A Circuit Diagram

Click diagram to em-biggen.

Worlds Largest Wooded Radio Tower

The radio tower located in Gliwice, Poland (pronounced Glee Veet Say) is believed to be the tallest wooden structure in the world at 387 feet.  Constructed in 1935 by the German company Lorenz,  with help from Siemens, Telefunken, and others, it went into service on December 23, 1935 to replace a smaller transmitter located on Raudener Street in Gliwice.

The tower is a masterpiece of wood engineering,  constructed with impregnated Larch wood with a fascinating lattice structure of  beams. All connections were made with bolts made of ore,  because bolts of iron would have absorbed the transmitter signals. The larch wood was chosen for it's resistance to vermin and atmospheric conditions.   There is not a single iron nail in the tower.

Most radio towers built in Germany before 1945 were built of wood and the Gliwice tower is the only still standing.  The rest  were demolished between 1945 and 1983.  Today the tower supports multiple transmission antennas for mobile phone services and a low power FM transmitter.

The tower is diligently maintained, preserved and repaired every year. To reach the top, workers must climb a ladder with 365 steps.   Scientists from the Silesian University of Technology expect the tower to last another 20 years. The tower looks especially attractive after dusk, illuminated with eight massive spotlights and is visible for many miles  creating a lasting impression with visitors.

On August 31, 1939, the Germans staged a fake "Polish" attack on the station which was later used as justification for the Invasion of Poland.  During the cold war the Gliwice tower was used for jamming western medium wave transmitters broadcasting in Polish.

Even More Ham Radio In Animation

Ham radio continues to be popular in recent animated programs.
Observe:

Blog Reactived ..The Cincinnati Star Tower

Recently reactivated the TWIARi blog here. Found that the previous template I was using was no longer supported by Blogger, which brought the blog down. Anyway...lets get started with "The Star Tower".

How would you like to have your shack under this tower!

Star Tower is a digital television and FM radio transmitting tower on Winton Road in the College Hill neighborhood of  Cincinnati, Ohio. The three-legged lattice tower stands 956 feet (291.4 m) high. It was built for WSTR-TV, known as "Star 64".

An omnidirectional antenna atop Star Tower transmits the signal of owner WSTR-TV, while a number of FM radio stations, including WREW, WGRR, and WYGY also broadcast from the tower.

The Landmark Tower Company, which built Star Tower using a Sikorsky S-64 helicopter, was responsible for several similar structures around the country, including the Mesquite Tower in Mesquite, Texas; the Hughes Memorial Tower in Washington, D.C.; and at a smaller scale, WPXR-TV's analog antenna on Poor Mountain in Virginia. A small version of the tower can be found atop the Energy Plaza skyscraper in downtown Dallas, used by TXU for its communications needs.

Amateur Radio In Animation

TWIAR Gets Christmas Cards!

In recent years, several low power FM stations around the world have cleared our ham radio broadcast program, This Week in Amateur Radio International on their air.

This all started with our flagship low power FM station, WTND-LP in Macomb, Illinois. Since then, we have added others such as Robin Valley Community Radio in Omaha, Nebraska.


Our most recent addition, just sent us a QSL/Christmas Card and I thought I would share it with you here.

World FM is located in Tawa, New Zealand. Serving the cities of Tawa, Wellington, and Redwood. World FM is on 88.5 and on the internet at www.worldfm.co.nz. Happy Holidays World FM! We got your card! World FM carries both our broadcast and ham-radio programs.

If you operate a low power, or micro-power broadcast station and you carry This Week in Amateur Radio International, please let us know!