Every time we're in Mason, Ohio, I marvel at the stately WLW tower. It's a commanding presence in the neighborhood which once must have been lonely farmland off Tylersville Road.
A few facts: it's about 750' in height. Originally it was 834' when it was built in 1934 but later reduced. And it weighs 200 tons (they say it places "approx. 450 tons of total downward weight/pressure resting on its single base insulator". And that weird shape with the widest part in the middle? It's called a "Blaw-Knox diamond-shaped cantilevered vertical radiator".
My question, of course, is why this shape? A friend who is ham says the shape concentrates "more electrical current near the middle height of the tower which pushes the signal outward along the ground rather than letting is escape straight up into space".
That signal is WLW-AM at 700 kWz, a 500,000 watt "Class A clear-channel station" powerhouse.
My ham friend said it was hated by Hitler because it could be heard in Germany. Hitler called them "the liars of Cincinnati".
A great virtual tour of the station can be found here.
Here's the location:
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