Alabama Radio Station Owner Reports 200-Foot Tower Stolen

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Alabama Radio Station Owner Reports 200-Foot Tower Stolen

Less than one month after an Oklahoma FM tower was toppled to loot for copper wire and tubing, an Alabama station owner is reporting an even more shocking story – his entire 200-foot tower was stolen.

Brett Elmore, who owns WJLX in Jasper, posted news of the theft on social media.

The incident was discovered early in the morning by a landscaping crew tasked with cleaning the Walker County property in preparation for further work. Upon arrival, they found the tower site’s building vandalized and the towering structure completely missing, having had its guy wires cut and the entire frame removed from the premises.

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Two Arrested after Theft of Copper from Destroyed Radio Tower

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Two people have been arrested in Texas in connection with the recent theft of copper from a radio tower in Hugo, Oklahoma last month. The Choctaw County Sheriff said that the two were identified by scrap yard employees in Paris, Texas, where one day after the 15th January incident, they tried to sell copper wiring from the coax line. Authorities said that Payne Media Group, the broadcast station's owner, was contacted and confirmed that the copper had come from the tower for KITX, a 50,000-watt station serving southeast Oklahoma and northeast Texas. Paris, Texas, is one of the communities in the station's coverage area.

The station has been live streaming and operating with limited broadcast range following the destruction of the tower. Its guy wires had been cut and its backup generator also was destroyed.

The First Amateur Radio Station on the Moon, JS1YMG, is Now Transmitting

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The First Amateur Radio Station on the Moon, JS1YMG, is Now Transmitting

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully landed their Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on 19th January 2024. Just before touchdown, SLIM released two small lunar surface probes, LEV-1 and LEV-2.

LEV-2 collects data while moving on the lunar surface, and LEV-1 receives the data.

The JAXA Ham Radio Club (JHRC), JQ1ZVI, secured amateur radio license JS1YMG for LEV-1, which has been transmitting Morse code on 437.41 MHz since 19th January 2024. The probe uses a 1 W UHF antenna with circular polarization and is transmitting "matters related to amateur business."

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