Cheneworth Gap Tower (8mm film)

Television came to Knoxville in 1953 and Dad bought a new 21-inch Bendix. But Beaver Ridge stood between our house and the transmitters only six miles away on Sharps Ridge so our reception was miserable.

Dad solved the problem by erecting an antenna in the top of a hickory tree at the very top of this ridge. As time went on, it evolved into this sixty-foot tower seen here sometime in the late 1960s. The apparatus required 860 feet of signal and rotor cable to connect it to the receiver below. We not only got the local channels, WSB in Atlanta was quite watchable.

I maintained the system until the spring of 1980 (five years after Dads death) when lightning struck a large pine tree that hit the guy wires and dropped the tower.

By that time we had cable.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• cheneworth
• antenna
• knoxville
• tennessee

[WearybottomAssociate]

I remember well climbing this tower. I didn't dare look down until I was safely at the top with an old over-sized leather belt around my waist and through one leg of the tower. I would rest for a few moments to become accustomed to the surroundings and then begin work on the antenna (or enjoying the view).

It was never a good idea to look at scudding clouds either. It gave the impression that the tower was falling.

[gingercady007]

Fantastic. Reminds me of a Walton's episode where Jim Bob built his own t.v & hung cable in the trees so he could watch John Boy on t.v. lol