For the past three years, I’ve been working on constructing a new station in Eastern Wyoming.  Due to various political and financial hurdles, work didn’t really begin in earnest on the station until this past August.  The construction permit was due to expire this May, not leaving much time for construction.  It is now at long last on the air, site construction is mostly complete and we have the “official” license for the station.  I actually had the station on the air over a month ago (see my late February posting) but the ground has finally thawed and the contractors are now able to finish up the final details on the site.

The site…This time complete with fencing!

The contractor works to spread gravel over the site inside the fenced area.

An “ice bridge” has been constructed between the tower and the building to protect the transmission line from falling ice.

Grounding is an important issue at sites that may experience lightning…This copper bar is attached to the outside of the building and connects to a corresponding bar on the inside of the building.  The idea is that lightning will take the path of least resistance.  We want to attempt to direct the energy from a lightning strike AWAY from the equipment.

Grounding at the tower base…There are three legs on this tower, each of them is carefully bonded to copper cable buried in the ground as part of the system.

Even the rebar in the concrete pad is attached to the grounding system on site…

It seems like overkill but even the fence posts at the corners of the site are attached to the grounding system.

More grounding at the base of the satellite dish…

This particular grounding system uses chemical anodes to enhance conductivity.  Underneath this cap is a rod submerged in a conductive solution.  There are three of these rods and they will need to be regularly checked and have the solution refilled to ensure continued protection.

A junction box has been installed for telephone service and the cable from the satellite dish.  Currently the cable is temporarily run overhead but will be moved into the installed conduit on my next visit.

Your friendly neighborhood broadcast engineer re-programming a few parameters on the site remote control.