RIDE TO THE TOP OF A TV TOWER!

[epzik8]

I was not quite 2 months old when this video was recorded.

[neverlast15]

can't beileve its going to be 2012...... geez

[nessnes64]

Spit off the edge

[dieselducy]

WOAH!! I would love to ride this!!! I am big on elevators!

[red88ization]

not for all the tea in china

[hitmanhornster]

Thats awesome, good for jumping off!!!

[ericmarshall19]

i would die.

[jesseleonard12345]

i see i phone number 2:18

[rwundrock]

@jesseleonard12345 Yes, that phone number is actually on the channel 47 signal being broadcast on the adjoining tower. The TV signal was so strong at that level that it fed into the camcorder.

[TimR1992]

02:10 Epic radiation

[spuddapotato2494]

I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM THERE!!!!!

[ThePimpdaddy187]

is BASE jumping allowed?

[rwundrock]

@ThePimpdaddy187 Sure, accompanied by jail time.

[ThePimpdaddy187]

@rwundrock , yea i thought so...but only if you get caught.

[azynkron]

@rwundrock I thought you said you were living in a free country? 

[XinVinnie]

i think i would take a sniper rifle, some canned food and a tv with me up there and chill during the zombie appocalypse

[obxjeepguy]

Nice! The WUND tower here has a deck @ 1,250 feet. If I am not mistaken, the top of the antenna is at 1,650 feet. That one has an elevator as well.

[whitebus2012]

I think MY ears popped

[thepigeonsmustdie]

As if analogue existed in 1995... As if ears popped, way back in 1995...

Incredible view from the top, I work designing substations and have always wanted to go to the top of one of these towers... But Australia is far less selectice as far as height of our awesome towers goes...

Btw, i'm not taking the piss. I was born in 1984, I do actually remember 1995... :D good ol days before I had to work :)

[killyoubitch27]

july 8th is my B-day

[slauretic]

LOL Call me crazy but every time time I drive past this tower (which is almost every day) I keep telling my self someday I will go to the top of that tower or at least I would like to!!! Maybe someday I will.... Hopefully

[M1sterHamilton]

there was no glass on the elevator was there? it was just a little box you stand on in the open air or what?

[rwundrock]

@M1sterHamilton Yes, no glass, just a little cage for climbers (capacity-2) to ride in as they go up the tower. Elevators such as this are common in tall towers.

[neonsunxx]

Uhm, This instantly came to my mind after being in a elevator that fell and got stuck a few feet below the floor, but how would you get out of there if it got stuck?

[lucas20057]

There is NO WAY in this world I would of made it pass the first stop on the tower. my words would of been "thanks for the ride,stop here im done",

im watchin this video on a 50 inch LCD tv and im freaking out ... lol....Thanks for the share :)

[tetekofa]

I found it very interesting that the TV transmission appeared on your cam, how is that?

That was some serious radiation you just passed though.

[rwundrock]

@tetekofa This is because the electronics in the camcorder demodulated the analog TV signal. This would not work anymore because there are only digital TV signals transmitted.

[bartolemeo]

Amazing ride.

[neosho53059]

where is this located???

[rwundrock]

@neosho53059 On the west side of Madison near Menards.

[CuzPBz]

not very windy ay or u got a good camera,, nice video

[lulem400]

you could make some dough takin base jumpers up there!!!

[rwundrock]

@lulem400 I wouldn't contribute to insanity.

[lulem400]

@rwundrock hah - i would shit my pants if i went up there

[harryshissler]

@lulem400 Yeah, right into the power lines below or the support cables.

[LIGHTRONIX]

the elevator doesn't go all the way up. you have climb another 100 feet on a ladder to get to the top.

[CoolZzzzz53]

@LIGHTRONIX Yeah that is on the antenna

[lukosrage]

great video!

[lukpac]

Am I correct that the 1,000 ft WMSN tower was not temporary itself, but was previously existing and had a temporary *antenna* on it, because the primary antenna was moved to the new tower? Or was the entire tower actually temporary?

[rwundrock]

@lukpac The WMSN 1000 foot tower was built as a "temporary" tower even though it stood for many years. It had a standard antenna on top until the new tower was built. It then had a temporary antenna when the top-mounted antenna was moved to the new tower.

[lukpac]

@rwundrock Ah ok, thanks. I rolled into town a few years later. Where did WMSN broadcast from prior to the community tower and the temporary tower?

[rwundrock]

@lukpac The "temporary" WMSN tower is the only one they ever had before the Madison Community Tower. Here's their history:

en (dot) wikipedia (dot) org/wiki/WMSN-TV

[lukpac]

@rwundrock Not to belabor this too much, but the "temporary" tower was used for ~9 years then? According to Wikipedia, they signed on in 1986, and the community tower went live in 1995.

[rwundrock]

@lukpac

Exactly

[phd5]

My ears popped just watching this video o.o

[FFbosmoe]

I'm crappin my pants and I'm watching this on a Monitor. Hey I have a relative who is an engineer down in Verona, I was just down there for a wedding a couple weeks back. Nice area.

[TheGoldenSphinx]

Cool, what a view! :)

[straightedger9]

Holy crap!!

[phardcare]

i feel ill just watching i and climb towers

[cowbells4u]

I never knew these towers had elevaters, thought you had to have BIG BALLS and climb up these things...But it does make since to have an elevator!!

[ThomasJAckerman]

@cowbells4u You want to see balls? Watch v=uhtgsAXmz7U. The elevator only takes you up to about 1600 feet -- the rest you climb.

Usually WITHOUT safety equipment.

[spuddapotato2494]

i thought for a minute, what hick state are these people in??? turns out it was my own... damn...

[GanEdenAustralia]

Offer to buy it!

[1DanielChristensen]

I've sent emails and gotten a couple numbers; one is a Sherrif number but I guess this is through the town that way so. I contacted at least three people.

[JaReD123RoX]

i based jumped that going

[Gymmarn]

My friend here in Sweden works in these towers. They have to climb the last 100m on a ladder though to get to the top.

[inexadra]

Hey thanks for the really, really awesome video! I am a Madisonian and I remember watching this tower's construction. Ever since I was a wee tyke I've been looking up at the tops of the TV towers on the west side of our city wondering about the view from up there. I finally have my answer! It's also really neat to see the outskirts of town as they looked in '95, prior to the massive sprawl over the past 15 years. Thanks so much!

[RT038]

was the tv  tower transmiting rf radaition

[rwundrock]

No, but the shorter tower next to it was.

[DIME10CENTS]

i'd love to skydive from there

[pimpxx121]

its basejumping

[VIC4SALE]

you'd probably hit a guy wire.

[AOnTheWeb]

that would be scary but a great thrill.

[theohaigy]

I feel ill just watching it!

[Polybun]

hahah, i love how you can hear the verticle sweep buzz on ocasion.

I suppose with digital that will be a thing of the past.

[jeffpicks]

Dood, just how big ARE your balls? Grapefruits? Watermelons? bigger? Do they get bigger the higher up you go from the lack of pressure? They must... I'd a been at the 100' level cryin' like a baby, "GO BACK ! LET ME DOWN !!!" power to ya brotha...

[38Squid]

You lucky $&#$ how did you manage that? I bet you steralized yourself with radiation though. Thanks for posting.

[rwundrock]

I had an opportunity to ride to the top of this tower but declined. The video was taken by another person in the Madison engineering community.

[scnightsky]

that is just crazy!!

[Grillzor]

Great Video! I would love to go to the top of a TV Tower. What would this type of job be called?

[rwundrock]

The guys who erect and maintain towers are called "tower riggers."

[petermines]

Aerial rigging isnot all it's cracked up to be. Very unforgiving in the winter months and not much better in summer.

It's worth pointing out that this is a mast because it is guyed. Towers are tapered and self supporting on four legs.

[HansNien]

Thank you very much for sharing.

Usually we only see radio towers from the ground. Now we can see the ground from the top of a radio tower. Nice to see how the tower is constructed. My resprect for the people who built and maintaining this towers.

I'm from Holland and here the "strobe lights" at the big (>800Ft) radio towers are always red and never flashing. But in Denmark and Sweden they are white, like America. Should the red color over here also be a requirement of the government?

[rwundrock]

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) sets the rules under which towers must be lighted.

White strobes are primarily used during the day in place of painting a tower with red and white bands. Some towers use white strobes 24 hours/day. Red lights are used at night. Some towers have a dual system with strobes during the day and red at night.

[weeardguy]

@HansNien Here in the Netherlands it has something to do with the distance to aviation routes, and the height of the object: there are two buildings near Shiphol that have to powerfull white strobes, while the tower at IJsselstein has a red lamp. The Rembranttower (near station Amsterdam Amstel) has a white strobe.

[andrewbarrett42]

That looks higher than 1390ft.

[WARD5KUSTOMZ]

how big are them lights?

[ThorpeParkNewCoaster]

Shitttt WoW !!

[icpfan19]

wat does the strob lights do and wats the meaning of it

[rwundrock]

The strobe lights on this tower are multiple levels of white flashing lights which blink during daylight hours. In the dark hours the tower has blinking red lights.

Lights and painting of towers are a requirement of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and is done to protect aircraft.

[icpfan19]

THANKS

[Cropdster]

The radio Station I work for is on a 1820 ft tower in Nebraska

[CrazyTowerMatt]

wheres you RF monitors. You're lit up like a lightbulb about halfway though the video.

[rwundrock]

The temporary WMSN-TV antenna was radiating well below its rated ERP at the time the guys shot the video. There was no other radiating element on the adjacent tower or on the new tower at that time.

[hafd107]

your getting a TON of RF radiation being on that tower!!! not good!

[rwundrock]

The only radiation the guys in the elevator got was when they temporarily went through the aperture of the antenna on the nearby tower (you can hear the "buzz" on the video). There was nothing active on the new tower yet on that date.

I was not with them.

[TheNethero]

Can you imagine having to climb up the ladder just to fix the antenna on a day when the elvator wasn't working?

And when you wer up there I was thinking. 'Drop the camera and see how long it takes to get to the bottom' LOL

[GravityJMB]

That was nauseatingly fun to watch. I could never do it. When that elevator jolted to a stop -- "Top Floor!" Hahaha.. yeah, right! I'd be in the corner trying not to pass out.

[rwundrock]

Yep, feel the same. I turned down a couple offers to ride up the tower when it was built.

[pete359l]

That is a TALL son of a bitch!!!!

[graveforensics]

Great vid lads, keep up the good work.

[mmmbad]

Great video - thanks for sharing!

[jvolstad]

Do they cut off the transmitter before reaching the top? What type of antenna are they using and what gain?

[rwundrock]

The high power TV transmissions are shut off if work is neeeded to be done on the top of the tower.

However, at the time this was taped, nothing was active on the new tower. The 1000 foot tower next to it was broadcasting channel 47 on low power. You can hear the buzz in the audio as they pass the antenna.

[jaa93997]

correct. if the transmitter was on, you´dbe toasted at 400 ft

[boxa888]

i dont understand why you would get "toasted" by a tower like this your not even grounded to earth or electrical circuitry. help me understand the safety aspects of these towers please. thanks for this awesome video!! its radio waves right, or is it microwaves?

[rwundrock]

This tower supports many antennas emitting various frequencies and power levels of RF (radio frequency). Some levels, from primarily FM and TV antennas emit enough power to be dangerous to living beings close to them. Tower climbers regularly wear RF level devices to warn them when they are near a high RF source.

Most tower operators will reduce RF power or shut it off completely when the climber is near an antenna.

[Polybun]

ground has nothing to do with it when it comes to radiated energy. It is nothing like electrical shock, its more like exposure to, well, radiation. Do you need to be grounded to get a sun burn? NO. dumbass.

The body absorbs different frequencies at different rates. Some frequencies of radio are absorbed readily, and therfore pose a risk at even modest power levels, let alone powerfull commercial transmission levels.

[jb5672]

Does the tower have any sway at the top. Is that a cable elevator.

[rwundrock]

All towers flex some in the wind. The elevator does run on cables.

[dunker2005]

im a tower climber for a internet company and on a average i climb 400feet or so i would love to climb this baby screw the elavator that takes the fun out of it lol

[rwundrock]

The tower owner has very strict rules on tower climbing. 20 feet off the ground would be high enough for me.

[dunker2005]

has anybody taken the ladder all the way up,and is this the tallest tower in the u.s?

[rwundrock]

There are 2000-footers in the US. This one is only the third tallest in Wisconsin.

I doubt that anyone has climbed the Madison tower since it was constructed in 1995.

[IQ136]

Our tallest USA tower should be the Blanchard, North Dakota one at 2,063 feet tall.

[icpfan19]

those cars look like ants

[IQ136]

Mount Everest is 29,035 feet high, and this is 1390 feet, plus the elevation west of Madison, about 863 feet or so, making it about 2253 feet. I am at 6066 feet above sea level at my apartment in Cheyenne. I have been to the top of Pikes Peak twice, at 14,115 feet (but I can't go back with my health!).

[fungasuta]

wow that's as high as mount Everest. I know because I climbed it...

[rwundrock]

Mt. Everest ain't 12 feet wide!

[scotsmanlerxt]

All towers that tall should have elevators! I'm glad you were there so I can watch this clip from my home. Damn!

[bludwurm]

Try climbing it next time!