Monday, February 5, 2024

AL Radio: Thieves Take AM-Station's 200-Foot Tall Tower


Here's one for the book...some bad guys have ripped off WJLX in Jasper, AL. Thieves apparently made off with the stations 200-foot AM tower, including the transmitter and other equipment.
Police are investigating.

The general manager of WJLX in Jasper, Ala., posted the theft on Facebook:


The AM transmitter site is behind a local poultry plant on a dead-end road. Elmore had sent a bush hog operator to the site for cleanup work ahead of building a new shed, he said.

“When he arrived, he called and notified me that not only was my building vandalized, but my 200-foot tower was gone! They stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the guy wires to the tower and somehow managed to down a 200-foot tower and take it from the property.” The stolen equipment includes the station transmitter.

WJLX is a 1 kW nondirectional AM station on 1240 kHz. It has an FM translator at 101.5 that operates from a different location. James Early is the licensee.

Elmore told Radio World Sunday evening that his engineers planned to file for special temporary authority with the FCC on Monday for a silent AM and to operate the FM translator on its own for the time being while the company decides its next steps. The tower was not insured.

No comments:

Post a Comment