Removing an antenna from Sears Tower

[DonRotolo]

I guess a fear of heights is not in their vocabulary.

Clipped on or not, you need an awful lot of faith to do that.

Thanks for the clip Al, very cool.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Yes, others will call it the Willis Tower, however, old habits die hard. I have been working in the Sear's Tower since 1975.
Everyone had to shutdown, radio stations included. ERP for single UHF digital stations is pretty high. We make about 15 kW to a 15dB gain antenna, so with losses in the feed line we are making nearly 150kW ERP. Most of the TV stations and FM stations are now on the Tower as the Hancock Center jacked rent a few years ago which got everyone to move. WLS as well as WBBM, maintain backup transmitters at Hancock so WLS broadcast the removal live. We had to shut down WFMT as well for the work. Leading up to the removal, many broadcasters also had to switch to standby antennas for several nights while other work was performed. The 4 MW ERP total number seems about right. In the analog world, UHF stations having ERP of a couple of MW was not unheard of. Of course, altitude of the antenna figures into the calculations.

[avanboekel]

Really cool video Al! I was downtown at the sox game earlier that day. Unfortunately they took it down well after the game ended. There was a perfect view of the tower from the top of the stadium.

[Dustin Shadbolt]

I've been up in the Sears tower a lot and still get a little freaked out from the view. I couldn't imagine going all the way up there and doing that. Great clip!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I should have mentioned that the date had been pushed back several times due to winds aloft. The new antenna won't go up until after the Olympics as the local NBC station doesn't want to shut down during that period.

[Bob Bonczyk]

Watching this video really makes me like m
y job on the GROUND!

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Bob,
On a clear day I can see your house.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Here is a link to the ABC website for the install of the new antenna. There are several short videos on the site showing various angles including one on the antenna and one helmet cam. The winds aloft picked up during the lift so it took a little longer than expected. It was going to be a two piece lift but since it took so long the helicopter had to go back to Midway Airport to refuel.
You will hear some of the reports talking about the "wedding cake". This was the first piece of the structure to secure the base to the top of the tower. That custom made piece was 4000 lbs. You can imagine an upside down cake when you look at it.
There are several videos on the page in this link. Kal Hassen is the Director of Engineering for WLS, a great guy and has been a standard in Chicago broadcasting for many years.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...ion&id=8837352

BTW, today was an interesting day for weather up high in Chicago. I will post some pictures when I get them transferred.

[NXTGeek]

Ha! What those guys did is nothing! I almost watched the WHOLE video...