Question About Antenna Towers???

[DualAntennas]

I'm New sorry if this is not the approiatee place for this post please move if it is not. I Did not see an antenna theroy subject

Why do some Broadcast stations like My local one WCRZ Cars 108 out of Flint, MI.
1.) Why do they Use more then one tower?
2.)Is it to get directional coverage?
3.) Could 2 of them be other local stations Renting the Space for their tower?

I was Just Curious???

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Someone else knows the answer. I tried to find out.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I'm New sorry if this is not the approiatee place for this post please move if it is not. I Did not see an antenna theroy subject

Why do some Broadcast stations like My local one WCRZ Cars 108 out of Flint, MI.
1.) Why do they Use more then one tower?
2.)Is it to get directional coverage?
3.) Could 2 of them be other local stations Renting the Space for their tower?

I was Just Curious???

That image is not WCRZ-FM.This is. That is an AM site. In fact it is WFNT 1470 AM.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=42.980278,+-83.577778+%28WCRZ-FM%29&om=1


WCRV is a single tower 50Kw FM station. that single tower depicted in the link shows various antennas on it including a wideband antenna that appears to cover both FM and television bands as well as a multitude of cellular or PCS antenna systems.

In short FM stations use one and only one tower to support the broadcast antennas. AM stations are a different story. The towers ARE the antennas. Multiple towers are used to change the radiation pattern of the station . All towers are fed with the proper power ratios and at the proper phase angles to achieve the required results which can be as simple as two towers providing a null to protect another station or many. The largest such system I have even seen was the 13 tower array of CFGM(?) in southern Ontario before they repleced it. All these towers were required to achieve the required patterns which were different for daytime and nightime. AM broadcast antenna systems are the ultimate in phased antenna systems. I worked in the business for 22 years and looked after a couple single tower sites, a two tower site, and a three tower site all on AM and a couple of FM sites as well.

 

[sonoma]

captain killowatt nailed it. we have a radio station here that uses 3 towers and in the day time it runs omnidirectional and at night it increases the watts out and shoots the signal northwest .it is KOMA a AM station and you can here this radio station a few hundred miles away at night. infact I have heard it about 600 miles away at night. last I knew of they ran 50,000 watts in the day and 100.000 watts at night. I lived close to the station and had to put caps on my speakers at night or I could hear the station like I had the radio on.

 

[DualAntennas]

I lived close to the station and had to put caps on my speakers at night or I could hear the station like I had the radio on.

What are caps???

I got my info off radio-locator .com
Guess their Wrong...LOL

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

captain killowatt nailed it. we have a radio station here that uses 3 towers and in the day time it runs omnidirectional and at night it increases the watts out and shoots the signal northwest .it is KOMA a AM station and you can here this radio station a few hundred miles away at night. infact I have heard it about 600 miles away at night. last I knew of they ran 50,000 watts in the day and 100.000 watts at night. I lived close to the station and had to put caps on my speakers at night or I could hear the station like I had the radio on.

Nope.Maximum power on the AM broadcast band in Canada/USA is 50,000 watts. Most stations end up reducing power at night but with switched patterns and transmitter location I suppose some may increase in a certain direction, Either way the limit is 50Kw. The limit on the FM band is 100 Kw ERP.

OK Read some more info. KOMA is on FM and the old KOMA-AM changed callsigns to KOKC 1520. They would be the three tower station with max power of 50Kw and switched patterns. KOMA on FM and is a 94Kw station but not with switched patterns or powers.


KOKC site.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=35.333332,+-97.504444+%28KOKC-AM%29&om=1


KOMA site.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=35.560000,+-97.485278+(KOMA-FM)&om=1

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

What are caps???

I got my info off radio-locator .com
Guess their Wrong...LOL

Me too.


WCRZ-FM Radio Station Information


Scroll down to "Transmitter Location" and click on the GPS coordinates and zoom in.

In your image above I noticed FDP Drive near the transmitter site which I immediately knew was an AM site from the tower layout. I opened Google Earth and searched for "FDP Drive, Flint Michigan" It zoomed into the image you show above and there was a Wiki link in the field showing it was WFNT 1470 AM. Easy Peasy.

 

[9C1Driver]

That image is not WCRZ-FM.This is. That is an AM site. In fact it is WFNT 1470 AM.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=42.980278,+-83.577778+%28WCRZ-FM%29&om=1


WCRV is a single tower 50Kw FM station. that single tower depicted in the link shows various antennas on it including a wideband antenna that appears to cover both FM and television bands as well as a multitude of cellular or PCS antenna systems.

In short FM stations use one and only one tower to support the broadcast antennas. AM stations are a different story. The towers ARE the antennas. Multiple towers are used to change the radiation pattern of the station . All towers are fed with the proper power ratios and at the proper phase angles to achieve the required results which can be as simple as two towers providing a null to protect another station or many. The largest such system I have even seen was the 13 tower array of CFGM(?) in southern Ontario before they repleced it. All these towers were required to achieve the required patterns which were different for daytime and nightime. AM broadcast antenna systems are the ultimate in phased antenna systems. I worked in the business for 22 years and looked after a couple single tower sites, a two tower site, and a three tower site all on AM and a couple of FM sites as well.

Well I guess that splains that Lucey.

 

[DualAntennas]

That image is not WCRZ-FM.This is.

https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=42.980278,+-83.577778+%28WCRZ-FM%29&om=1

Can anybody Re post this picture an let me know what part of the tower actually transmits the FM WCRZ Signal to your cars radio reciever?

 

[W5LZ]

I can't tell you which one(s), but there are lots of antennas on that tower. The tower it's self isn't the antenna.
- 'Doc

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Can anybody Re post this picture an let me know what part of the tower actually transmits the FM WCRZ Signal to your cars radio reciever?

They are the ones you can hardly see at the top.Zoom in to the top RED section. You can barely notice some blurry gray evenly spaced antennas spaced along that section. Those are the FM broadcast antennas. Everything else on that tower appears to be cellular/PCS/GSM services that lease space on the tower.