how do radio towers get the stuff they broadcast?

[FoBoT]

my new house is about 1 mile from a radio tower. i don't know what it transmits, but i am wondering how the stuff it transmitts, get to it

is there a high speed data line feeding it? does it have a microwave reciever?

how does it get the stuff it is transmitting?

 

[zimu]

i think it just amplifies, it receives the signal from surrounding areas and amplifies it to the locale

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: zimu
i think it just amplifies, it receives the signal from surrounding areas and amplifies it to the locale

so how does the originating tower get it?

how does the stuff get from the radio studio to the originating tower?

also, if it rebroadcasts, doesn't that result in some degradation of the quality?

 

[DAM]

A radio station usually has coax running to a antenna, along the way the signal is modulated to be send over the air.



dam()

 

[zimu]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: zimu
i think it just amplifies, it receives the signal from surrounding areas and amplifies it to the locale

so how does the originating tower get it?

how does the stuff get from the radio studio to the originating tower?

also, if it rebroadcasts, doesn't that result in some degradation of the quality?

good point. i can picture the first tower being close to the origin radio station which does all the initial broadcasting.

i guess what i proposed woudl work if the signal were digital. but radio is analog if i'm not mistaken, so quality would degrade as you rightly say. maybe they just use phone lines?

 

[JoeKing]

they get a bunch of stuff from satalite

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: zimu

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: zimu
i think it just amplifies, it receives the signal from surrounding areas and amplifies it to the locale

so how does the originating tower get it?

how does the stuff get from the radio studio to the originating tower?

also, if it rebroadcasts, doesn't that result in some degradation of the quality?

good point. i can picture the first tower being close to the origin radio station which does all the initial broadcasting.

i guess what i proposed woudl work if the signal were digital. but radio is analog if i'm not mistaken, so quality would degrade as you rightly say. maybe they just use phone lines?

that is what i am thinking, like a T-1 or higher speed data line. radio studios are all digital/computer based these days, so maybe they have a fast dedicated data line from the studio to the originating tower and then convert the signal to analog for broadcast

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Joeyman
they get a bunch of stuff from satalite

so i should look for a satellite dish near the base of the tower, good thinking . that makes sense. although the delay from the satellite might be a problem i would think

 

[JoeKing]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Joeyman
they get a bunch of stuff from satalite

so i should look for a satellite dish near the base of the tower, good thinking . that makes sense. although the delay from the satellite might be a problem i would think

no its all done at real (or as near real) as you can get. They grab a bunch of info from the sat feed all at once, and then the parent station bounces out the info to the other stations after editing in for local commercials and what not.

 

[Kenazo]

I think a lot of them are fed by microwave, at least the station i worked at was. It fed the tower w/ a microwave communications system of some sort, the tower had a bunch of equipment that in turn rebroadcasted it on the FM.

 

[Chaotic42]

Yay, a thread I can give a real answer to!

Step 1:The program originates in its studio, usually in one of the big cities.
Step 2:The program is processed and transmitted via satellite to the radio station itself.
Step 3:The program, and all local stuff, is run into processors to equalize it and whatnot.
Step 4:The broadcast goes through coax to the tower (if the tower is close), or it does through an STL (Station Transmission Link), which is like a point-to-point broadcaster that sends the signal to the main broadcast tower.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Kenazo
I think a lot of them are fed by microwave, at least the station i worked at was. It fed the tower w/ a microwave communications system of some sort, the tower had a bunch of equipment that in turn rebroadcasted it on the FM.

microwave dishes are the fairly small ones , like satellite, but they point horizontally, vice up towards the sky/satellites, right?

i'll have to scout out the tower some more tomorrow when i am down there

 

[Ogg]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Kenazo
I think a lot of them are fed by microwave, at least the station i worked at was. It fed the tower w/ a microwave communications system of some sort, the tower had a bunch of equipment that in turn rebroadcasted it on the FM.

microwave dishes are the fairly small ones , like satellite, but they point horizontally, vice up towards the sky/satellites, right?

i'll have to scout out the tower some more tomorrow when i am down there

Yeah when my radio stops working then just expect that Ill be on my way over to kick your ass for screwing around with the equip

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Yay, a thread I can give a real answer to!

Step 1:The program originates in its studio, usually in one of the big cities.
Step 2:The program is processed and transmitted via satellite to the radio station itself.
Step 3:The program, and all local stuff, is run into processors to equalize it and whatnot.
Step 4:The broadcast goes through coax to the tower (if the tower is close), or it does through an STL (Station Transmission Link), which is like a point-to-point broadcaster that sends the signal to the main broadcast tower.

hmm...

excellent

so if this tower is 30 miles from kansas city in the middle of nowhere, it is unlikely to be a "Main broadcast tower"
i would guess

i am guessing it is rebroadcasting something, maybe it is linked to the "Main broadcast tower" by this STL (microwave?) system so that it is synched with the original tower.

thanks everyone :gift:

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

hmm...

excellent

so if this tower is 30 miles from kansas city in the middle of nowhere, it is unlikely to be a "Main broadcast tower"
i would guess

i am guessing it is rebroadcasting something, maybe it is linked to the "Main broadcast tower" by this STL (microwave?) system so that it is synched with the original tower.

thanks everyone :gift:

It very well could be their main tower. The STL transmitter at the actual station just sits on a little tower so that it has a line-of-sight to the STL reciever on the broadcast tower. The tower is out in the middle of nowhere because it's a better location for transmission, which has a lot to do with altitude, the local terrain, soil moisture, and soil composition.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: FoBoT

The tower is out in the middle of nowhere because it's a better location for transmission, which has a lot to do with altitude, the local terrain, soil moisture, and soil composition.

you haven't been to this part of missouri

flat and more flat
few trees, no hills for a long long way
the water table is high. there are several ponds in the neighborhood. i don't know about soil composition

i wonder if the FCC website has info as to the location of radio towers, maybe i can find out who owns it/what station it broadcasts

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
you haven't been to this part of missouri
flat and more flat
few trees, no hills for a long long way
the water table is high. there are several ponds in the neighborhood. i don't know about soil composition

i wonder if the FCC website has info as to the location of radio towers, maybe i can find out who owns it/what station it broadcasts

Link:The ownership, location, and coverage area for most radio stations.

 

[Kenazo]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Yay, a thread I can give a real answer to!

Step 1:The program originates in its studio, usually in one of the big cities.
Step 2:The program is processed and transmitted via satellite to the radio station itself.
Step 3:The program, and all local stuff, is run into processors to equalize it and whatnot.
Step 4:The broadcast goes through coax to the tower (if the tower is close), or it does through an STL (Station Transmission Link), which is like a point-to-point broadcaster that sends the signal to the main broadcast tower.

hmm...

excellent

so if this tower is 30 miles from kansas city in the middle of nowhere, it is unlikely to be a "Main broadcast tower"
i would guess

i am guessing it is rebroadcasting something, maybe it is linked to the "Main broadcast tower" by this STL (microwave?) system so that it is synched with the original tower.

thanks everyone :gift:

Are you sure it's radio? there are lots of other communications towers too, cell phone, some private ones, all sorts of things.

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Kenazo

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Yay, a thread I can give a real answer to!

Step 1:The program originates in its studio, usually in one of the big cities.
Step 2:The program is processed and transmitted via satellite to the radio station itself.
Step 3:The program, and all local stuff, is run into processors to equalize it and whatnot.
Step 4:The broadcast goes through coax to the tower (if the tower is close), or it does through an STL (Station Transmission Link), which is like a point-to-point broadcaster that sends the signal to the main broadcast tower.

hmm...

excellent

so if this tower is 30 miles from kansas city in the middle of nowhere, it is unlikely to be a "Main broadcast tower"
i would guess

i am guessing it is rebroadcasting something, maybe it is linked to the "Main broadcast tower" by this STL (microwave?) system so that it is synched with the original tower.

thanks everyone :gift:

Are you sure it's radio? there are lots of other communications towers too, cell phone, some private ones, all sorts of things.

i dunno what it is, it isn't a short squatty one with all the dishes and stuff, it looks like the AM radio towers i have seen that are marked. just a big tall straight/skinny tower with blinking lights.

i guess i could ask the farmer whose land it is on about it

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: FoBoT

i wonder if the FCC website has info as to the location of radio towers, maybe i can find out who owns it/what station it broadcasts

Link:The ownership, location, and coverage area for most radio stations.

notworthy!
thumbsup!

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: Kenazo

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Yay, a thread I can give a real answer to!

Step 1:The program originates in its studio, usually in one of the big cities.
Step 2:The program is processed and transmitted via satellite to the radio station itself.
Step 3:The program, and all local stuff, is run into processors to equalize it and whatnot.
Step 4:The broadcast goes through coax to the tower (if the tower is close), or it does through an STL (Station Transmission Link), which is like a point-to-point broadcaster that sends the signal to the main broadcast tower.

hmm...

excellent

so if this tower is 30 miles from kansas city in the middle of nowhere, it is unlikely to be a "Main broadcast tower"
i would guess

i am guessing it is rebroadcasting something, maybe it is linked to the "Main broadcast tower" by this STL (microwave?) system so that it is synched with the original tower.

thanks everyone :gift:

Are you sure it's radio? there are lots of other communications towers too, cell phone, some private ones, all sorts of things.

I didn't even know radio was rebroadcasted I thought(most of the time there was one original source with lots of broadcasting power). and if you were outta that range you'd find a station closer. I'd make sure it is a radio tower, could be one of those police broadcast things that lets them walkie talkie throughout the state..course I'm going completly off speculation and could be completly wrong.

 

[FoBoT]

i found an even better page to look for towers linked

the page chaotic42 posted was more about the stations, the link above pinned the tower down and has a map, so i know it is the right tower

Company: Missouri RSA No 7 Limited Partnership dba/Mid-Missouri Cellular
Location: Pittsville,MO
Registration ID / Type: 1230023 / TOWER
Longitude: 93.9864 (93D 59M 11S)
Latitude: 38.8347 (38D 50M 5S)
Directions: 1.09mSof USHwy50;1.12mSE of Pittsville,MO at bearing 169dgres;0.27mEofStHwy131
Elevation/Height: 271.0 / 127.7 meters, 889 / 418 feet

it even lists an email address for a contact

FCC Details

Structure Type TOWER - Free standing or Guyed Structure used for Communications Purposes
Constructed 10/30/2001

Owner
Missouri RSA No 7 Limited Partnership dba/Mid-Missouri Cellular
1500 S. Limit
Sedalia , MO 65301 P: (660)620-1114
E: kzentgraf@mid-mo.net

Contact
Lesse , Sylvia
2120 L St NW Ste 520
Washington , DC 20037 P: (202)296-8890
E: klc@klctele.com

i guess i could call Sylvia or kzentgraf and ask them what it is, but i guess the "Mid-Missouri Cellular" means it is a cell tower. hmmm, doesn't look like a cell tower. oh well
map of Mid-Missouri Cellular coverage