{"id":58898,"date":"2024-02-10T11:15:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-10T15:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=58898"},"modified":"2024-02-10T11:15:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T15:15:32","slug":"ars-technica-200-foot-am-radio-tower-disappears-halting-alabama-station-broadcast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/ars-technica-200-foot-am-radio-tower-disappears-halting-alabama-station-broadcast\/","title":{"rendered":"ARS Technica: “200-foot AM radio tower disappears, halting Alabama station broadcast”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who’ve shared this story from a variety of sources. The following article comes from ARS Technica<\/a> and was shared by Mark Hist:<\/strong><\/p>\n

200-foot AM radio tower disappears, halting Alabama station broadcast<\/a><\/h1>\n

A 200-foot AM radio tower has been missing for at least a week, leaving an Alabama radio station in a financial crisis and on a desperate hunt.<\/p>\n

As first reported by Memphis’ Action News 5, Jasper, Alabama, radio station WJLX 101.5 FM\/1240 AM, sent a bush hog crew to maintain the area around the tower on February 2. The tower is behind a poultry plant in a forested area, per The Guardian. Once there, a crew member called station manager Brett Elmore, informing him that the 200-foot structure that CNN says has been there since the ’50s had disappeared.<\/p>\n

“He said, \u2018The tower is gone. There’s wires [sic] everywhere, and it’s gone,\u2019\u201d Elmore told Action News 5.<\/p>\n

The total value of all the equipment reported stolen is nearly $200,000, Alabama’s ABC 33\/40 News said.<\/p>\n

Now the radio station says it has to get a new tower, as well as a new transmitter and additional equipment for tasks like processing and engineering. Replacement costs are an estimated $60,000 or more, per WJLX.<\/p>\n

Even if the tower were somehow recovered, the station would still be “in a jam,” Elmore told CNN, saying that the equipment would probably “be in pieces.”<\/p>\n

“This has affected the operation of our AM, which needs a complete rebuild, and our FM, which is currently off the air,” the radio station said Thursday via its Facebook page.<\/p>\n

The radio station manager has told outlets that he’s hopeful that community tips and surveillance footage from the poultry plant near the tower’s former location may eventually help police find the tower-taker(s).<\/p>\n

“It is a federal crime, and it absolutely will not be worth it to them,\u201d Elmore told Action 5 News. [Continue reading at ARS Technica…<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Readers have shared a lot of speculation about this particular theft. Perhaps more links and facts can be shared in the comments section.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post contributors who’ve shared this story from a variety of sources. The following article comes from ARS Technica and was shared by Mark Hist: 200-foot AM radio tower disappears, halting Alabama station broadcast A 200-foot AM radio tower has been missing for at least a week, leaving an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[373,3],"tags":[625],"class_list":["post-58898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-am","category-news","tag-am-radio"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-fjY","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13075,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/ars-technica-people-turn-to-ham-radio-in-aftermath-of-nepal-earthquake\/","url_meta":{"origin":58898,"position":0},"title":"ARS Technica: People turn to ham radio in aftermath of Nepal earthquake","author":"Thomas","date":"April 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, John Drake, who shares this excellent article from ARS Technica: \"On Saturday, Nepal was shaken by a massive earthquake that registered a 7.8 on the Richter scale, causing widespread destruction in areas of dense population, and preventing aid workers from reaching more isolated villages\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Elecraft-KX3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Elecraft-KX3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Elecraft-KX3.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Elecraft-KX3.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13154,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2015\/05\/when-wlw-was-the-one-and-only-super-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":58898,"position":1},"title":"When WLW was the one and only “Super Station”","author":"Thomas","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: National Endowment for the Humanities) For a Brief Time in the 1930s, Radio Station WLW in Ohio Became America\u2019s One and Only \u201cSuper Station\u201d by\u00a0Katy June-Friesen When President Franklin Roosevelt, sitting in the White House, pushed a ceremonial button on his desk in May 1934, a five hundred thousand-watt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AM"","block_context":{"text":"AM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/am\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"WLW's diamond-shaped Blaw-Knox radio tower at night (Original photo by RP Piper via Creative Commons)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/800px-WLW_mast.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/800px-WLW_mast.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/800px-WLW_mast.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50399,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2021\/09\/video-tower-crew-replaces-tv-antenna\/","url_meta":{"origin":58898,"position":2},"title":"Video: Tower crew replaces TV antenna","author":"Thomas","date":"September 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Jack Dully, who shares the following video of a crew replacing a TV station antenna on top of a 1,500 foot tower. Fair warning: if you're afraid of heights this might make you weak in the knees! https:\/\/youtu.be\/pitEq8gjNj8 Click here to view on YouTube.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/TV-Tower-replacement-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/TV-Tower-replacement-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/TV-Tower-replacement-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/TV-Tower-replacement-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19495,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/when-everything-else-fails-amateur-radio-will-still-be-there-and-thriving\/","url_meta":{"origin":58898,"position":3},"title":"“When everything else fails, amateur radio will still be there\u2014and thriving”","author":"Thomas","date":"June 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: ARS Technica) by Rupert Goodwins It\u2019s a good time to be technical. 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