Los Angeles, il fuoco minaccia le antenne

Torno da un paio di giorni in Liguria dove ho trovato una Val di Vara letteralmente in fiamme. Sopra Mattarana, in località Ziona, dalle parti del Bracco, gli incendi boschivi, dolosi, hanno costretto all'intervento con Canadair ed elicotteri. Abbiamo seguito con una certa apprensione le loro evoluzioni nel cielo (l'acqua veniva caricata davanti a Deiva) e via radio, sintonizzandoci su una delle frequenze che vengono utilizzate per coordinare i lanci da terra, i 122,15 MHz.
Anche in California, a Mount Wilson, gli incendi stanno provocando grosse devastazioni. Si teme in particolare per la postazione da cui operano i tralicci di decine di stazioni radiofoniche FM (e qualche AM) e televisive. Per seguire visivamente l'assedio delle fiamme sul parco antenne californiano, potete puntare il browser su una Webcam del famoso osservatorio solare:

L.A.'s out-of-control fire threatens, radio, TV and other communications.

It's not just the 25 or so FM antennas or 22 TV signals up there on historic Mt. Wilson, along with the famed observatory. There's also the question of all the other communications facilities that connect radio, TV and various public service functions. Not to mention the thicket of cellphone facilities. And stuff like FBI, CIA and Secret Service communications networks. As I put this T-R-I to bed around 1am Eastern time this morning, the situation was still "Mt. Wilson threatened." But disaster seems imminent, and we'll cover the breaking news on the Radio-Info.com site during the day. AM stations shouldn't be affected nearly as much, unless they've got STL facilities. But almost all the bigger FMs are on Mt. Wilson. (Or "were" on Mt. Wilson.) TV stations are also in better shape than FM, since most Los Angelenos get their signals from cable or satellite. And of course now - unlike New York following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - there's Internet streaming and IPTV. If a lot of towers and antennas go down, there's likely to be an immediate drain on manpower and budgets felt by the radio groups. Stations in other west coast markets may find their own engineering projects delayed for want of manpower (a la Katrina). And how will Arbitron handle so many stations being off the air? The implications keep spreading. (da Taylor on Radio-Info)