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As one journeyed to the tower at the end of Glenmore Road in the late 60's, you traveled parallel to a 1000+ acre truck farm. As the decades passed by, the situation has changed somewhat. The truck farm is now the Rensselaer Technology Park and the tower is now turning into an antenna farm. Public Service, WAMC repeaters, and a host of others bristle the surface. It also made the Tech Park envious of the usable 695 feet of Big Stick's real estate; they now have a tower of their own. |
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One of the many trips to the antenna bays. Here Eliot Graham is at the 560 point, as denoted by the Obstruction Light in the background. Fuzzy thing with the hole in the foreground? Safety Belt!The first 100 feet are a walk in the park, the rest of the way, Woof!!
When WTEN-WROW existed at this site, their physical plant was a two story, yellow frame house. After they left, the house "mysteriously" burned to the ground one evening. Besides having to build this blockhouse to contain the transmitting facilities, the tower; AM antenna by design, needed to be grounded to give the leaders and return strokes a better choice to "earth" than through the Gates transmitter. Most of the time it worked :) I can still remember Engineering for Dick Baldauf, a little after 6pm in the summer, and listening off-air to the leaders discharging and giving Dick a countdown to Lightning-Interruptus.
The transmitter reset didn't work.Working "graveyard" shift at WHRL, the WRPI's tower provided me some early morning diversions as it flickered with St. Elmo's fire or completely disappeared in a blinding flash. Hey, so I'm easily amused ;) |
