Back on December 10th (I remember this day well because I was on vacation and listening to Q106.5 while doing some Christmas shopping) we were suddenly knocked off the air. Without getting to technical, the line that runs from the transmitter building up the 1,000-ft tower to the actual antennas BURNED UP! We had to broadcast from our OLD tower (the original KRVR tower at Brady St. and Locust St. in Davenport) at a VERY LOW power. You could barely pick us up outside of the metro Quad Cities and, even in the city, it didn't sound good. Unfortunately, this "line" that burned up is expensive, it's custom made, and had to be special-ordered. Thankfully, we got it in mid-January and Mother Nature was relatively kind. Trust me, you don't want to climb up a 1,000-ft tower if the wind is howling and the snow flying!
That work was finally done, but then...we went off the air again. Upon inspection of the tower, we found there were some leaks in the seals in the actual antenna. This allowed water to get sucked in and sent down our brand new line! Again, I'm not an electrical engineer...but I'm pretty sure water and 100,000 watts of electricity don't mix.
Now, those antennas are in our garage and they're being cleaned, rebuilt, resealed, and SHOULD be back up on our tower by Wednesday or Thursday...with Mother Nature's help, of course. Here's what those antennas look like.
If you ever look up at one of those broadcast towers, you'll notice little antennas (they look kinda like a coat hook) coming off the antenna...sometimes there are up to 12 of them in a row. THOSE are the actual antennas that beam the broadcast to your radio.
On behalf of EVERYONE at Q106.5 and iHeartMedia...THANK YOU for your patience...we hope to be rockin' the Quad Cities, eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, in a few days...