🚀 go-pugleaf

On dc.general, tad@intercon.com (Tad L. J. Pierson) posts:

 > According to the news on the radio today, WDCA's transmitter died and they 
 > have no idea why.  They will be down indefinitely until they can solve the 
 > problem.

This morning's _Post_ reports that on Tuesday night, a 350-foot chunk
of cable broke free from the (800-odd foot) tower and slid to the
ground.  UHF stations have to pump gobs of watts (WETA is 2,000,000; I
have no idea about WDCA) to get anywhere, and the signal gets from the
transmitter to the antenna by means of tubular copper coaxial cable
which is bolted together in segments. (No RG58U here!)  I've seen the
stuff as large as 5" in diameter, so you can probably immagine the
ruckus when all of that plumbing came sliding down the side of the
tower.

If one of the joints was breaking, that explains a great deal of
Monday afternoon's power loss.  If they can get C&P's help and the
right gear, they should be back on the cable systems sometime soon.

						- Mark

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