[BC] Another site vandalized

[Jeff Carter]

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and admit this: I'm not the sharpest
broadcast engineer out there, and as a result, I do not understand
exactly what's going on here.

I've been led to believe my entire career that AM station antenna
system are basically quarter-wave antenna, and the number and length
of radials are specified by the FCC (based on the assigned carrier
frequency).

Two things:  How is it that any part of the "ground plane" can be
ripped out without causing the impedance-matching to go absolutely
nuts to the point you're knocked off the air, and how is that there's
enough resale value for the copper or whatever to make it worth what
has to be an incredible effort to remove it from the earth?  I though
scrap copper only brought about three bucks a pound or so.

What am I missing?

Jeff

On Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Cowboy <curt at spam-o-matic.net> wrote:
> On Wednesday 21 December 2011 03:52:42 pm Mike McCarthy wrote:
>> It was discovered yesterday WJOL-Joliet, IL. had a great deal of it's
>> strap ripped out.  I'm heading to my site not far from there shortly to
>> make sure we're still intact.
>
>  Hmm....
>  Other than covering the strap with a 6 inch wide, inch or so thick
>  pour of concrete, I'm not sure how we could prevent this ?