Clay’s Corner for July 2021
Providing news and views from a broadcast engineers perspective since September 1986
|
For the past year, or more, the top thing in everyone’s mind has been COVID-19….Sure we still have those that feel it’s all a hoax or those that refuse to get vaccinated and the spread of variants that are certain to take their toll…But, in large part, we appear to be ‘over the hump’ as we are getting closer to getting back to where we were.
There is another area where there are many also feel it’s a hoax…The subject – ‘Climate Change’. The ‘lets poo poo this idea too’ crowd is getting a reality check in the form of record-breaking temperatures. Not just a little bit warmer, but 30 to 40 degrees (F) warmer than normal.
In the PNW we have always been dealing with ‘It rains all the time’ Summer never starts until after July 4th etc. This year, in the event you did not catch it, summer is early and this year, it’s on-time. And this year, it came with a heat-wave!
Another way to look at this is – Think back, how many times something takes place in our area that gets national attention because of hot weather?
Here are just a couple of headlines I snagged –
Weather Service warns of ‘dangerous’ and ‘historic’ heat wave in Pacific Northwest
Newsweek –
Excessive Heat Warnings Issued in Northwest, 13 Million Face ‘Dangerous’ Temperatures
Soo Kim 5 hrs ago
And the graphics were impressive too !
The text writers were searching for seldom used terms to describe our weather….like –
- Epic
- Historic
- Dangerous
- Record breaking
- Shattering
- Life threatening
- Heat-Wave
Likely the folks who live in the desert southwest in places like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Tucson were laughing at us as they watched TV sitting in their air-conditioned houses.
All of this was caused by several factors –
- A northward bulge in the Jet-Stream
- A Therma Trough
- Winds blowing typically hot east of the Cascades Air to the West
- Compression heating as the winds blew down the west slopes of the mountains.
The I-5 Corridor was all getting baked with this one with temps, everywhere you looked, over 100. I remember, from when I was a kid – If it got hot, head to the coast. In this case this did not work. Example – On Sunday, the 27th, it was over 100 all along the coast. It was even in Forks! Perhaps hot enough to chase away the vampires?
Looking ahead, summer will continue with above normal temps –
- There is, indeed, a broadcast side to all of this. Many transmitter sites are not designed for this much heat, they rely on outside air for cooling. When those temps are 30-40 deg above normal….Equipment can get ‘grumpy’ and failures increase.
I know of several facilities that have reduced transmitter power in anticipation.
The other big, longer term and wider spread issue is drought. You have likely been seeing pictures of the lakes behind major dams in California that have little water behind them. The day has come that residents and leaders in the Southwest U.S. have hoped would never happen. Dealing with the issue is going to be extremely painful and expensive.
Nearly 98% of land across 11 Western states is abnormally dry, and more than 90% is covered by some category of drought—
- Here’s a look at Washington State. Tri-Cities to Spokane are in for the worst of it. With 2/3 of the State in some category of drought.
Environment Canada, Canada’s governmental source for weather information, issued heat warnings for most of British Columbia and Alberta that extend all the way to the Arctic Circle. Vancouver is forecast to 106. Meanwhile Victoria, with proximity to the water was projected to hit a nice and comparatively cool 93 deg (F)
Looking at B.C. – Who would have ever guessed that Vancouver Island would be in this category?
High temperatures and no precipitation bring with it the threat of wildfires. As we well know the last couple of summers have been filled with choking, eye burning, smoke from fire. Some of which have been very close to home. Remember the Sumner Grade Fire?.
I can’t help but think of all of the people I know that have retired and moved to the desert and wonder, in light of what’s happening, how many will be thinking about moving back. Or how many that have lived there for a long time will be looking north. Sure, we are having our hot-spell, but…! We do have Water and Hydro-Power. Western BC, Washington and Oregon are not re-claimed deserts.
Oh yes, we still have the ‘Big-One’ supposed to happen (Earthquake) meanwhile, the big-one is Climate Change and heat.
Power Companies are using ‘Smart Meters’ in Texas to remotely raise temperatures during periods of high-power demand via a program called ‘Smart Savers Texas”. It should be noted that customers ‘opt-in’ to the program. In some cases, power companies are offering a discount in exchange for the flexibility. One must wonder when, or if, this technology will become wide-spread?
Shifting gears to broadcast news……
Perhaps like the forecasted earthquake – Sinclair announced that they were selling their Seattle Market Radio Stations. Yes, we should have seen this coming as this was the only place where Sinclair was doing Radio.
The new owner, Lotus, will be the new owners of – “News Radio” KOMO – AM & FM (1000, 97.7), hot AC “Star 101.5” KPLZ and “Talk Radio 570” KVI.
Seattle is a new market for Lotus, which focuses on the Western U.S with stations in California, Nevada, Arizona and Idaho. Seattle becomes it second largest market, trailing only Los Angeles where it is based and owns 3 AM stations. Lotus Communications says it is one of the nation’s largest privately-owned broadcasting companies. Founded in 1962 with the acquisition of Spanish station KWKW by current Chairman Howard Kalmenson, Lotus owns 44 radio stations as well as a digital marketing entity and ecommerce sites. They were founded in 1962 by Howard A. Kalmenson, with the purchase of KWKW, one of Los Angeles’ original Spanish language radio stations. Unlike many radio station groups these days, Lotus is privately owned by the family that started it.
Here are some of the interesting that are flying about…. The percentage of them that are actually true will be determined ….
- They will not get to use the call letters KOMO for either 1000 AM or 97.7 FM.
- Whereas Lotus is known for operating Spanish language stations, one of their stations here will flip to a Latino format.
- KOMO-AM may (or may not) continue as a news operation.
- They may, or may have not, purchased the KOMO-AM property on Vashon.
- KPLZ will be adding HD (They were one of a few in this market to not do it)
- They will be leaving Fisher Plaza and are looking at a new location near the Stadiums in Sodo.
- Lotus paid $18 Million for the stations plus ‘other consideration’ (perhaps we will learn what that means)
- 7 is a bit of a wild-card in that it’s transmitter is on South Mountain, West of Shelton on the Olympics, 50 miles from Seattle with a directional antenna protecting a co-channel station in B.C.
- To be determined if they will get the translators in Redmond, Tukwila, Chehalis and
Auburn.
We can all certain remember when –
KVI – Was owned by Gene Autry and was home of Bob Hardwick, Ray Court etc.
KOMO- Was playing music and identified as a Fisher station.
KPLZ – Was owned by Bill Boeing as KETO
What we do know is that this is a big change for some historic stations. What Lotus does will have an impact on other stations in the market for a long time to come.
The agenda and logistics for the first Radio Show to be co-located with the NAB Show are taking shape. The compact two-day Radio Show conference will take place October 13-14 at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, which is a short walk to the adjacent Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) where the NAB Show will convene from Oct. 9-13.
Among the recurring themes of the first Radio Show in two years are how the pandemic has changed the way programming originates and business is conducted, diversity and inclusion, and infusing spots and promotions with creativity.
While the Radio Show sessions are taking place at the Westgate, the official hotel is the Sahara Las Vegas. The NAB Show radio exhibits are located in the North Hall of the convention center, which is open Sunday, Oct. 10 through Wednesday, Oct 13. Radio Show exhibitors will also have tabletop exhibits in the Westgate. The conference agenda has built in blocks of time to visit Radio Show exhibitors on both days.
More changes coming to EAS –
As you have heard me say for years, EAS is a continuously evolving system. This, on-going, process recently took some additional steps related to their FNPRM ‘FCC 21-77’ . I’m not going to deal with the details as most of the changes involved the relationship between the FCC and the SECC’s.
On the local scene –
The next SECC Meeting will be on July 13th at 930 AM. Like all of these meetings since Covid changed the world, it will be held via Zoom. Sign-in/Participation details will be on the EAS- WA Remailer. You are certainly welcome to attend and participate.
The process of upgrading our ‘Plan’ continues with frequent meetings taking place, typically 2 weeks apart, on Monday evenings at 630 PM. These all take place via Google Groups. Like all of our EAS Meetings, these too are open to all. The goal of this group is launch our WA-PAWS (Washington Public Alert and Warning Systems) plan on September 1 of this year. This new plan will – replace – the existing Washington State EAS Plan completely. It will be available on a Web Site (URL, TBA) hosted by WEMD.
As you know, I have been chairing the SECC since the start of EAS back in 1996. I will have an announcement regarding my future involvement in this activity at the July 13th SECC Meeting.
Back in the days, if you wanted to hear Mexican Music on the radio, you had to wait until after dark in hopes of receiving one of those high-powered stations just south of the Border. Since then, a lot has changed. Today you can hear Latino programming in just about every market in the country, in the larger ones (Like the Puget Sound area) you have multiple choices. The reason for this is obvious, we have been joined by an ever increasing number of Latinos living with us.
I thought it would be interesting to look at the percentage of listeners Hispanics represent these days. This data comes from Nielsen. The format is – Market – Percentage of Latinos in that market.
New York – 25.47%
Los Angeles – 43.56%
Chicago – 21.48%
San Francisco – 22.27%
Dallas-Ft. Worth – 27.70%
Houston-Galveston – 36.16%
Atlanta – 10.40%
Philadelphia – 9.53%
Nassau-Suffolk (Long Island) – 18.61%
Riverside-San Bernardino – 55.42%
San Jose – 23.71%
Middlesex-Somerset-Union – 24.18%
Washington, DC – 16.54%
Boston – 11.95%
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood – 55.72%
Detroit – 4.27
Phoenix – 29.41%
Minneapolis-St. Paul – 5.52%
San Diego – 32.66%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater – 20.16%
Denver-Boulder – 21.00%
Baltimore – 6.09%
Portland – 12.99%
Seattle-Tacoma – 9.29%
Obviously, a high percentage of Latinos represents a broadcaster with a business opportunity.
Audacy recently installed a new Gates Air FAX-30 transmitter for their 107.7-KNDD at West Tiger Mountain. The project was supervised by their Chief, Phil Van Liew. Their trusty old Continental is being moved back to Cougar where it will replace a ‘historic’ Collins unit as an Auxiliary for KSWD. Allow me to clarify as why I said it would be moving back. About 20 years ago, when the West Tiger facility was enlarged, KNDD moved their Continental transmitter from Cougar and moved it to West Tiger…Now, that same rig is moving back to Cougar, albeit in a different building.
The Seattle-Tacoma numbers are out. Here are my observations –
- KIRO-FM is back in the #1 slot.
- #2 is Audacy’s KISW.
- #3 is KUOW who continues to prove that a Non-Comm can be successful.
- #4 is KEXP who continues to prove the success of the little station is not a fluke.
- #8 Is KOMO-AM proving that AM is not dead and how an all-news format can succeed.
- #10 is another Non-Comm, KNKX with Jazz, News and NPR
- #12 is KCMS with Contemporary Christian
- The #2 AM Station is KIRO/710 with Sports which is re-starting in a big way.
- Audacy’s ‘The Wolf’ is ahead of ‘The Bull’ in the Country Race.
- IHM’s two AM’s (850 and 1090) continue to languish near the bottom.
Perhaps the most interesting is this time we have THREE stations with HD-2’s showing. KNKX, KING and KSWD. This is the first time I recall have 3 HD channels making a showing. It should be noted that these HD signals are being listened to with HD Radios. They are not, as is the case in many markets, being used to feed FM translators which end up be the signals that listeners are tuned to.
Back to KEXP- Based on conventional metrics, this station should not be rated #4.
For openers -Let’s compare their transmitting facility –
KEXP is located on Capital Hill in Seattle. They operate with 4.7 Kw at an elevation of 211 Meters above average terrain using a directional antenna. They don’t cover Tacoma and barely get into Everett.
Compare this to – KPLZ – Cougar Mt, 100Kw at 372 Meters and KING-FM West Tiger, 68kw at 707 Meters. Both of whom cover the entire Puget Sound Basin.
KEXP does not have a powerful corporate ownership with upper layers of programming consultants etc.
KEXP operates what’s termed a AAA format. Not known for huge ratings numbers, anywhere.
Another area where KEXP is in contrast to stations operated by major owners. They are not operated with announcers that are located elsewhere using music selected by computers etc. They are doing radio the way radio used to be done. Here is how they put it –
KEXP’s commitment to, and interaction with, its audience has been key to its success since the pandemic. “People need music, connection and community more than ever right now,” “One of the things that differentiates us from others is that KEXP DJs have the freedom and responsibility to curate their own shows, [which] strengthens our emotional connection to listeners and has been key during the pandemic. DJs being able to connect with listeners through all this turmoil and uncertainty, in a very real and authentic way, has helped listeners feel less isolated, less alone, knowing we’re all experiencing this strange time together.”
I say Kudo’s to KEXP….A great story about how a little station did not forget what made Radio great and is winning because of it.
If you maintained the legacy PR&E mixing consoles at a radio station, you perhaps know the name Bob Moore. He was well known for refurbishing these workhorses for many years.
.
Just learned that Bob passed recently following a long term illness after a motorcycle accident back in 2017.
The time is rapidly approaching for LPTV Stations to switch from Analog to Digital. July 13th is the hard deadline set by the FCC.
Did you happen to see this picture recently? Happened during a press briefing in Iran. You know, they build devices for this kind of an event that would cut down this forest of mics to – one! As Lowell Kiesow mentioned, some of them may have been props?
Here’s an example of one from Whirlwind – Plug a microphone into one of the jacks at the top, with everyone at the conference plugs into one at the bottom.
The first time I encountered one of these was back in the 60’s when President Kennedy spoke at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
Nothing like a wood-fire on a cold night. However, in this case, the wood is the transmitter building for IHM’s WOOD-FM in central western Michigan.
The ‘flash-point’ for this disaster was indeed a flash – Lightning reported got the whole thing going.
Periodically, my work for WSU’s NWPB takes me to the other side of the Cascades. In this case, a bit of Tail-Gate repair in Cle Elum. I’m the really old guy on the right. On the left is John McDaniel who is retiring September first. If you are interested in joining this team – Time is short, contact Jeff Snell at NWPB’s facility at WSU in Pullman.
Earlier I wrote about my concern that the drought in the Southwest could drive people of move to this area. Not saying that this is what’s taking place, however, it was recently announced the Washington is experiencing the 6th highest population growth in the U.S. The report found that between 2015 and 2020, Washington’s population grew by 7.3% — an increase of an estimated 526,325 people for a total population of 7,693,612.
Oregon reported a healthy 10.6% increase, while Idaho, considered one of the fastest growing states in the nation, reported a 17.3% increase. Between 2010 and 2020, California posted a 6.1% increase. However, for the first time in more than a century, the state reported a population drop of 0.46% — an estimated 182,083 people — during 2020.
Power Companies are using ‘Smart Meters’ in Texas to remotely raise temperatures during periods of high power demand via a program called ‘Smart Savers Texas”. It should be noted that customers ‘opt-in’ to the program. In some cases, power companies are offering a discount in exchange for the flexibility. One must wonder when, or if, this technology will become wide-spread?
There was a time that just about everyone owned a typewriter. Now days just about everyone has a computer, or, at least, a smart phone with a keyboard. They all have something in common, the layout of the keys. Did you know that it was 1868 the Sholes and Glidden typewriter was patented using the QWERTY keyboard? Have to believe they would be shocked to find the typewriter is gone but their configuration of keys remains the world standard.
Radio Broadcasters have come to appreciate the revenue potential of Pod-Casting. Now there is a new kid on the block….Legalized Sports Gambling whose revenue is projected to grow to 10 to 30 $Billion this decade. Broadcasters are eager to tap-in to this new source of cash….The race is on ! I’ve not heard who will be involved in this area. Sports Radio is likely.
This past month it was announced that NPR’s ‘All Things Considered’ would be inducted into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame. ATC made its debut 50 years ago on May 3, 1971.
If you are a broadcaster, and have a tower that’s required to be marked, you know how important it is to keep it painted. FCC inspectors used to carry paint samples they used to check to see if your tower was too faded etc. Now with that being said, next time you are in the area of Auburn….Head East on Auburn Way, toward Enumclaw. As you pass the big Muckleshoot complex on your left, look to the right at the FAA’s regional Flight Control Center. Take a close look at that big self-supporting tower and note the condition of the paint……Just sayin’ 😊
Back in 2018, Sale Media did a swap with a group (Intelli) involving Salem’s KKOL and their KPAM in Portland. Not sure what happened, but Salem announced they are paying 500 Grand to get it back. KKOL has had an interesting history. For years, it was KOL and was operating from Seattle’s Harbor Island with 5,000 watts on 1300. Then it moved to the Port of Tacoma and increased power until it ran into safety concerns. Then it was off to Bainbridge Island where it’s tri-plexed. There too, there have been technical and/or political issues.
Another deal has recently been announced, Busto’s Media has close on their purchase deal for KZGI in Sedro Woolley.
Every once in a while, you read something and do a ‘double-take’ Here’s an example –
Appears their editor, or proof-reader, is not a technical person 😊
It seems that we are receiving a constant stream of stories about how one company or another have been the victim of a Malware Attack. The Colonial Pipeline incident was certainly major news. The perps that do this are targeting government and industry systems all the time.
Broadcasters have certainly been hit. Not long ago, Entercom (Now Audacy) and Salem Media Group were hit. More recently Cox Media was hit with a ransomware attack. Cox operates KIRO-TV in Seattle.
On June 2, the White House published an open letter to U.S. corporate executives and business leaders urging them to take steps to protect their systems against ransomware attacks. The memo from Anne Neuberger, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology, contained five best practices to minimize the effect of such attacks.
- Backup your data, system images, and configurations, regularly test them, and keep the backups offline.
- Update and patch systems promptly.
- Test your incident response plan.
- Check Your Security Team’s Work.
Certainly a sign of the times – Convenience store chain – 7-Eleven has announced they will be dramatically increasing the number of EV Chargers.
The question is, what will it cost you to ‘top-off’ your electric tank? Certainly 7-Eleven see a profit in this expansion.
Ever note how we hang-on to terms from the past, despite them being out-dated?
Here are some examples –
- Film at 11 (Film has been gone a long time)
- We have it ‘On-Tape’ (So have tape-recorders)
- Roll-up the windows (Do you really have window ‘cranks’ in your vehicle?)
- Typing (Even using a touch-screen on your phone?)
New to this category – I found writers referring to an Electric Vehicle having a ‘Gas-Pedal’
While I’m in the looking-back mode……
How many of you remember when radios were marked AC/DC?. How about the ‘All American 5’ referring to the fact that these old radios often had 5 vacuum tubes. At the outset they used ‘Octal base tubes’….Later on, when so-called ‘miniature’ tubes came along they used them. These old sets were dangerous by today’s standards as the chassis could be connected to 120 volts if the plug happened to be inserted the wrong way. This was easy as this was before polarized power plugs. Yes, we have come a long way.
If you ever wondered just how much tower space is occupied by Cellular these days…. Take a look at the following picture. This is just T-Mobiles equipment on the KVTI Tower in Lakewood. In the ‘Good old days’ the electronic equipment (Transmitters and Receivers) were in a shelter (Small building) at the base of the tower with a coaxial cable connected to the antennas. Now all that equipment is located behind the antenna. In other words – Fewer/smaller cables going up the tower and a lot more equipment – On the tower.
One of my favorite pictures. This of the West Tiger #1 Tower at Sunset. If I recall, taken by Alex Brewster using his drone.
Unless you drive a vehicle with a Manual Transmission – You won’t understand this.
For those of you that did not – This is a visual that some put on their back window to remind those following that the vehicle ahead has a Manual Transmission. Commonly called a ‘3-Pedal Vehicle’. I should put one of those on the back of my pickup. I have to admit, I enjoy a manual, frankly, giving little thought to the process of changing gears all these years.
My first car was a ’49 Ford, from there a number of VW’s etc. Only a couple of years ago did we purchase our first Automatic (a 2018 4-Runner)
According to a recent report, today – Only about 1% of vehicles sold are Manuals. This has had the impact of turning these vehicles into collectors-items which has, in effect, increased their demand and prices.
There is another aspect that is occasionally mentioned. The fact that only about 18% of drivers know how to drive one! To me, this equates to a form of ‘Theft protection device’. With that percentage going down all the time holding on to my manual only seems to make sense. Now if I could talk my insurance company into giving me a deduction for my ‘Theft protection system’.
Another reason I love this part of the country and my job with WSU’s NWPB is that I get to travel to work locations …And bring my camera. Attached pictures taken on the job.
The following looking at Tongue Point located on the South Shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
It was taken from the window of my truck as I was coming down from Striped Peak
Location of NWPB’s KNWP (as well as KVIX)
Here are some links for more info –
Salt Creek Recreation Area – Wikipedia
Salt Creek Recreation Area (clallam.net)
As part of an impending transmitter change, I went over to the other side of the mountains. My first stop was Wenatchee where I had a nice dinner with Jerry Olson and Charlie Osgood. I asked the girl at the front-desk of the hotel for something facing east as I like morning-sun. To my delight she put me on the 4th floor where this was the view out the window of my room. In the event you don’t recognize these towers, this is the array for legendary KPQ.
The next morning, Brady Aldrich and I were headed to Aeneas Mountain, site of WSU’S KQWS. In addition to the radio transmitter, there is a lot of 2-way radio communications equipment as well as a lookout that was manned until fairly recently when they installed a camera to replace the person that lived on the mountain during the summer months. The cool thing about this site is that you can look around from your computer by going to – www.alertwildfire.org/oregon/?camera=Axis-Aeneas. As the camera stops, in various directions, you will be able to see the tower with the KQWS antenna (3 back gizmo’s) as well as the roof of the transmitter building. Note in one of the shots of the roof the hatch for winter access (There is a ladder on the inside)
For some history, and more pictures – Go here –
Lemanasky Lookout on Aeneas Mountain (willhiteweb.com)
One of the pictures at this site shows the top of the mountain pretty much the way I found it.
In this picture, you can see the tower with the KQWS 3-bay antenna. In the foreground is the relatively small transmitter building that is crammed with electronic communications equipment.
Here we are looking generally South, down the Okanagan River Valley
The views from here are extensive. Looking East, and down, you can see the little town of Tonasket on US-97 with SR-21 winding its was eastward toward Republic.
Here you can see the formerly manned lookout tower, to the left is the solar powered weather station.
The elevation of Aeneas is 5167 feet. (That’s 2219 feet higher than West Tiger). There is a lot of history here. For a deeper-dive -go here –
Lemanasky Lookout on Aeneas Mountain (willhiteweb.com)
To get there you head west from US97 between Omak and Tonasket. As you drive along, there are some charming homes along with stands of various varieties of evergreens and Aspens. Past a locked gate, the road becomes increasingly primitive and a couple of switch-backs that required Brady to back up and try it again in his big F-250.
I took a lot of pictures of things that you can’t see at the web-sites for these locations……Here are a couple –
Looking at the bottom of the Weather Station. No poured concrete in this foundation. Just some wire-fencing and a lot of rocks gathered from the summit. These anchors are called Gabion cages or baskets. Not only are these used for anchors like this but retaining walls.
You can find our more by going here –
You can purchase the cages from a number of sources, including Amazon.
You need to supply your own rocks.
In the case of this mountain – The entire top is covered with pieces of broken rock.
A closer view of the gabion foundation construction. Not sure what was in this little fenced area. To the right was likely a foundation (This time using concrete) for a site used to spot fires.
This is looking pretty much south from the Summit. Here I have zoomed in on Lemansky Lake. This was man-made many years ago with a small-earthen dam. You can look up Lemansky Dam for more information. There are a couple of houses on this charming body of water.
Here we see the KQWS tower with it’s transmitting Antenna. The Satellite Antenna is used to receive programming from Pullman. The dish has a large heating system to keep it operating during winters that are known to be fierce at this location.
Perhaps one of the most unique features are these two structures – On the left is the ‘Shower’.
Apparently, water was pumped up into the barrel on the stand (using the red colored hose). Inside is a valve and shower head complete with a rack for your soap and shampoo. I submit that this was only used in during warmer months. On the right is a functioning outhouse. Interestingly both have ‘WOMEN’ over their doors.
Here we are looking, generally North. The Canadian Border is not far north. The stations has a number of listeners up that way.
Here is another view of the Satellite Antenna, Transmitter Building and the other tower used for communications antennas. Note the roof hatch on the left side of the roof. There is a ladder inside. During the winter, access is via snow-cat as the snow can get very deep.
The Satellite Antenna is used to deliver programming from Pullman. The ‘Black-Hoses’ below the dish are used to pump heat into the antenna to melt the snow and ice during the winter.
And finally, a picture showing the outhouse with the shower water tank on the right. To the left is the lookout tower. Here we are looking West toward the North Cascades.
I plan on being back up here in a couple of weeks to work on the transmitter change. This time I will be busy inside that little building along with others on our team. Hopefully it will not be overcast and warmer. Of course, this will mean more bugs.
No, I did not take this one!….However, it is a classic shot of a broadcast tower (with 3 FM Antennas) and a full moon.
Any of my readers old enough to remember when Dumont was a big name in television?
Knife-Set for a Mechanic
IT Humor
No…..Not NEC Approved !!!
That’s about it for this month, my friends. Lord willing, I will be back next month at most of the usual locations.
Until then, get your shots and stay safe.
Do try and be nice to those that refused to get vaccinated.
Clay, K7CR, CPBE
A SBE Fellow
SBE Member # 714
Since March 1968