Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

al.com ^ | Feb 6, 2024 | Carol Robinson

[plain talk]

The owner of an Alabama radio station is stunned, and out a lot of money, after thieves made off with his 200-foot radio tower.

The theft was discovered Friday when landscapers went to clean up the area.

Brett Elmore, owner of WJLX in Jasper, then received an unexpected, and baffling, call.

“He said, ‘Brett, we’re down here and the tower’s gone.’’

[plain talk]

Thieves stole the radio transmitter in the hut but also somehow dismantled and stole the 200 foot tower. The owner said it was fairly old and they would not have been able to unbolt the sections. They would have just cut through it.

[jagusafr]

Nobody called to report to the radio station that their signal was down. Thinking this is not the place to advertise…

[Publius]

It reminds me of an old Firesign Theater movie parody called "High School Madness."

"They stole the high school!"

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Probably just cutting down and selling as scrap.

[Dr. Sivana]

Apparently the station wasn’t popular enough so no one called in to complain when the station went down.

[SpaceBar]

This is what happens when the countryside is swarming with millions of criminals.

[calljack]

can you spell “Insurance”?

[Reno89519]

I wonder how many radio stations could go offline like this and no one notices? Took the landscapers to notice the antenna missing. I wonder how the radio licensee did not notice that the remotely controlled transmitter was down. Sleeping on the job at best.

[z3n]

"Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says"

~~~~

The radio station didn't keep up with their dues to the "Jasper Improvement Society"

[bgill]

What’s copper wire and aluminum going for these days? Easy enough for the cops to visit the local scrap yards.

[plain talk]

The FM transmission works off a separate tower and site and they lost the AM transmission.

[dfwgator]

No static at all.

[Red Badger]

Neilsen ratings were negative....................

[desertsolitaire]

or in the 1982 film ‘The Thing’, where they discover that the camp’s generator is not just broken, It’s GONE!

[9422WMR]

Every inch of property will necessarily be fenced with broken glass on walls or razor wire on wire fences. Just like mexico and every central and south american country. These illegals will think they are in a magic free for all country. Everything is free for the taking. Rule of law does not apply to third world illegal immigrants.

[Yo-Yo]

I call bull. FCC regulations require monitoring and logging of the transmitter operation, so they would know the moment when someone walked away with the transmitter and tower. And for AM radio, the tower is the antenna, unlike FM or Television where the antenna is located at or near the top of the tower.

So if someone stole the transmitter and tower without the station knowing, they weren't being used.

[gloryblaze]

These small stations run on autopilot. NO ONE answers the phone. There is NO CONTACT button on the web page.

My local station has problems, one of which is it often is on the same wavelength as another one from Canada until it wakes up in the morning. So I miss most or all of Hugh Hewitt’s show EVERY DAY.

[DUMBGRUNT]

—”He also pointed out that it’s a federal crime to tamper with a federally-licenses facility.”

That will go on the FBI to-do list.

after the 6 jan 2021 issues and a long list of racist school boards,very long list of Trump accusations, biden drugs in the Whitehouse...

[Alas Babylon!]

[plain talk]

Yep!