3 ms·

Thieves steal 200ft structure from Alabama radio station

21 points by perihelions 3y ago

bitfilped 3y ago
Paywall: https://archive.is/OeM3v https://archive.is/OeM3v
smileysteve 3y ago
Two issues to me; - No instrumentation of the broadcast, ie, responses to calls; receivers, even an individual listener, or the recorder listening at a given point. Your SLI for a terrestrial broadcast shouldn't be "a landscaper told me it was gone" - Lack of business insurance. a $100,000 item that is imperative to your business seems like something that should be insured. Especially, if you don't have nearby site security, or live in a location that has hurricanes, and tornados. I enjoy the comments that suggest a helicopter stole it for scrap metal because the fuel, flight time, and ground coordination would be significantly complex. I theorize it wasn't a theft, but some party the poultry plant / city / county believed it was derelict, a safety issue, and an eyesore; And that nobody knew who to contact in a timely manner to have it removed.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- pavel_lishin 3y ago
  Based on that Google Street View link someone else provided, there is absolutely no chance that a helicopter could carry that away in a single piece.
- RecycledEle 3y ago
  I think insuring radio towers is difficult because of the difficulties servicing them. I could be wrong. I agree with the rest of what You said.
mrb 3y ago
This is the tower on Google Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.821395,-87.274311,3a,49.7y,159.07h,108.4t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbhXC4aCLfJ8BZbD1GvR0Xw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DbhXC4aCLfJ8BZbD1GvR0Xw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D171.10413%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@33.821395,-87.274311,3a,49.7y,1... As this one is indeed next to the MarJac poultry farm that the station owner mentioned in his Facebook post [1]. I notice that the tower is right next to the "Jasper Street Department" site which has big signs warning the site is under video surveillance. So hopefully they caught something no camera. [1]: https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-stolen-from-wjlx-am-jasper/article_2d4a5234-c470-11ee-8d1e-5fff768fd725.html https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-st...
euroderf 3y ago
Wow this rates right up there with thieves in the ex-USSR ripping up copper cabling along railroad tracks and elsewhere. File under "weird crimes of theft in sclerotic economies".
- nocoiner 3y ago
  Alabama has a higher per-capita GDP than virtually all of Western Europe.
  - saywhanow 3y ago
    Perhaps this is one of those situations where median is more useful than mean.
    - euroderf 3y ago
      You beat me to it
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39302045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39302045

21 points by perihelions 3y ago

Paywall: https://archive.is/OeM3v https://archive.is/OeM3v

Two issues to me; - No instrumentation of the broadcast, ie, responses to calls; receivers, even an individual listener, or the recorder listening at a given point. Your SLI for a terrestrial broadcast shouldn't be "a landscaper told me it was gone" - Lack of business insurance. a $100,000 item that is imperative to your business seems like something that should be insured. Especially, if you don't have nearby site security, or live in a location that has hurricanes, and tornados. I enjoy the comments that suggest a helicopter stole it for scrap metal because the fuel, flight time, and ground coordination would be significantly complex. I theorize it wasn't a theft, but some party the poultry plant / city / county believed it was derelict, a safety issue, and an eyesore; And that nobody knew who to contact in a timely manner to have it removed.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
pavel_lishin 3y ago
Based on that Google Street View link someone else provided, there is absolutely no chance that a helicopter could carry that away in a single piece.
RecycledEle 3y ago
I think insuring radio towers is difficult because of the difficulties servicing them. I could be wrong. I agree with the rest of what You said.

mrb 3y ago

This is the tower on Google Street View: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.821395,-87.274311,3a,49.7y,159.07h,108.4t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbhXC4aCLfJ8BZbD1GvR0Xw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DbhXC4aCLfJ8BZbD1GvR0Xw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D171.10413%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192!5m1!1e4?entry=ttu https://www.google.com/maps/@33.821395,-87.274311,3a,49.7y,1... As this one is indeed next to the MarJac poultry farm that the station owner mentioned in his Facebook post [1]. I notice that the tower is right next to the "Jasper Street Department" site which has big signs warning the site is under video surveillance. So hopefully they caught something no camera. [1]: https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-stolen-from-wjlx-am-jasper/article_2d4a5234-c470-11ee-8d1e-5fff768fd725.html https://www.insideradio.com/free/an-entire-200-foot-tower-st...

euroderf 3y ago

Wow this rates right up there with thieves in the ex-USSR ripping up copper cabling along railroad tracks and elsewhere. File under "weird crimes of theft in sclerotic economies".

nocoiner 3y ago
Alabama has a higher per-capita GDP than virtually all of Western Europe.
- saywhanow 3y ago
  Perhaps this is one of those situations where median is more useful than mean.
  - euroderf 3y ago
    You beat me to it

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39302045 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39302045