As the Raccoon Valley Radio tower project has continued, more changes have taken place. 

General Manager John McGee says the west radio tower was lifted off the ground approximately three inches to replace the insulator on the bottom of the tower. McGee says when the derecho came through last August, the insulator component was damaged.

“They brought a crane in and lifted the entire tower up about three inches so that they could slide out the old insulator, put a new insulator in and then set the tower back down without breaking the new insulator, kind of a balancing act as you could imagine.”

McGee says after the new insulator was placed, crews were able to climb the tower to remove the lighting and lighting controls off of the tower to align with Federal Communications Commission and Federal Aviation Administration standards.

“Where that helps us in the future is it’s less wind drag so if another storm would come through we wouldn’t have all of that wiring and that heavy light on top to potentially cause more damage again, as well as icing. So, in the winter time when the tower picks up ice on it, it helps protect it that way as well.”

As a reminder if there are on-air interruptions on 99.7FM KDLS,  you can always listen either on 1310AM KDLS, the KDLS app on your electronic device or streaming online at raccoonvalleyradio.com.