WVNN-AM
In Feburary and March of
1999, our alter ego, KK Broadcast
Engineering built a new daytime transmitter site for WVNN in Athens
Alabama.
The new site consisted of a new 296 ft Rohn 45 tower, Nott Ltd. Unipole
and tuner, Alabama Easyset Concrete Building and a New Ground system
installed
by AGSC. The existing Harris DX10
transmitter
was moved to the new site and reinstalled. Tower work was
performed
by American Towers (Ernie Oliver) of Florence Alabama.
Tower construction started
on a cold, wet
(you can see ice in the puddles of water) day in February.
Packing
crates & pallets were laid on the ground to one of the guy points
in
an effort to not lose a tower crew member in the swamp down the
hill.
The well (with steel casing) can be seen to the left of the
tower.
The structures in the background are greenhouses on the property of an
adjoining nursery.
Down the hill to the right
of this image
is as close to a swamp as can be found in North Alabama. Before
this
project was completed, we had almost lost a concrete truck, a backhoe,
a tractor, a couple of pickups and a helper or two.
Nothing really relivant
about this picture
except that it was shot down the well that is visible a few feet away
from
the tower. The steel casing can be seen on the extreme right of
this
image. Water is visible about 100ft down. The open space
around
the casing was filled back in with dirt and mud from the swamp.
A view of the swamp
(looking east) with
marks left by the ground radial plow.
A view of the property
looking basically
south.
Looking east.
Looking north(ish).
American Tower Crew
installing insulators
on Unipole skirts.
STL Dish goes up.
More detail of the unipole and
fixtures.
Ground screen after a certain
station
employee (who shall remain nameless) drove over it several
times before the ground cover
was installed.
What a mess!
The blood shed was minimal and the
screen survived...
Ground Screen was covered with
weed block
fabric and a couple inches of crushed stone. The beginnings of
the
tower fencing can be seen in this image. Also visible is a rented
generator that operated the tower lights for almost a month before
power
was installed at the site.
The ground screen assault vehicle
can bee seen in the background. The culprit said that he didn't
think that it would hurt the screen even though he had to stop a couple
of times and pull it loose from the truck tires.
Alabama EasySet delivering the
building.
In the foreground is the
gravel pad constructed
for the building.
The tower and building mostly
completed.
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