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Server Time:
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 Roadwolf
         
The Wolf!
Location: Buffalo, NY (formerly Toronto, Canada)
Gender: Male
Living on the Road and Rails.
 |  |  |  | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 40 on 2/12/2007 2:18 PM >
|  | | | Posted by Corvid
I see you got the wrong end of the stick Roadwolf! I meant "much needed help" in the sense that I don't know shit about RF, or AM towers, and the information you have given me has saved me alot of time, and maybe even my life, and I am most grateful for your help.
I read every single word of your posts! I was explaining to UrbanExGirl, that before making this thread I was considering the possibility of climbing it. Afterall, the ladder system looks fine, and wouldn't be much of a challenge. Then after looking at my photos in detail, I realised that the mast was probably an AM mast, and probably not the best idea to climb. So I posted this thread, and got what I needed: confirmation from someone who knows thier stuff, on whether this thing is safe to climb or not. There is no way I would have actually gone near that mast without knowing the risks involved, and as you have pointed out Roadwolf, the risks are very significant indeed.
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ok very good. sorry for that. I got annoyed that I was trying to warn you and the impression i got back was that you were ignoring my assistance.
I am glad that you have chosen not to attempt to climb it. last thing I would want to read is a news story about someone in england getting fried by a AM Tower... I would of felt somewhat responsible had i not said anything.
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Dealing with RF is a job which can close many doors in your life. You should approach RF Work wisely and know the risks and what is at stake. Low level stuff like two-way communications and such limited to 500 oe 1000 watts max is not so bad in terms of short term exposure. However Microwave, RADAR, AM and FM sites, and TV Towers should all be avoided. Like I said before, I will not even hang around for more then 5 minutes on the ground near a TV Tower. I start getting an RF Headache after about 1 minute!
If you really want to climb a tower, look for a VHF or UHF Repeater tower for a local communications company. They are not usually transmitting 24/7 (unless its a trunking site) and are less likely to cause you long term internal damage.
Study the antennas and ask (us or me) what they are before you are sure.
Add me on Skype or Steam: Roadwolf611
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Milambar
Location: Manchester, UK
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 41 on 2/12/2007 4:02 PM >
| | | | Although I have no intent to climb any towers, Roadwolf, thank you for all that information, it made interesting reading (yes, I'm a nerd), especially the pictures of the inside of a tuning hut.
The tower Corvid showed pictures of, does look, from his first picture, almost like a minature Blackpool tower. I like it.
http://milambar.fu...info/exploring.php |
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dsankt
Location: live and in the fresh
| |  | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 42 on 2/12/2007 5:14 PM >
| | | | Posted by Milambar
Although I have no intent to climb any towers...
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Not that you need to master magician. I'd be flying everywhere to, fuck this climbing business.
sleepycity.net: watch out for the third rail baby, that shit is high voltage. urbex and urban exploration photography |
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Air
Location: Canada
| | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 43 on 2/12/2007 5:49 PM >
| | | | Posted by Pravus
Not sure what everyone is all uppity about.. As long as your not afraid of heights, not a total moron, and at least 'somewhat' prepared it isn't anything /that/ risky.. I used to do this kinda crap every day..
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The problem is leaving that choice up to people. Some are capable of making the right choice (have the capacity to) and other's dont. The only thing that sucks is the people who don't have the capacity to usually arent aware of the risks or see them as such.
I know roadwolf had a thread somewhere on towers and how to distinguish them, perhaps that should be linked here.
"The extraordinary beauty of things that fail." - Heinrich von Kleist |
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Corvid
Location: Oxford, UK
Gender: Male
Master of Illusion!!
| | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 44 on 2/12/2007 6:36 PM >
| | | | Posted by Air 33
The problem is leaving that choice up to people. Some are capable of making the right choice (have the capacity to) and other's dont. The only thing that sucks is the people who don't have the capacity to usually arent aware of the risks or see them as such.
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Very true. While Blueshiva and I were attempting to get into this UNITER bunker, a group of about 15 youths came along, most of them drunk. They hung around ominously for a bit outside the compound we were in, talking loudly about climbing the tower behind it, in almost total darkness, with no torches. We watched as all 15 climbed noisily up the 250 foot tower. They were so drunk they actually shouted to each other when they saw us climb over the fence. Thank god the ladders on that tower all had cages around them! And that the microwave antenna wasn't in use (although I don't have any doubts that they would have climbed it regardless of what was attached to it).
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Explorer Zero
| | | Re: air gap
<Reply # 45 on 2/12/2007 7:11 PM >
| | | |
heres an air gap on a live AM broadcast tower, its a on phased three tower array putting out 50k daytime watts
the one by original poster appears to be inactive but thats easy enough to figure out
does GB have a FCC type bureau or ministry? if so theres going to be a license number on it you should be able to look up unless its military
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Roadwolf
The Wolf!
Location: Buffalo, NY (formerly Toronto, Canada)
Gender: Male
Living on the Road and Rails.
| | | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 46 on 2/12/2007 7:52 PM >
| | | | in most places, large AM Towers and any tower larger then X number of feet high, have to be torn town when they are no longer in service.
yes the grass inside the fence is long, however the field around the fence is cut and kept short. often this was the case at our transmitting facility aswell... That, and the fact that he said the nav light is still working leeds me to think otherwise.
also very interesting method of transfering the STL signal on that last photo...
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my array was a 5 tower phased array. 50 kilowatts day and night. Tower heights were about 500 feet or so.
[last edit 2/12/2007 7:59 PM by Roadwolf - edited 1 times]
Add me on Skype or Steam: Roadwolf611
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CaptOrbit
Location: Sarasota, FL or Cincinnati, OH
Gender: Male
There you are, right back in the jungle again.
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 48 on 2/13/2007 2:51 AM >
| | | | This may be of some interest to the tower and radio enthusiast out there, The tower is about 20 miles from my house.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLW
WLW currently broadcasts using 50,000 Watts of power, but that wasn't always the case. For about six years, WLW experimented with broadcasting at 500,000 watts, the first station in the world to do so, during the overnight hours under call sign W8XO. It stopped in 1939 because of complaints from around the "United_States and Canada that WLW was overpowering other stations as far away as Toronto. Many reports have surfaced over the years of the power fluctuations from those who lived near the transmitter. People would see their lights flicker in time to the modulation peaks of the transmitter.
The high power broadcasts led WLW to call itself "The Nation's Station", a slogan recently renewed due to WLW's presence on Satellite_radio. Broadcasting on XM channel 173, WLW once again has a signal coverage footprint that extends throughout the continental United States and Canada, albeit on a subscription-based service.
WLW powered up again a few times during World_War_II in order to send special broadcasts to American troops in Europe, and has not broadcast at 500 kW since. However, the 500 kW transmitting equipment was used by the US government for broadcasting to Cuba early in the Kennedy administration
Even today, after sundown, the 50,000 watt signal can be heard across much of the eastern half of the United_States and Canada, and as far west as Lubbock Texas.
The station's first 50-kW transmitter, made by Western_Electric, is still functional and sees very occasional service. On December_31, 1999, it was powered up, and served to bring WLW into the year on January_1, 2000. The station's unusual diamond-shaped tower (called a Blaw-Knox_Tower) is one of eight still operational in the United States and is featured on the official seal of the City of Mason.
This link has even more info, and great pics of the 500 KW transmitter. I know it’s a little of topic, but it goes to show the awesome power some of these towers are capable of.
http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw.shtml
The personal responsibility train left the station years ago, and you gave it the finger as you watched it leave. |
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 49 on 2/13/2007 4:50 AM >
| | | | Cool stuff CO!
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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CaptOrbit
Location: Sarasota, FL or Cincinnati, OH
Gender: Male
There you are, right back in the jungle again.
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 50 on 2/13/2007 6:01 AM >
| | | | There has been long standing rumor in Cincinnati that the 500,000 KW transmitter is only partially disassembled and that all parts are in fact present if not on site, close by, and that in the event of a national or global emergency the big transmitter can be called back into service in a fairly short order. For some reason WLW and the government do not like this to be common knowledge. In the age of global satellite communication it seems like it’s probably just an urban legend, but then again if something happened to the satellite networks, who knows? I’ve seen stranger things turn out to be true.
The personal responsibility train left the station years ago, and you gave it the finger as you watched it leave. |
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Glass
Location: Chicago
as one does
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 51 on 2/13/2007 6:17 AM >
| | | | Of course you don't want that to be public knowledge... it's a looter's dream.
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 52 on 2/13/2007 6:23 AM >
| | | | good point and, oh my...
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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Roadwolf
The Wolf!
Location: Buffalo, NY (formerly Toronto, Canada)
Gender: Male
Living on the Road and Rails.
| | | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 53 on 2/13/2007 2:42 PM >
| | | | When we dismantled our old tube transmitter (capable of 70 kw) we kept the parts for spares. as we still own a similar tube transmitter. ... we did operate at 100 kw for a short time, but we have usually been 50 kw.
for broadcast 500,000 is a lot, however TV towers are usually 100 kw or even 200 kw in some places in the united states. however being of a higher frequency, they will not tend to bother other channels, further away.
however still, 500 kw is nothing when you compaire it to HAARP.
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/
3,600 KW or 3.6 MW !!!! that is alot of juice.
HAARP is often the bane of HF HAM operators everywhere, causing strange noises on ... seemingly random frequencies - sometimes interfering with HAM Communication.
No one REALLY knows forsure what HAARP is doing this for. Some speculate its a secret experiment to try to ionize the atmosphere and change weather effects. Others speculate it will be a center of worldwide propaganda for the united states. Others speculate that it might be used to induce the Aurora Borealis and light up the night sky whenever we want.
Right now they are just putting it off as a research project, however they have been working on it for several years and are still not done. If it is infact a research project and nothing more, then expect it to become abandoned soon, when their funding is cut off... because i imagine that unless something secret is going on there... it is costing them a TON of money to operate!
Add me on Skype or Steam: Roadwolf611
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blackhawk
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Mission Control
UER newbie
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 54 on 2/13/2007 7:48 PM >
| | | | Old school Tesla voodoo...
Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in.
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secretdestroyers
Location: Baltimore
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 55 on 2/14/2007 4:03 AM >
| | | | look I'll drag my self up a 200 foot smoke stack any day for the view or whatever, but i know that it's not going to hurt me with voltage or RF or whatever. i would stay off it.
F this I"m going exploring! |
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junkyard
Location: LaCrosse, WI
Gender: Male
Strategic Beer Command where the metal hits the meat.
| | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 56 on 2/14/2007 6:21 AM >
| | | | I'd climb the shit outa that......if it wasn't active. A freq grabber would tell you that very quickly. Being inside the exclusion fence is close enough to do dammage when it comes to RF energy. If it's on Don't be retarded, if not be a Beer Commando.
I drink gasoline for breakfeast and beer for dinner!
Any problem can be licked with a case of beer and a few sticks of dynamite.
Strategic Beer Command ruling the desert since 1995 http://www.strategic-beer-command.com |
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Wiccan
Location: Hamilton Ontario
Gender: Female
| | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 57 on 2/14/2007 6:49 AM >
| | | | Just wanted to say thank you to Roadwolf for posting this information. I'm terrified of most things that involve electricity,this has been pretty interesting!
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Corvid
Location: Oxford, UK
Gender: Male
Master of Illusion!!
| | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 58 on 2/14/2007 12:45 PM >
| | | | Posted by junkyard
I'd climb the shit outa that......if it wasn't active. A freq grabber would tell you that very quickly. Being inside the exclusion fence is close enough to do dammage when it comes to RF energy. If it's on Don't be retarded, if not be a Beer Commando.
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Exactly. I'll be straight up it as soon as I can find out for absolute certain it isn't active (or will become active whilst being climbed!). From the outside, I don't have a clue. Looks pretty derelict, but then again, so do most active masts. Any cheap methods of finding out if its turned on (preferably from outside the fence!)? Frequency grabbers seem a bit expensive for a one off use. If the only way of finding out is by using expensive kit, I think I'll take the mast off my "to do" list!
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Roadwolf
The Wolf!
Location: Buffalo, NY (formerly Toronto, Canada)
Gender: Male
Living on the Road and Rails.
| | | | Re: Climbable?
<Reply # 59 on 2/14/2007 1:59 PM >
| | | | Posted by Corvid
Exactly. I'll be straight up it as soon as I can find out for absolute certain it isn't active (or will become active whilst being climbed!). From the outside, I don't have a clue. Looks pretty derelict, but then again, so do most active masts. Any cheap methods of finding out if its turned on (preferably from outside the fence!)? Frequency grabbers seem a bit expensive for a one off use. If the only way of finding out is by using expensive kit, I think I'll take the mast off my "to do" list!
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do a search on the address, see who owns it. then if you guys have a radio licensing department in your government, you can call them and inquire about the site asking if it is still active. they should also be able to tell you what it is for. If it is military however they may not be able to tell you anything and may wonder why you are asking. If they ask just tell them you are a neighbour (find a neighbouring address before hand) and are concerned about the RF it puts out in regards to your health.
Note: a frequency counter will not really work. What you need is a field strength meter. Frequency counters just display the most powerful frequency that the device is picking up at any one time. Therfore they are constantly picking up frequencies from various sources. Unless you are a ham, or someone who deals with radios alot, using one will prove inconclusive.
If you DO find out it is inactive, bring some jumper cables and ensure you ground the tower out before climbing it. Always connect the grounded side of the cables before connecting them to the tower.
Add me on Skype or Steam: Roadwolf611
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