The antenna immediately beneath channel 9 belongs exclusively to CBC Radio 1, 99.1 FM. There doesn't appear to be enough room to move the gin pole through there. It will be interesting to see what they do to the CBC Radio 1 antenna. My guess is, they will start removing some bays immediately.

Tanker - thanks for the photographic update - wish I was there to see it in person. I agree with Mike FM - looks very difficult to move the old TV antenna without moving some CBC Radio 1 antennas. They were placed there because of the unwanted harmonics generated via the combiners that feed the lower FM arrays. Hence - Radio 1 was unable to share the other antennas.

Billsmith -- visited again this morning. There's still workers at ground. I was away for 4 days so missed the installation of the gin pole (temporary yellow structure). I see some sort of basket suspended from a pulley.

I can zoom in and post in greater detail, if anyone will specify areas of interest.

I took this south of the installation, looking north. I have another shot taken from the east (looking west) that gives a different perspective of the many antennae on this tower.



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Tanker - Great shot - Thanks - could you possibly get a couple of shots taken from the east or west sides of the tower to show the work between the Gin pole and the mast? I will be interested to see how they go about removing the old antenna. The maneouvre to get the gin pole in there must have been somewhat surgical in nature with all of the antennas around it!

Thanks again Tanker!

Billsmith --- Dang; missed the removal of the old mast; these 2 shots taken 5 hours ago, Wed 14th Aug; first one (again) from the south fence looking north. The other is from 85th street looking west. Figure I'd have to pitch a tent in the area to catch the installation of the new antenna. Or, a good 20X pair of binoculars and I could check from my living room, then hop in the car

The basket/platform is now on the ground; the white cable from the pulley on top of the gin pole (2nd pic) is slack and is still attached to the basket (the grass is too high to get much detail).

Strange -- our Channel 9 CBC TV reception is not affected, and FM 99.1 is still on the air.





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Tanker - great work! Please note that the channel 9 signal that you are receiving is really Virtual Channel 9.1 and the real frequency is that of Channel 21 which comes from a much smaller UHF antenna mounted lower down the same mast! Also - you probably are receiving 99.1 at much reduced power while there is activity on the mast. Ofcourse you would not notice unless you were measuring the signal strength on 99.1 Mhz.

Can you please see where the old antenna went and take fresh pictures of the new UHF panel antennas as they rise up the cable to the top of the mast? Maybe your camping idea is the only way? Hahaha!

Thanks again!

Thanks for the informative pics and status update.
So if it has taken 2 weeks to remove the old antenna, do you think another 2 weeks for installation of the new one and then another week for testing? That would make it fully operational after the September long weeked?
Thanks.

Got lucky -- At 10 am this morning, decided to go to the site to see what was happening. Upon arrival I could see the lower (?) section rising slowly. By the time I parked the car, it was already 90% up the tower (pic 1). Second shot shows nearing the top (both shots looking north). 3rd shot (looking west) shows it in place. I can make out 3 workers up there. A slight breeze began a bit before the end of placement. Right now, the tower is shorter than what they removed. Is there another [red ?] mast that wil bolt on to the top flange ?

Billsmith -- the site entrance gate is off Old Banff Coach Road, and although it was open, there was a warning sign about EMF radiation -- do not enter. So I doubt I'll be able to get any pics of old masts.

In all, I took about 10 pics with my digital (3 attached below), and another 6 with my 35mm zoom; the latter should be sharper, and I'll post after getting the film developed and scanned, if they're any good.







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Tanker - Great job!!

The white cylinder in your shots is the lower half of the new UHF antenna array. It was placed into position in your final picture. What needs to happen is that the new upper cylinder needs to be raised and placed on top of the lower half. I don't know whether it will be red or white but if it isn't already there, it will soon be. Perhaps you can observe any movements from your residence again and then smartly nip around with your camera?

Nice job and thanks!

Billsmith -- I visited site on morning of 18th Aug, and found the upper red cylinder was already in place. Probably done on the 17th. The gin pole still there, but can't tell from my living room if it has been removed today (Aug 20th).

This pic taken from south of tower. What's the next steps ?.. to install the elements ?



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Hardline on the back of the antenna I do believe.
It would look something like this: http://www.jampro.com/uploads/produc...Literature.pdf

Really great pictures, tanker.

Tanker - the antenna looks pretty much complete. As Mike FM's link
shows - the Antenna is a Jampro Slot antenna and so is set up for horizontal polarization and is enclosed in a Radome - probably sealed from the outside.
It remains to be seen how the RF connections will be finally made but usually, this is done from down below. Maybe there will be a hardline as Mike FM indicates?

Great Job - Tanker!

Billsmith & MikeFM --- checked by today (Wed 21st) and they've added more stuff. These modifications are very interesting to me -- a retired chemical engineer with no expertise in transmission, except that I believe in OTA television.

Still 3 workers up there; it's very quiet in the Wentworth neighbourhood, and you can hear them talking to each other, although difficult to make out what is being said. These cropped / telephoto shots do not convey the scale adequately. You could stare at the top of the tower with the naked eye for minutes before realizing those moving "specks" were human beings. I hope they're getting "danger pay".

The gin pole is gone, and they seem to have added some of the components mentioned in the Jampro link. The basket is being used again.

First pic is from the south of the tower (looking north). Then I move clockwise (bit west of south, then from west, then from east).

Hope I'm not boring you guys with the photos. How will you be able to tell when they throw the switch on the new installation ?









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Yes - the antenna form of the Jampro link passed by Mike FM is now taking shape. I am personally more familiar with the panel type antenna so frequently used.

Tanker - I beleive that the hardline (the white strip) at the back of the antenna carries the RF to the various parts
of the antenna and distributes it in an impedence matched manner to each port. The RF travels through the ports to the individual elements mounted around the perifery of the Radome. These elements form slots within the outer part of the perifery of the Radome. From there RF is radiated in the required field pattern dictated by the overall antenna design. I suspect that the Heliax coaxial feedline is connected to the base of this "white strip". The white strip is infact a waveguide with takeoff points for the RF. Does this make sense? Any comments Mike FM?

Very interesting - Good pictures yet again! Thank you!

Tanker: You are not boring anyone. Fascinating photos. Please keep them coming
And thanks to our resident RF experts for explaining what we are seeing.
It is really cool to "see" this sort of transformation documented in this fashion.
Thanks all for sharing!