New WLS-TV Antenna Installed on Willis Tower
The new WLS-TV antenna is now in place on Chicago’s Willis Tower. The ABC 7 News Web page has video of the installation. A helicopter made separate lifts to install the “wedding cake” base and the 35-foot long elliptically-polarized Dielectric TFU-19ETT/VP-R S140 Channel 44 antenna. The FCC authorization for this antenna provides an effective radiated power of 1,000 kW.
On Oct. 5 WLS-TV posted “Breathtaking video high above Chicago” showing the installation from the perspective of the crews on Willis Tower. The event was captured for a documentary titled “Cowboys of the Sky.” There is a Cowboys of the Sky Website with additional information on the production. It’s about the iron workers that built the Chicago sky line. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
SES and Eutelsat battle Over Sat Spot
The battle over the geostationary orbit slot at 28.5 degrees east longitude is heating up. Peter B. de Selding reports on SpaceNews.com that “Launch of SES’s Astra 2F Reignites Frequency Dispute with Eutelsat.”
According to de Selding, “Europe’s two biggest satellite operators are fighting over rights to 500 megahertz of broadcast spectrum over Europe, with Eutelsat trying to hold on to the property and SES saying it will take ownership of it in October 2013.”
He continues: “Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O’Connor said Oct. 4 that Eutelsat was blindsided by the SES announcement. She said the fact that SES now has a satellite in place does not bolster SES’s rights to the spectrum, and does not supersede the ICC procedure that Eutelsat now expects to result in a decision in 2013. SES spokesman Yves Feltes said SES is not a party to the ICC arbitration and does not believe it has much of a bearing on the company’s rights to the spectrum that resulted from the Media Broadcast contract.”
This is not the only satellite dispute Eutelsat has had to deal with recently.
Comments and RF related news items are welcome. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com.
