We have had problems this year with what is called an STL (Studio Transmitter Link) antenna. These antennas are used to relay signals from our studios to our several broadcast transmitter sites for broadcast over the air to you. Unfortunately our antenna site for WYTL Wyomissing involves a tower with many antennas installed on it, including The Word FM antenna and two of our associated STL antennas at that location. Because the tower is so heavily loaded, we had to install an STL antenna there that is lightweight, but not as resistant to ice buildup. When the ice builds up on that antenna, it “weakens” the incoming signal from the studio to the point that it becomes unusable. This affects WYTL and because the signal is also sent to WZXQ Chambersburg and WZXM Harrisburg from this tower location, both also lose signal. This year has seen an unusual amount of ice storms. Snowstorms do not affect it because the snow falls off the antenna whereas ice sticks to it and builds up. The problem only clears up when the ice melts from the antenna.

The good news is that we plan to move the WYTL transmitter to a different location which frees up space on the existing tower for a much better STL antenna that will not be affected by ice storms. Until then we have to deal with the situation the best we can. The current tower location is on top of a mountain. During these storms, the access road up the mountain and the tower structure become “encased” in ice making climbing the tower impossible. This prevents us from removing the ice from the antenna.