KOVE-FM 106.5 Galveston.  It is at 29-18-01.0N
> 95-06-40W; 10335 FM 2004 in Galveston County, TX; Hitchcock,
> TX.  The tower is 419.1 meters tall; the ARSN is 1047753 and
> was Constructed 01/01/1995.  The FAA Study Number is
> 98-ASW-2945-OE and the FAA Issue date is 07/22/1998.  There
> is a boatload of information on the ASRN, I only scratched
> the surface.
>
> Hopes this helps.  Give Scott's column a try, I think you
> will find it interesting.  www.fybush.com
>
> I just tried another thing, go to any search engine like
> www.google.com or www.dogpile.com and enter Radio Towers,
> you will get all kinds of responses.  The first hit I got
> was for KUHF 88.7 The University of Houston station.  To
> read about the tower and a picture go to
> www.uh.edu/engines/epi982.htm
>
> Mike O
>

Thanks to everyone for the info. I was searching google for "radio transmitter towers" and got some info but not alot of details like I was looking for. All the links listed were exactly what I was looking for. That tower on 2004 does look 1200 ft tall, I knew it was high up there. The Texas City one by my house looked alot taller than listed, but you can't deny the facts =]

Thanks again everyone!

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