Feb
17
Written by:
2/17/2011 5:32 AM
Brett Moss is gear and technology editor.Larry Nixon, a contract engineer for Cumulus Media’s WJAD(FM) down in Albany, Ga., received an automated remote control e-mail message on Feb. 7 that the transmitter was running a bit low.
Upon arriving at the rural transmitter hut he fixed the problem but noticed something else: a few pockmarks in the transmitter’s metal box, and four small holes perforating the wall of the building. Bullet holes, that is.
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Perhaps a listener was unhappy with the song rotation? Too many ads? Format change suggestion?
In all seriousness it’s rather surprising that we don’t hear more stories like this. The WJAD transmitter building is in a relatively rural location for the southern Georgia station. Anyone who has travelled on rural roads has probably noted shot-up road signs, mailboxes and “tin” barns. Anything within range can become a target of a (sometimes inebriated) “hunter,” preternaturally angry malcontent or just some kids.
Fortunately, remote transmitter buildings often are unoccupied. Then again, sometimes they’re not. Nixon had just been at the site a few days earlier.
The low-power situation was unrelated to the bullet holes. The shack siding was the main victim; the transmitter received a few dings from the small-caliber bullets, but no serious damage. Not quite a red badge of courage, but maybe something to show the boss the next time the topic of hazard pay comes up.
Local police are looking into it. Cumulus Regional Manager of Engineering/IT Robert Combs said: “Thankfully none of us were working at the site when this happened and everyone is safe. We take safety very seriously at Cumulus Media, but I do not have a budget line for Kevlar.”
3 comment(s) so far...
An Angry Phone Call or E-Mail Would Have Sufficed
This is not a rare thing - I've seen it twice locally including arriving alone at 3AM at isolated xmtr site to find the steel door bashed in and shot.Oddly, once smashing their way in, all they did was switch off the plate and disconnect the feedline LC connector. Nothing was stolen.
By Charles Ring on
2/26/2011 12:44 PM
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An Angry Phone Call or E-Mail Would Have Sufficed
One day, about 30 years ago, the AM trasnmitter at the station I was working for unexpectedly went off the air around dusk. The transmitter was located on "the bad side" of town. Upon arrival, it quickly became apparent that someone had fired several .357 rounds into the front door, penetrating the heavy steel building door and the steel front of the transmitter and damaging some control relays. I never went to that site alone and unarmed again.
By Kyle Magrill on
2/17/2011 11:44 PM
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An Angry Phone Call or E-Mail Would Have Sufficed
A few years ago, I saw a DX50 transmitter in Mexico with a bullet hole in the front door. The culprit was one of the station's own engineers. He was sitting in front of the transmitter cleaning his gun, and - you guessed it! The bullet made a hole in a circuit board and took the transmitter off the air. The board was quickly repaired and the transmitter was back on the air in short order, and it's still on the air today. (I have pictures to prove it!)
By John Schneider on
2/18/2011 3:19 AM
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