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The
new tower site, June 2007, with the 40 foot mast drawn in for an
illustration for the Zoning Board.
Construction was completed in early 2009. The mast was
installed on Tuesday, January 6, and the antenna on Monday, January
19 — see in-progress photos, in chronological
order, below! |
WDFH's signal expansion
project is now complete! We began broadcasting from the new site
at reduced power on Saturday, January 24, 2009, at about 4:00 pm.
Full power operation commenced following the FCC's approval of our license
application on January 29.
The project had a long
history. For years, our signal reached only about 10,000 people in
scattered locations because of an unfortunate antenna location. We
started work to improve our signal in September 2001, just a few days
before September 11. For reasons not worth going into, after
securing all zoning and FCC permits, we lost the originally-specified site
and had to start the project all over in June 2007. With the project
now completed, WDFH's FM signal can reach about 400,000 potential
listeners in the lower Hudson valley.
Here's how the project
unfolded:
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June-July 2007: We secured the required zoning
variance to allow us to put up a 40 foot mast atop an existing 125 foot
tower (above right).
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July-August 2007: We hired a civil engineering
firm to conduct a structural analysis. The analysis determined
that the existing tower structure could accommodate the additional
weight and windloading of our proposed 40 foot mast and antenna, but
that the tower foundations would have to be strengthened.
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August 2007: Working with our talented
consulting engineer, Gray Haertig of Gray Frierson Haertig and
Associates in Portland, Oregon, we filed a new application with the FCC.
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August-October 2007: The civil engineering firm
completed the mechanical designs for the mast and the strengthening of
the foundations.
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December 2007: The FCC granted the application.
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January 2008: The FAA determined that the
tower, as extended by the 40 foot mast, would pose no hazard to
aviation, and that the tower would therefore not need to be painted or
lit.
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January-September 2008: With tremendous input
from our exceptional attorneys, Timothy J. Fitzgibbon of
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough in DC and
Alycia M. Vivona of
DLA Piper in NYC, we negotiated the final lease terms with the
company that owns the tower.
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September 2008: The lease was signed.
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October 2008: Construction began at the site.
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November 2008: The temporary wooden casings for
the reinforced concrete to be added to the tower foundations were
completed.
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December 2008: The concrete was poured and the
wooden casings were removed (photos below). Telecommunications
services were installed.
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January 5, 2009: The 40 foot mast arrived on
site and ground-based assembly was completed.
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January 6, 2009: The mast was installed,
increasing the tower's height from 125 feet to 165 feet.
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January 19, 2009: Our new antenna was installed
at the 160 foot level, and transmission cable was brought from the
antenna, down the tower and into the building. New electrical
service was installed.
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Wednesday, January 21, 2009: We filed the FCC
license application with supporting documentation. This filing
satisfied the January 23 deadline.
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January 24, 2009: We moved our transmitter and
its associated equipment to the new site and WDFH began broadcasting
with its new, much improved signal. For a short time, we operated
at reduced power as the FCC processed our license application.
After the FCC granted the application on January 29, we increased to our
full power signal.
And that's it — it's done. Reception has been
reported in far western Connecticut, along the I-684 corridor north to
I-84, in southern Putnam County, throughout northern Westchester, and in
much of the eastern half of Rockland County. Listeners have reported
reception in Rhinebeck, far to the north, and as far south as Yonkers.
If you're outside of our FM signal range, you can
listen online.
We thank Sam Hariton and Mike O'Neill of American Tower
Corporation, two more key people involved in bringing this often
frustrating project to completion.
We need your help!
Your support is more
important now than ever before. WDFH is community radio — dedicated
to serving the needs of the community, powered by community volunteers,
entirely nonprofit and noncommercial.
A critical part of the
equation is community support. Please make your tax-deductible
contribution using our secure PayPal link (major credit cards accepted) on
our pledge page.
Also, please consider joining our
Fundraising Committee.
If you'd like to donate more than about $100, please
send a check directly to us at:
WDFH
21 Brookside Lane
Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
Thank you for your
support!
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DESIGN PLANS
Above: design detail for tower foundation strengthening. The
area in black represents the reinforced concrete that has now been
added to the tower base.
Left: design detail for 40 foot tower
extension atop existing 125 foot tower.
Below, photos in chronological order. |
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Below: An aerial view of the
new tower site.
Right: December 3, 2008 — The crew from Cablevision is ready to
install cable for the internet connection. Left to right, Matt
Dillon, Gary Buigues, and Tom Lynch.
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Below: November 11, 2008
The temporary wooden casings into which the concrete will be poured
to reinforce the tower foundations. |
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Below: December 25, 2008
The concrete work on the tower foundations is complete. The
temporary wooden casings have been removed. |
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Below: January 5, 2009
The forty foot mast is on site. Installation is scheduled for
Tuesday, January 6. |
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Above: The tower crew from Baran Telecom
that will install the mast: left to right, Dan Cieniewicz, Dave
Gascho, and Jeff Cronk.
Left: The mast is 8 inches in
diameter and consists of one 16 foot section and two 12 foot
sections. There are step bolts on each side of the mast to
enable the crew to climb to the top. On Tuesday, January 6,
the mast will be raised by crane and bolted in place. |
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Below: January 6, 2009
The mast is installed on the tower! |
Above: By about 1:10 PM, the three
sections of the mast have been assembled, and the crane has started
to lift the top end.
Right: The mast
on its way up. |
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Within just a few minutes, the mast is above
the top of the tower and is being lowered into place. |
4:30 PM: First separation: It's
getting dark, light snow is falling, and one of the crew members, at
the top, has just disconnected the crane cable. For the first
time, the mast is standing on its own. |
Two views of the 50 ton crane used to install
the mast. |
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January 6, 2009, 4:40 PM: The mast installation is completed
and the crane is about to be lowered. The next step: In
the coming weeks, our new antenna will be installed five feet below
the top of the mast.
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Below: January 19, 2009
The antenna and transmission line are installed on the tower.
(The actual antenna is inside the red plastic enclosure, which is
called a radome and protects the antenna from icing.)
Paperwork documenting the completion of construction was filed with
the FCC on January 21. |
Above: The antenna is assembled and is
being carried out of the building.
Right: The antenna is being hoisted to the top. |
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Securing the transmission line to the tower. |
The WDFH antenna, now installed on the mast. |
Supervising engineer Bud Williamson (left) and
Sal D'Angelo, both of
Digital Radio Engineering. |
The tower crew from Northeast Towers
(Farmington, CT) that installed the antenna and tranmission line:
left to right, John Bernatchez, Matt Gezelman, and Tim Ruot. |
One of the stakes placed by the surveyor
extending in a line outward from the tower base. WDFH's new
signal employs a directional antenna so that our coverage can be
maximized. These stakes allow the ground-based supervising
engineer and the tower crew to make sure that the antenna is
pointing in the right direction. |
The tower crew aligning the antenna. |
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Below: The tower —
WDFH installation completed! January 19, 2009.
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On
Saturday, January 24, 2009, we moved our transmitting equipment from
the old site to the new one. Using a borrowed transmitter, we
were able to keep our off-air time to less than a minute during the
switchover, which occurred at 4:00 PM. (We transmitted at half
power until the FCC granted our license on January 29; this enabled
us to increase to full power.) Unfortunately, we don't have
pictures of the move, but the crew included longtime WDFH volunteer
and training coordinator
Cuper
Vargas,
Marilyn Sophos,
Doug
Koch, and
Marc
Sophos.
Right: Cuper on the air in 2003. |
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The final step of the move to our new transmitter site was completed
on Sunday, February 15, 2009, when we gathered to remove our antenna
from the hilltop Ossining site. As you can see in the photo
below, the antenna (the red blob on the pole) is well below the
treeline, just 15 feet above ground. This unfavorable antenna
location was a necessary compromise but it severely limited WDFH's
coverage from October 1997 until February 2009, when the expansion
was completed. |
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Below, the crew that removed the Ossining antenna on February 15,
2009: left to right,
Vinny
Cohan, longtime WDFH volunteer; his son Sean Cohan;
Marilyn Sophos, who was also part of the
crew that put the antenna up in the fall of 1997; and
Doug
Koch. Also working that day was
Marc
Sophos, who took the picture. |
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