Vintage broadcast towers

[George Maier]

Ron:
I can't answer all of the questions, but I can fill in part of the
equation.  Prior to the availability of strobe lights the FAA required
seven bands of alternating paint colors, starting with International
Orange on the bottom, and alternating with white as you go up the
tower.  With seven color changes, both the bottom and the top were
orange.  The height of the color bands were simply the tower height
divided by seven.   What I don't know is when the practice was started,
but I'd guess it was in the 30's or 40's.
Vy 73
George Maier - K1GXT

Ron wrote:

> Does anyone have direct knowledge of how broadcast
> towers of the late 20's were painted?
> I'm helping a friend build a scale model of the 1927
> WBT transmitter site in Charlotte, NC. We know what
> the towers looked like and we have an artist drawing
> of the site plus the site plan of the transmitter site with
> the "new" towers and showing the location of the concrete
> piers that the 1927 towers were mounted on, these original
> piers are still there.
> We have not been able to find any original photos of these
> towers, only the artist drawing.
> What we really need to know is, were the towers back then
> painted red and white like they are now or was there a requirement
> for how they were painted at all.
> Also does anyone know when tower lights were first required?
>
> When we get the model finished I'll put some photos of it
> on the CC-AWA web page.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> 73,
>
> Ron
>
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> Ron Lawrence  K C 4 Y O Y
> CC-AWA Chapter President & Conference Chairman
>
> email: kc4yoy at trellis.net
> snail mail: POBox 3015
>                 Matthews, NC 28106
>
> Check out the CC-AWA web page at:
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>
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>
> Member of: AWA, CC-AWA, TCA, ARRL
>
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