Exploring a 1 MILLION Watt FM Tower

My Dad and I took a road trip to tour the 1 MW FM community tower in Crestwood, MO, serving the entire St. Louis metro area combining 10 FM radio signals into two antenna systems.

Special thanks to the Audacy engineers who allowed us to take a peek at their (very clean!) transmitter rooms and equipment!

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#Radio #Transmitter #Engineering

Contents:

00:00 - The Supertower
01:52 - Grounding and Guy-Wires
03:11 - Tower-scale cable management
04:13 - Transmitter Room
05:49 - 400A power and backup power
07:09 - 50kW Dummy load, switching, and 30kW water cooling!
09:16 - MARTI filter cans and cable loss
10:37 - In the basement - from 30 to 300 kW
12:47 - Giant coax with explosive arcing potential
14:00 - Tower safety: RF lockout
15:01 - Power, Aux services, Comms, and Lights
16:41 - One tower, many stories