Hi Dave, (and remember- There are never DUMB QUESTIONS!) The towers you see
(even at low elevations) can be used for more than AM broadcast (and ath the
frequencies for am, the WHOLE tower is used for the radiator- not the "wire"
inside it.
in fact, under OSHA regulations, the "WIRE" you see (and probably associated
with a ladder, tho not necessarily, may be "FALL PROTECTION" for those that
must climb it to do repairs- what you DONT see is a device that will allow
free travel one way (up), but unless a catch is depressed, will not travel
down (in case a maintainence worker slips). You may also see smaller
antennas (normally towards the top), for fm, 2 way, pageing, and even
microwave-- occasionly you will even see metal plates, pich at a 45 degree
angle- periscope reflectors for microwave- the dish feeding them sits on the
base of the antenna. As stated, for AM, the antenna is USUALLY insulated
from ground (the "counterpoise" can consist of wire netting, or individual
radials running on top, or just below the surface of the soil surrounding
the area.) . When was going to college, worked at a fm station in Portland,
Or- that station had something like 8 - F.M stations, and 5 - two way radio
stations on a 350 foot tower (Healey Heights) and the tower was probably
30-40 foot at the base! (coax for each of the broadcast antennas was about
8 inches in Diameter!!). Tho because of security problems in todays world,
some of the Engineers at these instalations are quite proud to give a Guided
Tour- might find it interesting to see just what makes them tick! Jim NN7K


" First of all, I'm a novice where taransmitting antennas are concerned.

It seems to me that many AM "broadcast band" antennas are four-footed
towers. Do these towers merely serve to hold the actual antenna (a
"wire")
off the ground vertically. The "wire" runs up the center of the tower?

FM and TV (and some AM) towers tend to be slim "guyed" towers with some
sort
of antenna element(s) at the top. Is this correct? Is the actual tower
ever
a radiating element?

The tower _IS_ the wire. Some towers have insulators at the base, some
don't, but the metal in the tower is what radiates. The guy wires might be
a
part of the radiation system, but usually they're just anchors.

Also... Some tower structures (AM, FM & TV) tend to be cited on hight
ground -- mountains or atop high buildings. Other antenna structures
tend
to
be intentionally located on "low" flat ground. Why the difference?

FM and TV signals use frequencies that travel best in a straight "line of
sight" from the transmitting to the receiving antenna; ergo, they're high
up
so that more receiving antenna can "see" them. AM stations benefit from
being near water, and since the frequencies used for AM don't need to be
in
a line of sight from transmitter to receiver, they can be low down where
the
water is. If a station is using its AM tower to hold an FM antenna, the
location is a compromise between height (for FM) and proximity to water
(for
AM).

Thanks,

Dave Pitzer

You're welcome. Please tell your teacher that r.r.a.a. sends its regards.
;-J

Bill