Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250332
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED SHAMY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
For years, the beacon flashed red warnings to passing aircraft from atop a 304-foot-tall radio tower at Towers Shopping Center in Southwest Roanoke.
Last week, the beacon came down from the top of the tower.
It was replaced by a strobe that uses less electricity, has the blessings of the Federal Aviation Administration and shines brighter.
Work on the tower continued Tuesday.
David Fueschsel and David Tucker scrambled through the galvanized steel tower about 200 feet over Lide's head. The men, who work for the United States Tower Co. in Frederick, Md., were tightening bolts and generally inspecting the 53-year-old spire.
Lide, chief engineer for Jim Gibbons Radio - which owns WFIR-AM in Roanoke, watched from the safety of the ground as the pair spent about half a day climbing through and hanging from the tower.
One of Lide's responsibilities was to make sure the electricity running through the tower was off. Ordinarily, 5,000 watts of electricity run through the tower - the whole structure is a transmitter.
WFIR was operating on a companion, 500-watt tower near the Towers Shopping Center parking lot. Lide said listeners on the farther reaches of the station's listening area - Smith Mountain Lake, Lynchburg or the New River Valley - might have difficulty hearing WFIR while the work was going on.
At night, when the men quit, both towers operate and WFIR's reach increases.
The work could be finished as soon as today.
by CNB