This Radio Tower Is Really DANGEROUS

[ModelA]

I was Chief Engineer of a directional AM for decades (among other stations) and when they started putting up cellular towers, I used to get calls asking us to power down so the cell site workers could work on the pole without receiving love nibbles from it. Keep in mind, those are grounded poles and towers that were absorbing enough of the RF to have high voltage points along their length. I helped detune several for them so the workers could work on them safely while I stayed on the air. But all it took was for them to add some more feedlines or otherwise change the electrical length of the tower and the detuning was disabled.

[rambo]

I once went to a pharmacy near to Moorside Edge, to sort out their IT system. While I was there, I used their FAX/phone and noticed Talksport was breaking through on the handset. The staff said it was something they had learned to live with. I has a spare ADSL filter in the car, and that cured it completely.

[RCAvhstape]

Shocked by transmitted power from a mile away. Nicola Tesla smiles upon us.

[BertLensch]

It is easy to forget that radio wave are actual power being transmitted through the air. At first it didn't dawn on me why the two towers a mile away were what was causing the danger. Definitely something to remember when exploring old antenna sites!

[andrewhaigh]

I used to live less than half a mile from this transmitter while growing up. One year I was given an electronics set to play with which included an AM radio that I could build. The signal was so strong that it didn’t need the antenna wire attached!

[nigehomer]

In Bob Noakes book Last of the pirates, he mentioned getting shocks of Carolines aerial when they were off air. The signal from Veronica and RNI a mile away produced enough electricity in Carolines mast to light a florescent tube! This was used to light the ship for safety reasons when all of carolines generators had failed.

[RevMikeBlack]

Again, your drone work is excellent. The shot of the plane flying by the antenna is most impressive! Thanks.

[gamlemann]

This video in the beginning reminds my of what they called as a "fantom" antenna. A radioamatour on the westcoust in Norway could not reach repeater on the other side of a mountain. He had 3 yageybeems. He set up one at home, and 2 beams back to back on top of the moutain, and then he was able to reach the repeater!!! Nice work I think! The best from LB1NH Arild 🙂

[davidadderson]

Pennine Radio is a blast from my past - the first local independent radio we could listen to in Bradford in the 1970s and we knew where the studios were!

[jmr]

Congratulations on the milestone. I have got bit by an antenna before. It wasn't connected to anything at the time. It was a heck of a sting though.

[KarlWitsman]

100 K subscribers? Way to go! You deserve all the attention after all the work and research that you do.

[peterprow]

I had no interest in radio stations etc and for some reason YouTube reccomended your channel...
Now I'm hooked! These are great videos ❤

[Subgunman]

CONGRATS ON HITTING 100K SUBSCRIBERS!!!
Brings back a lot of memories working at various transmitter sites in the States. Had to do a cable repair for a paging transmitter on top of the John Hancock building in Chicago. It was a restricted antenna site where one could only enter the roof area two times a year unless you had these special RF "suits" to wear which were grounded. Not having access to such attire we had to wait until the January major maintenance of the site to conduct our repair. Reason is that the two masts on top of the building house the antennas for all of the FM radio stations on one mast and the TV masters on the second mast. Combined output power alone from the TV masters was well over 800, 000 watts combined visual and aural, this was actual watts NOT ERP. The FM masters were at least 200, 000 watts into the antenna. Boy was it freezing up there in January!
A friend who was in the Navy told me of an issue as they came close to port, they had an issue with seagulls coming in and roosting under the pulsed radar array antenna on the carrier he was stationed on. Let’s just say that those sailors who were on the Chiefs sh!t list were tasked with gathering dead gulls and tossing them overboard. The ship also had an incident where an electronics tech in the hangar bay accidentally activated radar countermeasures on one of the aircraft he was working on, thank goodness the rest of the team was in the galley for chow, he wound up with nerve damage from the high RF exposure.

[JeffGeerling]

Towers are great at turning RF into happy tingles ⚡️

[bill-]

At first I wondered why it could be dangerous even when switched off, then when you mentioned the other two masts nearby I knew what the problem would be.
We did a special event radio demonstration maybe 15 years ago at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester and located in the old railway station with a long wire outside.
Graham had brought an countrpoise earth and tuner and connected it up while I was transmitting on my h/b 5 Watt output radio. He jumped back as he had received a shock. That's only 5 Watts.
G4GHB.

[owensmith]

I grew up within 3 miles of Emley Moor, so all of this scenery is very familiar to me. That close to Emley Moor we could get teletext with no antenna connected, but getting a TV picture without ghosts was a nightmare.

[votecarp]

I feel pretty lucky to recognize exactly what this video was going to be about as soon as I saw the directional AM sticks.

[OxfordShortwaveLog]

Great story and production, Lewis! RF fields decay following the inverse square law, but the TX powers here are so high, there is danger of RF burns at relatively large distances.

[OldStreetDoc]

It’s over decades certainly, but it’s still amazing just how much change went on within radio in this one regional area. It makes it seem rather volatile from the outside looking in. But very interesting as well.

Really really enjoy the content! Well done, sir. Well done indeed. 👍🏼

[philsharp]

Dear Ringway.
Congratulations on a well deserved 100 k subscribers.