Talk:Blaw-Knox tower

Comment
Blaw-Knox made many different kinds of towers; not all of them were diamond-shaped. The following are the remaining diamonds known to exist and believed to have been manufactured and erected by Blaw-Knox:


 * WFEA (130 Manchester, N.H.): one of two in array (second tower is a flagpole)
 * WBNS (1460 Columbus, Ohio): day tower
 * WLW (700 Cincinnati, Ohio): main tower (backup is newer and of conventional construction)
 * WSM (650 Nashville, Tenn.): like WLW (they were built consecutively, by the same crew)
 * WBT (1110 Charlotte, N.C.): only one of the three towers is an original; the other two are reproductions from the original drawings after the originals were blown down in a hurricane


 * 18.26.0.18 21:47, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

Radio Telescope
An 85 foot Radio Telescope was designed by Blaw-Knox Company in 1961/2 for Harvard University. This telescope was installed in Hartebeesthoek in South Africa to form part of the original NASA programme, NASA pulled out of South Africa in 1975 and the South African Governement kept the telescope running until the 3 October 2008. We urgently need to contact Blaw-Knox in Pittsburgh to see if any of these original drawings are available.

Contact: Cliff Eland  www.sa.celand@hatch.co.za or tel +27 11 239 5352  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.22.209.243 (talk) 08:13, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

Radiator?
Looking closely at the Blaw-Knox structure photos on the main page, I do not see (possibly too small) any cables. Surely it isn't the structure itself that is the radiating element? Is it a cable suspended in the middle of the tower fed from the bottom? What a wonderful tower! So aesthetically appealing!

Cornelius Murphy (talk) 02:13, 12 March 2011 (UTC)


 * The structure itself most certainly is the radiator; all the ones I've seen (all of the extant U.S. ones mentioned in the article) are bog-standard insulated-base, series-fed antennas. 121a0012 (talk) 03:11, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

European examples
Is there any documentation that any of the European examples were actually built by the Blaw-Knox company? 121a0012 (talk) 16:04, 10 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Yes, there is -- see below. 121a0012 (talk) 01:19, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

1935 advertisement
Blaw-Knox placed an advertisement in the 1935 Broadcasting Yearbook advertising their "Guyed Type" and "Self-Supporting (Rigid) Type" "VERTICAL RADIATORS". They state that "Blaw-Knox Vertical Radiators are available in all heights from 79 ft. to 1050 ft." At that time, the company's address was 2038 Farmers Bank Building, Pittsburgh. The ad appears on page 210, and also gives a list of customers, which I transcribe below. No indication is given as to the significance of the order in which customers were listed, if there is any.


 * These Stations Use BLAW-KNOX VERTICAL RADIATORS for increased efficiency
 * WAAB—WNAC Squantum, Mass.
 * WABC Wayne, N. J.
 * WFEA Manchester, N. H.
 * WCAU Philadelphia, Pa.
 * WSM Nashville, Tenn.
 * WLW Cincinnati, Ohio
 * WNEW Carlstadt, N. J.
 * WBNS Columbus, O.
 * Budapest, Hungary
 * Vienna, Austria
 * WJR Detroit, Mich.
 * WHO Des Moines, Iowa
 * WBT Charlotte, N. C.
 * “El Mundo” Buenos Aires, Argentina
 * WJBO Baton Rouge, La.
 * KMBC Kansas City, Mo.
 * KSO Des Moines, Iowa
 * WHN New York, N. Y.
 * WKRC Cincinnati, Ohio
 * WAVE Louisville, Ky.
 * WIND Gary, Indiana
 * WIL St. Louis, Mo.
 * CKTB St. Catharines, Canada
 * Brazil Journal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 * Radio Diffusora, Sao Paulo, Brazil
 * WPEN—WRAX Philadelphia, Pa.
 * WPRO, Providence, R. I.
 * WNEL, San Juan, Porto Rico
 * WTCN Minneapolis, Minn.
 * KGER Long Beach, Calif.
 * WFBR Baltimore, Md.
 * WBIG Greensboro, N. C.
 * KWKH Shreveport, La.
 * W1XBS Waterbury, Conn.
 * WOR Carteret, N. J.
 * CKY Winnipeg, Canada
 * WORK York, Pa.
 * WQAM Miami, Florida
 * WIBW Topeka, Kansas
 * CHNS Halifax, Nova Scotia
 * WMAZ Macon, Ga.
 * WSPD Toledo, Ohio
 * KTUL Tulsa, Oklahoma
 * WCFL Chicago, Ill.
 * CKLW Windsor, Ontario
 * call sign missing Kansas City, Mo.
 * WPPM (Police) Birmingham, Ala.
 * WPFO (Police) Knoxville, Tenn.
 * WPGS (Police) Mineola, L.I.
 * KGZX (Police) Albuquerque, N. Mex.
 * KGPB (Police) Minneapolis, Minn.
 * WPGL (Police) Binghamton, N. Y.
 * WPGH (Police) Albany, N. Y.
 * KGHX (Police) Santa Ana, Calif.
 * WPDY (Police) Atlanta, Ga.
 * KNFE (Police) Duluth, Minn.
 * U. S. Government, Kansas City, Mo.
 * U. S. Dept. of Commerce, 352 Radiators at Various Locations
 * 121a0012 (talk) 01:55, 24 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Note on rights: this advertisement was published without a copyright notice in the United States in 1935 and is therefore in the public domain under U.S. law. 121a0012 (talk) 02:06, 24 July 2011 (UTC)