1 MILLION watts-really? FM Supertower Part 2! 

Having seen quite a few attempts at explaining large scale antenne technolgy, these videos stand out in every way. The production values are extraordinarily good, the touch of humor and the father-son dynamics add a dimension rarely seen in this type of vid. Extremely well done.

This series is EXTREMELY interesting and your father is a great source of info. Thank you very much for letting us into your father's work field. Very very nice!

10:34 When your coax looks like the water main under the street feeding the fire hydrants, you know you're running some serious power!

As a former TV chief engineer I have to tell you that your dad did an EXCELLENT job explaining what you were looking at and how it works. (We are usually pretty camera shy!) One "Bad Thing" that you didn't know to ask and he didn't mention was that, depending on power levels, you can get arc-overs (burn outs) between the center of the coax and the outer part (think welding) inside that large copper transmission line somewhere up the tower. That shorts out or dramatically reduces your power to your listeners/viewers and makes for a Very Bad Day. You have to get a tower crew up the tower, find the problem coax segment (20' long each) and swap it out with a new piece of copper coax. Big Bux too! Plus the loss of revenue if you are off the air during the repair. Thanks for posting this tour video! I brought back) a lot of memories (good and bad)! Best of luck with the surgery too!

You guys are so good with each other. It's refreshing to see good family function. Also love the deeper dive into that tower, look forward to more.. Good luck on your surgery and speedy recovery..

Great videos. I am a HAM operator and it's not everyday you get to see all the goodies inside a real transmitter site. Thanks for sharing.

Wow, love this! Best luck on your recovery. Hope to see more! As a professional Ansibler, home Pi person and ham radio operator, Jeff and his dad are really making some great stuff!

This is a lot of engineering by the Geerlings!

I love that you do this with your son. Take all the time you need to heal Jeff, we care about your health!

I was at that site about four years ago. It's very impressive and well kept. That is the 2nd largest FM combiner in the US by number of stations (Empire State Building holds the largest at 19), and the largest by FM combined power. (Miami's Gannett tower is 2nd). That's also the older design of the Dielectric FM-Vee antenna system. It was redesigned after that, and is used in several locations like Tampa. I've actually received a few of those signals here in New England via "E Skip" last summer. And American Tower, who owns the site, is planning on LED retrofits nationwide, so the tower will eventually go LED.

One point I don't think was mentioned specifically, was that unlike coax, waveguides don't have center conductors, they are just hollow tubes. As the name implies, they just "guide" the wave through the tube and around corners. Though the cross sectional dimensions of all the tubes (are square tubes still called tubes? lol) are all carefully tuned to match the frequency that is passing through and typically are used in the microwave frequency range. I like to refer to it as black magic. lol.

A thumbs-up is not enough for this video - what a great interview!

Being an engineer in RF facilities (both TV and Radio), I love the instruction being shown in this video. Being a Ham as well (KC8KVA - I lucked out with that one), you truly respect the RF. Thank you for this follow-up video. It enlightened some of my peers in the workplace. ;)

I loved both of these super tower videos. I can’t wait to see an AM tower and if possible a TV broadcast tower video. The production on here was professional and I really watching the father/son dynamics. It’s informative, interesting, educational and wholesome to watch. Thank you for your time!

Thank you so much for covering all the questions, especially considering your health condition! Hope you are doing well and that from 2023 on your safe and sound! I’d really like to see so much more RF stuff, please never hesitate to put all possible RF content on your channel 😍 Cheers 🙂

Thanks Joe and Jeff for another wonderful look at this tower. Loved the Bird watt meters. Industry standard that still is the gold standard when it comes to that kind of equipment. Lots of nice explanations like in the previous video. Can't wait to see the other videos you talked about doing after you get back from recovering from your surgery Jeff (and I hope you feeling better and healing well). 73 from K0AZV

Hi Jeff! This is a very interesting format. You and your dad are true masters in delivering complex engineering info to the general public, keep it up! As a SWL (and hopefully ham next year) I can't wait to see the video about MW antennas, as they are truly a wonderful topic, even more than VHF. Sadly, last September in Italy all AM towers were shut down. They provided a very easy way to get news abroad or even in remote areas, where internet connection or FM signal is not a thing. Thank you for your work, greetings from Italy!

Hello! Get well soon Jeff!

I've really enjoyed these videos about the Supertower. I guess you know you've arrived at the radio big leagues when you are using copper pipes as coax.

In Germany we get our radio music through the good, old, reliable fax machine.

I know it's been a few months, but I just watched this video (thanks youtube algorithm) and wanted to add to the LED bulb discussion mentioned in it. I'm a helicopter pilot and during night flights I wear night vision goggles to aid with obstacle and traffic avoidance. Some of these LED marker lights emit a wavelength that is almost invisible to NVGs, negating their purpose for alerting aviators to the tower and required official notices/warnings (NOTAMs) for towers lit with them. This was the case up until just a couple of years ago when it was finally mandated that LED marker lights include an IR component (though some are grandfathered in). It made me happy to see those incandescent bulbs as their inefficiency naturally causes quite a bit of IR. Helicopters spend almost all their time down low and spotting towers is a key survival skill. The guy lines are still deadly though. They're hard to see even during the day. We always fly well away from towers, as long as we can spot them.

Massive respect for you both - brilliant information and it was nice to see DAB+ given a mention, we've just gone onto a DAB+ platform with our two stations, though sadly I don't do any engineering on that side of things. Can't wait for the next supertower video :) Speedy recovery from your surgery!

17:00 at least here in austria, most of the broadcast radio service, especially in more rural areas still runs on FM. DAB stations are not so widespread because the old stuff still works great and the infrastructure covers every last corner. In germany they have a lot more DAB stations. 19:10 Also working on my HAM license right now , no wonder i love the Supertower series!

best question ever "why aren't we dying right now?"

St Louis native here. Electrical/computer engineer too. This was cool to see!

I appreciate these videos on RF, they bring back great memories. I hope you are doing well with your recovery, get plenty of rest and hope to see you back "on the air" soon! Happy Holidays!

Thanks for shooting another great video! I love the format, please keep it up. And good luck with your operation Jeff, take care!

Fantastic video! A real treat to have a tour of everything with explanation. Keep up the excellent work!

I absolutely love this content. So much info in an easy to understand format. Please keep doing these kinds of videos!!!

18:15 RF burns are nasty. Got one from a tiny 15 watt VHF transmitter. Tuning a magloop antenna, got too close to the trimmer's connections. You don't feel it until it starts producing a whisp of smoke, and then it'll take weeks to heal. Mine was small enough to not be too painful, but even on that scale you can see how deep it burns.

This series is interesting because we usually do not get to see it. I love tall antenna towers!

loved this as well as all the other tower videos you guys have done. Grew up with an uncle as chief engineer of a 50k watt station in the Dayton, OH area and I remember fondly any opportunity I got to visit the station with him. Thank you Jeff and Joe!

Thanks to you and your Dad for these videos. He is incredibly knowledgable and it's very interesting to see the behind the scenes!

YES! Let's see more of this. I used to change bulbs in Phoenix, AZ on South Mountain the 70's. Short 400' Towers.

Love the technical details in your videos! Keep 'em coming!

Really interesting Thanks a million Jeff. Hope your Surgery goes well and wishing you a pain free and speedy recovery from the UK

Being a 'ham', I really appreciate these videos! Thank you.

Awesome video as always. I've tried (albeit not very hard) to fly drones on our tower sites and have not had much luck. My DJI Phantom wouldn't even get to a point that it was comfortable taking off so I'm very impressed you can fly in front of those roto-tillers without desensing the drone receiver. I think I did get another drone off the ground on a different site but the wind was too much for my skill (mountain top) and didn't even get close to the tower. Speaking of ice, we replace at least one yagi every year due to ice falling. We've even had a hole punched in the roof of our building in the tiny area that was not covered by the ice shield. The ice shield was super bent, it must have been a huge peice.

I really like the format of this video - the way you posed questions to your father and shared more detail on how a transmitter site worked. Thank you!

You guys are so great at this. Really appreciate you answering the questions. Hope you are feeling better Jeff. Dad, you did a great job !

I wish you the best on your recovery, Jeff. Videos like this are SUPER interesting. Well done.

Your video production: Aesthetically outstanding - the Hawk, the Butterfly, the Desk Fan. You and your Dad, a great team. Hope surgery was successful. The content of this and the previous video is impressive. Thanks to all the commenters of the first video and to you, Jeff for making this video to answer the questions.

THIS IS WONDERFUL! DAD AND SON... rapid fire questions at the dinner table... poor dad... I love these vids

Thank you for this (again) awesome video. Your father explains the workings in the most clear way I have ever experienced. Even our European DAB system (I live in the Netherlands🇳🇱) is clarified in an easily understandable way. One other difference with FM worth mentioning is the better audio Quality. I hope you and the people you love are fine. Stay safe!

Good luck with the surgery and have a swift recovery. Awesome video with soooo much new insights ❤️

Nice collaboration with your dad. Shared the video with some ham groups here in Portugal. Have a good recovery and good Christmas to all the family.

So very cool, by far the best series of videos that I've found on this subject. I hope the other ones keep coming.

LOVE your work! You Dad is last of the true engineering generation! Please keep these coming!! Wow!

Great video. Thanks for answering all those questions.

Very Informative Part 2. Lots of Great Questions. Your Dad is as Knowledgeable as Anyone we’ve been Lucky enough to hear Interviewed. Very Impressive. Thx!

Just saw this series. I love RF and mainly in the data transmission space but the explanation from the people that went through the old to the new is fantastic. Thanks to you and your dad, this itched a scratch I have wondered for years on how exactly high output towers worked.

One of the coolest videos I've seen this year! Yes, I was mesmerized by the scale of things, but also appreciated how the setup was very similar to ham station.

This is so awesome, thank you very much for these videos. My prayers and best wishes for a successful surgery and quick recovery.

Thank you for the cliff notes version. Amazing explanation of scientific technology/engineering that affects our everyday lives and is mostly taken for granted. Best outcome wishes on your surgery and merry Christmas and bright new year to your family.

Great video with lots of good information! An interesting look at what goes on under those tall towers. Thanks!

Absolutely love this stuff. Can't wait til the next video shows up. Hope you have a fast recovery from surgery. 👍

We Hope your Surgery was Successful and you’re on the Mend. This is a Subject that most people would never think was necessary to listen to a Radio. Thanks! 👍

The difference between coax and waveguide is coax carries an electrical current, while waveguide carries rf energy. Waveguide is usually only used when frequencies reach the gigahertz range. At that frequency, the smallest bit of unshielded conductor will act as an antenna and radiate all the energy. I worked in a satellite communications facility back in the 90's and all the transmitters operated at 4-6 Ghz (C-band) and 12-14 Ghz (Ku band). At those frequencies, waveguide was the only option. The transmitters used klystron tubes that created the rf energy directly, so essentially the transmitter was also the antenna.

Thank you for the tour. Can’t wait for the AM and TV tours!

Really enjoyed the video & looking forward to the AM one. Best of luck with the surgery!

You two are amazing! Hope you make a good recovery after your surgery! Good luck to both of y'all!!

Love your channel dude! Stuff is so interesting.

What an amazing set of videos, thank you for doing this. And glad your surgery went well

Hey! That was GREAT. I really enjoyed learning about radio towers and different types of equipment. ...and I had no idea that an AM radio tower carried the signal on the tower itself. I also didn't know anything about an RF burn. Ouch! Thanks for the great information and interesting video. I hope your surgery went well and you're on the road to a speedy recovery.

Awsome visit and explainations!! Thanks you! I subscribed!

Wishing you the best with your surgery. Thank you for the follow-up I love the series. It's interesting to hear the explanations and how the big boys do radio. I have been HAM operating for a few years and love all things electronics and radio.

What would we do without guys (engineers) like your dad. Super smart, easy going, nice to talk to even if asked dumb (to him) questions. Be sure to tell him how much we appreciate him.

This is such an excellent video. You explain lots of these technical details so very well. And the video photography is just awesome. I know a little bit about this topic and if I were teaching a class, this video would be required course material. It provides a wealth of information in an understandable manner. Loved the aircraft flying above the antenna during the discussion of radiation patterns!

Good to know we hams are loved 73s from OH3BPY

Absolutely great video and nice tour of the facility. Thank you so much for sharing. I am going to subscribe and will be expecting more! LoL! You asked great questions and your dad did a great job in answering those questions in layman terms. Thanks again and good luck with that surgery. I am so glad to have stumbled upon part 1 and followed up with part 2.... Now off to the low bands!

Great Video, work with cell sites and am a ham so it was really neat to see such a powerful site and the people and equipment that support it. Thanks for sharing

Hello you two, this is soooo interesting. Thank you for creating this content and letting us in on your dads work. 👍❤

Thank you for the video, I really like this kind of stuff. All the best for your surgery and a fast recover. See you in the next video.

Well done guys! I will be sharing this with my assistant I just brought on board. Thanks for the video and have a Blessed Christmas!

What an amazing tour. Your dad is one smart fellow.. Huge thanks for taking us along !

Hope all's well, Jeff! All the best to you and family this winter.

Endlessly fascinating, thank you for the detailed tour your dad is awesome.

Thank you so much for the more detailed follow-up!

I used to work at WXYZ AM radio in Detroit. The WXYZ TV tower was on the same property. The guy wires went over the parking lot. We had an ice storm. When the sun came out and warmed the guy wire, the ice would melt and release from the bottom up. There were cars that were impaled with icicles. There were also icicles impaled into asphalt parking lot.

Fascinating stuff. It makes me nostalgic for when I worked on RF gear in the Coast Guard. I had to manually tune antennas on some HF equipment by moving taps on a tuning inductor by hand. RF burns HURT! Great Video!

So much that parallels television broadcasting. My first TV station was in college, an ITFS station broadcasting at 2.5 GHz, but my first "real" TV station was a UHF station that used waveguides, and with 800 kW visual and 100 kW aural (both ERP), was close to that magic megawatt classification. But with 10 dB of antenna gain, the real output power numbers for the transmitters were 1/10th that. I like to explain antenna gain by comparing it to optics. On a sunny day, you can feel the heat of the sunlight, but with a lens you can focus it to set ants on fire. Antenna gain (and beam tilt) focuses the RF energy where there are receivers, so more of it goes where it is needed, and less goes to where nobody is receiving. The benefit is that it saves a lot of power. When your electric bill is $50,000 (yes, I really saw one like that), that 10 dB of antenna gain is saving nearly a half-million dollars a month! Add to that the cost of a megawatt backup generator vs. a 100 kW one, and how long you can stay on the air per tank of gas with each.

Wow, I'd love to see an entire in depth series on all the types of towers, including cell towers if you could get access to some! Keep it up!

Thanks so much for a really informative video. I'm in the UK, and yes, was still have analogue FM and AM radio stations. No, were not lagging behind the rest of Europe, millions of people still love old fashioned FM and AM! We have a full compliment of DAB and DAB+ stations, available everywhere, it's just that people still love the quality of FM and the nostalgia of AM! Yes, that day will come, but not too soon, I hope.

Great video! The site is fascinating, Geerling Sr. knows his stuff and is good at explaining it!

Very interesting and well done! Thank you!

Simply captivating walk thru, like wandering around Oz for us mere mortals, Thanks for the look, looking forward to the next tour.👏

Great video series! This stuff is super interesting.

That was absolutely fascinating! Thank you!

Thanks Jeff and Dad. Your content is always educational in a very digestible way. God work.

Excellent video, very informative.

Very well explained. If you do a Part 3 I would like to see one of these solid state RF transmitters taken apart so that we could see the out put transistors. [in the mid 1970's the UHF 2 way base stations had Transistors on the final output and some did last as long as tubes] Good lighting arrestors are very important. Our base station (on shared site) got hit one night. Our transmitter were tube type with fuses and survived. The mobile telephone system next door were not so lucky as the had some solid state and circuit breakers.

I love the rapport you have with Dad. Thank you so much for these tours. BTW.... @19:23 don't forget about us CBers:)

Fantastic video thanks for sharing. Hope your surgery goes well.

Love this series, can't wait for the AM tower video.

Great video - answers a lot of questions JR

Beautiful. Thank you for this effort. First class.

I subscribed. Back in 1993, I took one of those incandescent bulbs you showed, and replaced a working light on an AM tower. It was a fun experience. 202 foot tall. Very nice video, 2 thumbs up. 👍🏼👍🏼

Super interesting! Thank you for this video!

Best wishes with your surgery and recovery! Thank you for the content and Stay well :)

Awsome video!! I would love to see a TV station tour!