I did the same in the early 80's from WDOR in Sturgeon Bay, Wi. Excellent
location near the tip of the Wis thumb so water in 3 directions. No room for
beverages though. Came in second in the CQ WW 160<maybe ARRL 160?> contest to
K1PBW who was the top of the food chain on 160 back then. Some months later I
received a SWL card from a UA9 which I thought was unbelievable at the time.
Great fun and got me hooked on 160! 73 Randy W9ZR
In a message dated 7/19/2026 9:11:34 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
I had no idea so many have tried this. Myself, then KE9A, KO9Q (SK), andNE8J,
I forget Howie's W9 call, operated the 1980 and 81 (or 81/82) from1420 kHz WPLY
in Plymouth, WI. Our picture was in CQ Magazine. It was asingle tower,
daytime station. Mike KO9Q was the program director. Wewere hanging around
the station one day and I said wouldn't it be cool ifwe could load up the
tower. The GM was there and he said fine, as long asthe station was back on
the air for morning sign on. We put our Dentrontuner in the doghouse at the
base of the tower. We asked a local if we could borrow his Alpha amp but he
declined. So wemodified my SB 220 to add 160 meters, with the help of W9RF.
Christ wasthe chief engineer of 1330 kHz WHBL in Sheboygan. Back then most
peoplehad very modest Topband stations so we were kings of the band. 73Ken K4ZW
On Sunday, July 19, 2026, Tim Duffy <[email protected]> wrote: > I have done that a
two different stations. Both stations are up and still> on> the air.>> Once in
1978 at the local daytime AM station that was daytime only (I was> chief
engineer). It was a two tower directional array, but I only used one> tower and
a tuner at the base. The tower was 240 feet tall. Performance was> amazing>>
Three times I have used a single 300 ft. tower that has its base in salt> water
(exceptional ground system at a Caribbean station where I have been> their
consulting engineer for 30 years. They go off at 11 PM every night to> conserve
island power. The pileup the last time I fired up there in 2012> (tuner at the
base) - even with just 100 watts of TX - was amazing.>> As was mentioned
before, good ground systems and favorable land surrounding> the vertical is the
key!>> 73> Tim K3LR>> -----Original Message-----> From: Topband
[mailto:[email protected]] On> Behalf Of Radio KH6O
via Topband> Sent: Saturday, July 18, 2026 9:31 PM> To: topband> Subject:
Topband: The Big Guys>> I just wish I should use one of these AM broadcast
towers for about a week> on 160:>>
https://www.radioworld.com/tech-and-gear/facilities/a-> historic-tower-falls-a>
-new-era-begins-for-st-louis-kfuo>> Have any of you had the pleasure of using
an AM bcst band tower for 160> before it was taken down?>> -->> 72 / 73 /
3579,> Jeff KH6O / 6 on 160 acres of mountains and canyons> _________________>
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