[TowerTalk] 500 new HDTV towers

[David O Hachadorian]

There's an interesting article in today's paper about how
the broadcast TV industry will be building 500 big towers
over the next five years to phase in HDTV channels on
the new assigned frequencies. The article, from the New York
Times News Service, discusses the following points, among
others:

* Across the USA, there are only about a half dozen crews
with the experience and training to put up the really big
towers, and they can only do a total of about 20 per year.

* In Dallas, a construction accident killed three people
because workers had not been properly trained.

* The big towers cost about $1000 per foot, or $2M for a
2000-footer.

* Some of the existing towers can be used to support the
new antennas and monster hardline, but many to not have
the capacity.

* The broadcast industry is in a tizzy trying to figure out
how to get this all done under the federally-mandated
timetable.


Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
k6ll@juno.com

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