Dutch 1000 feet high radio/tv tower on fire, topples down

[PA5COR]

http://www.112groningen.nl/Groningen/nieuws/14584/tv-toren-hoogersmilde-bovenste-180-meter-ingezakt-video.html

The same day another fire broke out in another large tower in the centre of the country, there the radio and television stations were shut off as well...

Good i have a motorized dish ;)

[ki4itv]

The most striking thing about the photo's to us Americans is going to be the lack of litter in the ground shots COR. Not the tower falling. ;)

Two in one day? what are the odds of that? curious.

[W2NAP]

yea 2 in one day is a bit odd

i also have no idea whats being said in the video

[PA5COR]

All Dutch to me too ;)

Just one horse sligtly wounded.
People were talking about the fire and the spectacular collapse.


The other tower didn't come down, but there was a serious fire, so that one will be out of service for some time too.

Fires hit two large Dutch radio-TV transmission towers on the afternoon of Friday, 15 July, disabling transmissions from Lopik/IJsselstein and collapsing the mast at Hoogersmilde.


Transmitters at Lopik/IJsselstein were shut down after a fire broke out in the transmission facility. There were concerns that it was caused by a short circuit and the entire facility had to be depowered so that fire inspectors could determine the cause of the blaze and to ensure that no further damage was done. Fire officials expected the facility to remain off the air at least through Saturday.


The Hoogersmilde disaster will have a longer term impact for Dutch broadcasters. A fire, possibly sparked by lightening, damaged the tower leading to a partial collapse of the mast. No one was injured in the collapse, but it is unclear how quickly the transmitting stations can be put back into use.


Before the collapse of its upper section, the Hoogersmilde tower was one of the tallest in the Netherlands.


According to Dutch press reports, about 80 percent of the Netherlands is without over-the-air FM radio due to the twin transmission tower troubles. Stations are continuing to carry programming online and via some cable systems, as well as on medium wave from other sites.

http://shiratdevorah.blogspot.com/2011/07/netherlands-tv-radio-towers-down.html

More complete video, people screaming god damit, and c*nt in dutch ;)

[W2NAP]

with all the FM stations down, it would be a great tme to FMBCB dx

[PA5COR]

Emergency GSM/UMTS masts were erected already today, as well adding antenna's and transmitters to other masts to get the Fm stations back in the air.
Pirates did take over the frequencies for a while, but they now know they better yeild to the legit users of those frequencies.

( first fine 1100 euro, next 25.000 euro) oops...

[N2CHX]

That is one crazy looking tower. All that poly insulated feedline which likely has spirals of teflon inside it -- not a good idea having it all running inside of a tower close together like that. On an open tower it would have likely burned itself out rather quickly but inside that hollow mast full of flammable insulation, kiss it bye bye as the heat builds and rises up the inside of the mast like a chimney.

[PA5COR]

The tower is 50+ years old, I've been in there some odd 20 years back.
The top section is quite large, and the cables were adequately cooled.
Before the radio transmitters were IN there, there were the TV ( analog) transmitters in there, making 1 megawatt E.R.P.

It is now established the other tower's fire came from people doing maintenance work, electrical cables caught fire.
On this knacker-ed one there were at least 2 different groups of firm's doing their maintenance on their stuff.

The ground on which the tower stands is owned by the K.P.N, Royal Dutch Post, the building by another firm, the mast by a 3rd firm, and the antenna's by a 4th firm...
Just to make it more exiting i suppose... they got their wish...

[kb2vxa]

A long time ago in the lighter side of a galaxy far away (New York) there was the Gorilla Building. Atop the building was The King of Kong... er, no... a bunch of FM and TV transmitters. Being a listener supported free form radio station that kowtows to no one WBAI broadcast something the Jewish Defense League (JDL) didn't like and gave a whole new meaning to Pacifica. Apparently nobody in the JDL realized pretty much everyone at WBAI is Jewish (shades of Bill Murry, SNL and He Brew beer) and tried to bomb it off the air. When the bomb went off they suddenly realized the attack was entirely collateral damage as WPIX-TV11 went dark.

Maybe somebody in Holland doesn't like terrestrial FM broadcast, maybe the satellite people? IT'S A CONSPIRACY I TELL YOU! Somebody call Michael Moore, he's broke and ran out of food, he needs to make a movie real quick before he gets down to normal weight.

[PA5COR]

Nah, won't stick here, they're all bloody down to earth Dutch.
More likely a f*ck up of some dozy shoddy workmanship or summat....

[HUGH]

Here are some old pictures of a TV mast that collapsed in 1969 due to weight of ice:
4434
4435
4436
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Emley_Moor_Mast_Wreckage.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Emley_Moor_Mast_Debris.jpg

[N2NH]

That is one crazy looking tower. All that poly insulated feedline which likely has spirals of teflon inside it -- not a good idea having it all running inside of a tower close together like that. On an open tower it would have likely burned itself out rather quickly but inside that hollow mast full of flammable insulation, kiss it bye bye as the heat builds and rises up the inside of the mast like a chimney.

Teflon breakdown was a real hazard if the heliax caught on fire. A transmitter engineer at a local UHF station on Long Island got a dose of teflon (delrin) vapor and died after a fire there. I agree, that looks very much like what's happening here. I don't remember how much power was running through the feedline when it combusted, but UHF stations run a lot of power through their klystrons.

[KG4CGC]

but UHF stations run a lot of power through their klystrons.
Eat more fiber?