KAUS to repair fallen transmitter

Published 12:00 am Monday, May 12, 2003

Approximately 100 feet snapped off the top of one of the KAUS transmitters at around 9 a.m. Sunday morning outside of Austin.

Engineers have not yet determined the reason, but wind and soft ground probably played a part, according to General Manager Bill Lubke. Lubke said corporate engineers would probably be out there sometime today or Tuesday.

"For whatever reason, it snapped. We won't know what happened until they've had a chance to look at it," he said.

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The tower was a 175-foot 1,000-watt transmitter before hitting the ground. Besides shortening it by 100 feet, the fallen piece also damaged guide wires supporting the top of the east tower. That problem has been temporarily solved by attaching the wires to a tractor.

The station is currently operating on back-up transmitter power, which should have little effect on the reception for listeners. At worst, it will weaken the reception for listeners at the edges of the broadcast range, Lubke said.

He said unless another tower fell, they would have no trouble broadcasting.

This is the first time this has happened at KAUS, Lubke said, but it is not rare for towers to fall. He does not know when it will be repaired, but said it could be as early as a few days and as long as a couple weeks, depending on how busy the tower company is.

Matt Merritt can be reached at 434-2214 or by email at matt.merritt@austindailyherald.com