Veteran AM engineers have
known since the beginning:
An antenna needs to be a
continuous electrical
conductor. Intermittent
connections cause real
problems, especially with
solid-state transmitters
that need to see something
close to 50 ohms with zero
reactance lest they go into
VSWR protection mode.
One bad connection can throw
the impedance off a little
or a lot depending on where
the errant connection is.
This problem is not just on
series-fed towers. A unipole
is a "feed system" for an AM
tower, and relies on the
tower being a continuous
radiator too.
Now is the right time to pay
careful attention.
A tower is the "radiating
element or antenna" for an
AM signal, not a support
structure as in FM. Towers
typically are constructed of
stacked 20-foot sections.
With tons of downward pull
on guy lines, you might
think sections would be
sufficiently connected to be
thought of as a single
electrical conductor. Not
the case. Towers stand in
rain and perhaps salt air.
Crippling corrosion happens
where each section joins the
next.
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Typical
weld on a
solid-leg
tower.
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I have seen bonding straps
that go around joints to
remedy the problem. Others
have run a heavy copper wire
from the top to bottom of a
tower. Those work, but a
better approach is to weld
the sections one to another.
Usually this is done by a
tower worker with an arc
welder.
Do you have all three tower
legs welded one to another?
Only one good leg connection
is required. I usually have
the tower climber do two
legs; it is convenient to do
the two closest ones when he
is belted in at each level
of the tower. That second
leg is insurance.
Welds do not need to be
deep, they just need to
connect sections
electrically and reliably.
Standard procedure is for
the worker to spray cold
galvanizing over the joint
to protect it against rust.
Does welding make the tower
incapable of being reused
later? Not usually. Welds
can be ground off before
sections are separated.
Does welding last forever?
No, tower vibration can
crack the welds over time.
Don't be surprised if you
must weld again after 20 or
30 years.
FM stations are not immune
to intermittent tower
connections. With lots of RF
radiating into the tower
from an FM antenna, corroded
connections can cause RF
noise that plays havoc with
STL systems, especially
digital ones. Tower section
to section connections are
not the only players. Any
intermittent cable
grounding/bonding connection
on the tower can cause the
same symptom.
I had an interesting
experience in which an AM
station would not pass the
annual NRSC occupied
bandwidth and RF harmonic
measurement tests. The
sticking point was RF
harmonics. Try as I may, I
could not tune the
transmitter or do anything
to fix a second and third RF
harmonic radiation problem.
It simply would not meet the
FCC specification of 73 dB
below carrier for 1,000
watts of transmitter power.
It is 80 dB for 5,000 watts
or more. Section-to-section
welding was the answer.
After that, the station met
specs just fine.
Caution: Best disconnect the
AM antenna coupling unit
from the tower before
welding. The high voltage
could damage or destroy a
component in the coupling
network or transmitter.
You're going to be off the
air anyway because of RF
radiation danger to the
tower worker.
There is a story about a
radio station in a foreign
land. The station
programming irritated the
government; so the manager,
program director and
engineer all were sentenced
to death by guillotine. On
the appointed day, the
manager was placed in the
machine and the cord was
pulled. The blade came down
but stopped one inch from
his neck. It was "divine
intervention," according to
witnesses. The manager was
set free.
They tried to execute the PD
but the same thing happened.
Finally the engineer was put
in the machine. Just before
they pulled the cord, he
exclaimed, "Wait, I see the
problem!" |