AM/FM?

[guest]

What's the best way to tell an AM antenna from an FM antenna. I sure would hate to get Zapped.

C-YA

[guest]

1) AM antennas usually have nothing else on them, where FM (and TV) antennas have all kinds of other things (dishes, whips, etc) protruding from them.

2) AM antennas have large (usually cyclindrical, usually made of glass or porcelain) insulators at the base, to prevent them from arcing to the ground.

3) Virtually all antennas have an FCC identification number posted near the entrance to the compound they are in. You can search the FCC database (it's somewhere at FCC.gov--I'm not at home so I don't have the exact URL) with this number. The database will give you lots of information including the type of antenna (and its height).

I'd definitely recommend staying off anything you don't know about for sure.

Have fun, and don't get fried.

--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@ucdavis.edu

[guest]

AM antennas that have guy wires have a brake in each guy wire. They are usually near where the wire attaches to the ground. There is an insulated "thingy" that separates the "hot" side of the wire from the grounded side.