Replacing Digital Antenna in Sioux Falls

[boiseengineer(old)]

National Geographic Channel's "Worlds Toughest Fixes" show does the replacement of digital antenna in Sioux Falls on a 2,000-Foot Tower. Tonight 9PM & Midnight Eastern.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/e ... b-Photos/0

[w4cl]

That has been on before. It was Tower King II that did the work.

[awsherrill]

And it's an EXCELLENT program...much better than that drama-mama tripe about the whiny "tower dogs" that aired several months ago on one of the big-4 networks.

The Tower King guys are real pros. They know their business and it shows. I believe the host of "World's Toughest Fixes" is also a licensed rigger.

[NECRAT]

And it's an EXCELLENT program...much better than that drama-mama tripe about the whiny "tower dogs" that aired several months ago on one of the big-4 networks.

The Tower King guys are real pros. They know their business and it shows. I believe the host of "World's Toughest Fixes" is also a licensed rigger.

He is.

A clever eye will also note the errors in the VO of the show. (The antenna was on until the gin pole was in front of it). The RFR levels would've been too high to get that close without major reduction and shut off.

Also in the show, halfway in, when the engineer hits the RF drive off button on the analog Comark transmitter(!) (of course theyre replacing the digital antenna, but that's a moot point, the analog also had to go off for safety reasons, clearly) you will notice when he walks over to do it, the "xmtr standby" button is lit and the tubes are shut down. The VO made it seem like he was shutting it down then, when in fact he was just making it safe, it had all ready been shut down. On the very first shot in the transmitter room, when the engineers are over at a computer, you can just see the right hand side of what I am assuming is the digital transmitter.

Yeah I have it on DVR and watched it a few times.... great program. The camera man for it also does rigging professionally. Not to hijack the thread BUT, did you see the Wind Turbine episode? That was just down the street from me, in Portsmouth, RI. I saw them building it a couple of times. If I had only known they were taping the show!

[Sam Buca]

Doesn't it take like half an hour to power down a TV xmtr?

[NECRAT]

On that model transmitter (a Comark IOX) Nope.

To kill the RF drive, as quickly as you can hit the drive kill switch.

Complete tube shutdown with fan shut down is approximatley 10-15 minutes.

[UHF]

The Tower King guys are real pros.

I'll second that. If Tower King II isn't the best in the business, I don't know who is. I've had them on lots of tower jobs, and they're the only tower company that I have full trust in. I heard a rumor that Shane Best had left the company, if anyone knows for sure I'd like to know.