KWTO 75th Anniversary

Just a couple of shots from the KWTO 75th Anniversary Open house.
December 27, 2008

KWTO 75th Anniversary

RJ McAlister at the KWTO Control Board

KBTN-FM temporary transmitter shack

Click image for larger view

We were able to get KBTN-FM back on the air Monday. Inside the van
are an STL receiver and a 250 watt exciter. At first, we ran it off a
generator, until commercial power was restored Tuesday. It will be a
few days before we can begin rebuilding. But, this little bit of
'inventive engineering' at least has the station on the air.

The tower, an ERI put up by Rocky Mountain Erection about 10-years ago, survived the tornado with no apparent damage. We will have it plumbed and tensioned just to be sure.

While this is a big loss to us, it pales by comparison to the loss of life in this deadly storm. Over 20-people were killed, many close to this location. Kinda puts things into perspective, doesn't it?

Art

KBTN -This is the floor decking of the building

This is the floor of the building, some 100+ yards away from the site.
The steel entry door the building hasn't been found yet!

KBTN-FM Xmitter site- looking to the NE

Click image for larger view

KBTN-FM Hailstone from storm

Matt Krueger holds a hailstone from the tornadic storm. This shot was
taken 3 hours after the event, and the hailstone was still this size!

KBTN- what's left of equipment rack

Click image for larger view

KBTN - Other half of FM10T

Click image for larger view

Half of BE FM10T lying in field

KBTN tower site demolished - looking to the SW

KBTN-FM Transmitter Site Demolished

KBTN-FM, (class C3), licensed to Neosho, MO is operated by Community
Radio of Joplin, MO. It is a classic country format. Transmitter was
located about 3 miles NW of Neosho, MO, or about 10 miles SE of Joplin,
MO. The tower is about 400feet tall, located along state route "NN",
near it's intersection with "Iris Road".

I was involved in a Skywarn amateur radio net when my assistant, Matt
Krueger called to say that KBTN was off the air, and he was on his way
to investigate. A long-track tornado had been on the ground for some
time, moving from northeast Oklahoma into southwest Missouri. Matt
called back to say that the KBTN transmitter building was demolished,
and the equipment was scattered across the adjacent field. The 16x20
pre-fabricated wood frame building is a type that's commonly used for
transmitter buildings in this area. It was completely destroyed. The
steel entry door hasn't been found yet.
The transmitter, a BE FM10T was tumbled into the adjacent field. It
was also pounded with baseball sized hail during the event.

The site was right in the path of the 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide tornado,
described as perhaps an F4. Homes and other buildings in the area were
also demolished.

The tower is still standing, and appears sound. The antennas and coax
look good, but there's no building or power on the site. The station
is currently off the air, and we're considering what we can do to get it
back on the air.

Pictures of KJML Tower Collapse

These are pictures of the collapse of the tower of KJML-FM, Columbus, KS.
The studios are in Joplin, MO.
This tower was built about 7 years ago, and is a Rohn 45G.
It fell during the severe ice storm. We're not sure exactly when the tower fell, but we believe it was probably Monday, December 10, 2007.





This tower used to be 300 feet tall.
KJML "Rock 105.3" is obviously off the air. The format has been moved to 107.1, also owned by Community Radio of Joplin. You can click on these pictures to see a larger image.
During the ice storm, power was off for 2 days. When the power came back on, I couldn't get the station back on the air by remote. I drove to the site to find what you see here. You'll notice that the collapsing tower missed the transmitter building. It also missed the 3-phase power lines coming onto the site.





You can see here what I believe the be the starting point of the collapse. This is about the 40-foot point, where one of the legs gave way. The weight of the ice must have been overwhelming.

Art Moris
www.artmorris.com

These are my experimental weather radar pages.

http://www.artmorris.com/radar/ksgf_br2.jpg (less clutter, but less distance)

http://www.artmorris.com/radar/ksgf_br248.jpg (more clutter, more distance)

You see what I see.

If I'm zoomed up close when the page updates, that's what you see also. I try to leave it on a moderate sized view if there's no bad weather. If there are storms, I try to zoom it up to a closer view, focused on the Aurora/Verona/Monett area.This will give you a better view of the areas that matter most to us. The picture updates about every 5 minutes, sooner when the weather is bad.

Some details--
Red boxes are severe thunderstom warnings
Bright purple boxes are tornado warnings.
Green triangles indicate possible hail.
Yellow or Red circles indicate possible circulation or shear.
A bright purple triangle is a tornado signature.
Lightning is indicated by little lightning bolts and little + signs.
Feel free to comment on the radar.

Thanks,Art

Sorry no updates

I'm sorry I haven't posted here in a long time.
I'm spending most of my time on the radio message board.
Feel free to come over and join us.
The discussion is lively.
http://missouriradio.mywowbb.com

Radio Blog

So, I'm working on a bulletin board for those in the radio industry.
http://missouriradio.mywowbb.com/
Feel free to take a look.
art