Who's got the biggest...

COFlyBoy · Sep 14, 2011

antenna?

There's huge antenna about 30 miles east of Denver International Airport (KDEN). Its 1995 feet tall.

Anyone got a bigger one? :nono:

Geico266 · Sep 14, 2011

In talking size does girth matter? Or how about how it is used?

pericynthion · Sep 14, 2011

There's the "planecatcher towers" south of Sacramento, 2049ft:
http://skyvector.com/?ll=38.27261571324627,-121.50419037910031&chart=16&zoom=2

Swampfox201 · Sep 14, 2011

Dang I was close.

Just west of OLU (Columbus NE) is a tower that's 1973 ft

kimberlyanne546 · Sep 14, 2011

Geico266 said:
In talking size does girth matter? Or how about how it is used?

Affirmative.

ChrisS · Sep 14, 2011

KVLY-TV Tower, North Dakota...2063ft.

yakdriver · Sep 14, 2011

We only have small antennas in Idaho. But they are on top of 10,000' mountains.

bbchien · Sep 14, 2011

The USN array at Cutler Maine. It's about 30 towers strung together. Have to talk to those subs, and the wavelength is VERY very long.

Ghery · Sep 14, 2011

bbchien said:
The USN array at Cutler Maine. It's about 30 towers strung together. Have to talk to those subs, and the wavelength is VERY very long.

Watch out for the wires strung from mountain top to mountain top across the valley at NCS Jim Creek in Washington state. Same idea as your array in Maine.

COFlyBoy · Sep 14, 2011

bbchien said:
The USN array at Cutler Maine. It's about 30 towers strung together. Have to talk to those subs, and the wavelength is VERY very long.

Sorry Doc. Those aren't even 1000'.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=44.66571222849909,-67.2914320875306&chart=8&zoom=2

Edit: OK I guess if you're going for girth, these will count.

Steve · Sep 14, 2011

the question doesn't limit itself to height...

Tallest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_structures_in_the_United_States#By_structural_type

Largest single array

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Large_Array

overall largest array

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_space_network

cherokeeflyboy · Sep 14, 2011

The Clayton Antenna(s) SE of RDU will get you attention!

shenanigans · Sep 14, 2011

Not the largest, but close....
There's a group of four about 15-20 miles north of Des Moines.
Two are 2000', one is 1999', and the little guy is 1471'.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=41.80089694136643,-93.56655489751863&chart=12&zoom=1

taters · Sep 15, 2011

shenanigans said:
Not the largest, but close....
There's a group of four about 15-20 miles north of Des Moines.
Two are 2000', one is 1999', and the little guy is 1471'.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=41.80089694136643,-93.56655489751863&chart=12&zoom=1

DSM approach is sure good about making sure folks have those in sight.

Let'sgoflying! · Sep 15, 2011

Now the question is, do a/c hit them?
This site lists... I think I count 9 collisions. I suspect it is not a complete listing. (we had one here and its not listed) It is interesting to read of other things that bring them down.

timwinters · Sep 15, 2011

There's a gaggle TV towers east of Springfield, MO (KSGF) that reach up to 2000' AGL, 3600' MSL. I believe one or two planes have been ensnared over the years whilst scud running.

ChrisS · Sep 15, 2011

Let'sgoflying! said:
Now the question is, do a/c hit them?
This site lists... I think I count 9 collisions. I suspect it is not a complete listing. (we had one here and its not listed) It is interesting to read of other things that bring them down.

It's not usually the towers that are hit, it's the cables that hold them up that people forget about.

denverpilot · Sep 15, 2011

The towers northwest of KOMA aren't particularly tall, but they sure are in the way for an extended right base to 14R.

KVLY has the biggest in the U.S. ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KVLY-TV_mast

The Wikipedia article is linked because it also includes this gem...

"Its height above mean sea level is 3,038 ft (926 m). Some time after its completion, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) imposed a policy that states, "Although there is no absolute height limit for antenna towers, both agencies have established a rebuttable presumption against structures over 2,000 feet above ground level."[5] The FCC and FAA may approve a taller structure in "exceptional cases.""

TripleZ · Sep 15, 2011

The one near rhinelander, wi is 3326' msl but only 1682' agl. I'll be flying close to it on my way up to eagle river this Saturday. I start getting nervous anytime a structure is above me when flying.

EdFred · Sep 15, 2011

TripleZ said:
The one near rhinelander, wi is 3326' msl but only 1682' agl. I'll be flying close to it on my way up to eagle river this Saturday. I start getting nervous anytime a structure is above me when flying.

If you're going to Eagle River, you might as well hop on over to 6Y9 and say hi to my parents.

TripleZ · Sep 15, 2011

EdFred said:
If you're going to Eagle River, you might as well hop on over to 6Y9 and say hi to my parents.

I just might. Figured I'd try Leifs cafe for breakfast, then some wandering on the way back to FLD.

tonycondon · Sep 15, 2011

shenanigans said:
Not the largest, but close....
There's a group of four about 15-20 miles north of Des Moines.
Two are 2000', one is 1999', and the little guy is 1471'.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=41.80089694136643,-93.56655489751863&chart=12&zoom=1

its pretty cool to see the tops of those sticking up through the clouds. I have a great picture from between layers on vectors to the ILS at Ames of the towers sticking up through the bottom layer.

dell30rb · Sep 15, 2011

we have a group of 3 2000' towers near raleigh.

Two of them came down in a 1989 ice storm. Quite a mess

http://www.oldradio.com/archives/warstories/WRAL.htm

Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe · Sep 15, 2011

TripleZ said:
The one near rhinelander, wi is 3326' msl but only 1682' agl. I'll be flying close to it on my way up to eagle river this Saturday. I start getting nervous anytime a structure is above me when flying.

I think it's kind cool to see them floating past your wingtip (as long as the visibility is good). There is a whole gaggle of towers on the edge of lake Erie a bit south of here.

Dan Thomas · Sep 15, 2011

I flew past a bunch of tall towers in North Carolina one time. Someone told me they were US Navy sub-communication towers. They were very tall. Anyone know how tall? West of Kill Devil Hill, as I remember.

Dan

timwinters · Sep 15, 2011

Oh, and I forgot about the 650' TV tower that's ON THE AIRPORT PROPERTY at Springfield Downtown (3DW) and the three or four other 350' (+/-) towers that are in the traffic pattern.

That airport can be quite interesting for someone who is not familiar.

COFlyBoy · Sep 15, 2011

timwinters · Sep 15, 2011

2000' sure seems to be the magic height limitation (though some seem to have cheated a touch by setting the tower in a concrete base or some such)

Let'sgoflying! · Sep 15, 2011

What is the limit on guyed towers? (what is the physical entity that prevents taller?)
Seems like the highest is 2000' but function may be what is topping them out there.

Geico266 · Sep 15, 2011

Geico266 said:
In talking size does girth matter? Or how about how it is used?

kimberlyanne546 said:
Affirmative.

Well then, we have several cell phone towers with a lot of girth, and a bunch of microwave towers that are very big, and interesting.

I need a cigarette for some odd reason, and I don't even smoke....yet. :wink2:

kimberlyanne546 · Sep 15, 2011

Very big and interesting?

rpadula · Sep 15, 2011

Geico266 said:
Well then, we have several cell phone towers with a lot of girth, and a bunch of microwave towers that are very big, and interesting.

I need a cigarette for some odd reason, and I don't even smoke....yet. :wink2:

How about cellphone towers that look like trees?

http://images.google.com/search?q=cell+phone+tower+tree&hl=en&biw=1276&bih=668&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sout=1

denverpilot · Sep 15, 2011

I love those tree towers. We have a number of them out here that don't turn white with snow in the winter like the rest of the forest they're "hidden" in. :rofl:

timwinters · Sep 16, 2011

And they have saguaro cell towers in the Phoenix area.

Jack Spectre · Sep 16, 2011

On my long XC for my private I passed over Minnesota's tallest tower...Big Lake at 1500ft. It made a darn good checkpoint because you could see from at least 10 miles away.

Geico266 · Sep 16, 2011

kimberlyanne546 said:
Very big and interesting?

Yep, they put lights on it because it is so big. Been hit by lightening a time or two also! :lol:

Skip Miller · Sep 16, 2011

Definitely not the tallest, but maybe the biggest? Camp Hero, Montauk Point, NY has a defunct ATC radar from the 1960s. When decommissioned, the local fisherman lobbied to have the antenna left in place because it was a far more visible landmark than Montauk Point light. I saw it in operation a few times and from a distance it faded to almost not visible (90* aspect) to just huge (0* or 180* aspect.

From the website:

At the end of a tree-lined, rock-strewn trail that opens onto a wide asphalt road is a locked gate, a sign that reads “Area Closed: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted,” and the park’s most startling military fossil: a weary-looking AN/FPS-35 radar system, deployed in 1960 and operational until 1980. From a distance the tower is a dark monolith in the forest, topped with a 70-ton, 120-foot-wide antenna that looks like a magnified fly’s wing. Up close, it is more sad than sinister. Its windows are covered. Its air vents are silent.

-Skip

jason · Sep 16, 2011

timwinters said:
Oh, and I forgot about the 650' TV tower that's ON THE AIRPORT PROPERTY at Springfield Downtown (3DW) and the three or four other 350' (+/-) towers that are in the traffic pattern.

That airport can be quite interesting for someone who is not familiar.

That just so happens to be the site of my worst mistake flying. Scud running. I was very lucky to have missed that tower. I saw it out my right window.

kontiki · Sep 16, 2011

Trying to head East just North of memphis sometimes MEM approach leaves you at 1500, it's a tight squeeze under Class B.

http://skyvector.com/?ll=35.1792262...1&plan=G.35.17546600397039,-89.86251781297939

jshawley · Sep 16, 2011

timwinters said:
There's a gaggle TV towers east of Springfield, MO (KSGF) that reach up to 2000' AGL, 3600' MSL. I believe one or two planes have been ensnared over the years whilst scud running.

SGF App. has been good to remind folks of them thar pointy-up sticks around Fordland.

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