It's impossible to miss the Oklahoma City Tower Farm, especialy since the tallest tower there, FJ1099 OKLA CITY TV STA KWY MAST is an NGS benchmark. Three OKC TV stations and multiple radio stations transmit from this antenna farm.
TV Stations broadcasting here from a single candelabra antenna are:
KFOR-TV/DT Channel 4
KOCO-TV/DT Channel 5
and
KWTX-TV/DT Channel 9
Radio stations broadcasting here are:
KOMA-FM 92.5
KMGL-FM 104.1
KRXO-FM 107.7
KOKC-AM 1520
A 1998 Daily Oklahoman newspaper article discusses a new tower for the OKC antenna farm: (
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"Super Tower Rising in City
Jon Denton Published: August 23, 1998 12:00 AM CDT
A city already crowned with television and radio towers soon will add another to its far northeast sector, otherwise known as "the antenna farm."
American Tower Corp. is at work on the $6 million project. At 1,639 feet high, among the tallest structures in the state, the antenna will serve TV and radio stations with 21st century needs.
An enthusiastic Wayne Bowlware, general contractor, says he's built towers before, but nothing like this.
"Everything about it is massive. The steel anchors alone weigh 5,000 pounds each," Bowlware said.
The anchors hold down the long, single-span cables. Some of the anchor piers are seven feet in diameter and 32 feet deep.
Peter Starke, director of broadcast tower development at American Tower, said Oklahoma City is the latest market in a super tower rollout across the United States. His company already has 1,900 towers, 22 of them in the 1,500-foot range.
"It's a market-by-market thing," Starke said when contacted at his Boston headquarters. "We want to go to the top 50 TV markets first, and Oklahoma City is No. 44."
Digital TV is the driving force behind the expansion. TV stations are scrambling to find space for their digital antennas, transmission lines and buildings to house their digital TV transmitters.
Most of Oklahoma City's existing TV towers have been modified so much, they can no longer support more equipment, Starke said.
American Tower's new antenna will hold six top mounted TV antennas. Ample room will exist for future broadcast and wireless operators.
Starke said only two Oklahoma antennas - KJRH and KOTV in Tulsa - are taller than America Tower's spire. Even so, its construction is a noteworthy challenge.
Bowlware Construction Inc. has the ground-level work. In June, he started laying out roads, bridges, utilities, concrete piers and a small service building. He's working on a 90-acre tract at 1309 NE 122.
Although he once built a microwave antenna for Southwestern Bell Telephone, he's on his first super tower.
"I am so far into it now that I've got it whipped, so to speak," Bowlware said. "But still, it intrigues me."
He's impressed with its high-technology requirements. In the placement of cable anchors, he is allowed a four-inch tolerance - move beyond that, he is told, and the cables won't fit.
"We have to use laser equipment to set all this stuff," he said. "The braided cable is made at the factory just for this project. It's cut to fit."
Winter storms, known to develop quickly in Oklahoma, put special requirements on the tower building. Ice falling from 1,600 feet can slice down with deadly affect, Bowlware said.
For that reason, the roof of the utility building has six inches of concrete. On top of that are foot-thick concrete blocks. Workers also have a protective canopy for their cars.
Stainless Inc., a Pennsylvania company, has the antenna contract. The company will spend almost three months erecting the tower. Crews haul each section up, then fit it into place.
"The antennas weigh up to 50,000 pounds each and hang all over it," Bowlware said. "On the top is the candelabra, where it spreads out. That is the space everybody scrambles for, and then they put antennas hanging from the sides."
Starke said contracts have been signed with television stations KSBI, KFOR and KOPX. FM stations signed so far are KXXY, KQSR, KJYO and KTST.
"I would like to think that by the year 2002, the tower will be at capacity," Starke said. "That would be seven TV antennas and eight FM stations. But because you can share an FM antenna, we could have up to a dozen stations on one master antenna."
The Shawnee area may be his next site for a super tower, he said. He's talking it over with engineers planning a new station in the area.
KFOR had an auxiliary antenna on the WKY radio tower that fell in Oklahoma City's June 13 tornadoes. There will be less worry about it happening again, Starke said.
His super towers meet stiff, national standards.
"I would say there is not a tower built anywhere in the world that can take a direct hit from a tornado," Starke said. "A tower is typically designed for a straight wind, and when a tower gets mixed up in a tornado, and is whipping guy wires around, it can bring a tower down.
"But if it happens, our tower should be the last one standing.""