| |  |
Tower Work
WCPE has fought a long battle with the FCC to remove the shield from our antenna that was hindering reception to the west of Wake county. We finally won that fight, and as of 12:01pm (Eastern) on October 3, 2003 WCPE listeners have been enjoying an improved, crystal-clear 100,000 watt signal in every direction from our tower in Wake county.
Below you can see the work it took to prepare for the changes in the antenna.
If you would like to contribute to the "Scuttle the Shield" fund, we welcome your donation... we are still short of our fund goal. You can donate online or send a check to: WCPE, Box 897, Wake Forest, NC 27588. Thank you!
Click each photo to view a larger image.
 | Frosty Clark works on the transmission lines at the transmitter. These lines run from the transmitter all the way up the 1,200 foot tower to the antenna. |
| The inside of one of the 50,000 watt transmitters. (WCPE's 100,000 watt transmitter is made up of two of these.) The door is off in order to perform upgrade work to feed power to the shieldless antenna. |  |
 | For you technical folks... this is the final filter inside one of the two 50,000 watt transmitters. It is a part of the final amplifier circuitry. |
| Chief Engineer Deborah Proctor has hooked up all of this test equipment to the transmitter to ensure that the upgrades produce the best possible signal for our listeners. |  |
 | The tower workers begin their initial ascent. They are carrying up a rope which will later be used to lift a cable which will then be used to hoist everything else: gin pole, workers in their cage, tools and parts, etc. |
| Workers begin to hoist the 'gin pole'. Click the photo to read more about what a gin pole is. |  |
 | The gin pole begins its ascent. Notice how big it is compared to the man on the ground! |
| The gin pole is on its way up the tower. Click the photo to get a closer view! |  |
 | Climbing up the tower |
| Climbing up the tower |  |
 | If you look closely, you can see a tower worker climbing past WCPE's stand-by antenna... click the photo for a better view. |
| 1,200 feet is so high that there are clouds below us (and we're not even to the top yet!) |  |
 | Hope you're not afraid of heights! You're now looking down from the top of the tower. Notice the feet on the right side of the photo! |
| The white arc 'swooping' off into the distance at the top of the photo is one of the many guy wires that keep the tower erect. |  |
 | This photo is actually looking up. This is what the antenna looks like. |
| One of the tower crew at work on the same transmission lines that Frosty was working on in the first photo. |  |
 | While all of this transmitter & antenna work is going on, work also begins on laying a new foundation for our backup generator. |
| The generator begins its move to its new location. It's so heavy that a crane has to hoist it into place. |  |
 | Workers carefully guide the generator into place. |
|
| |
