Q: What is the tall tower structure next to the U-M Transportation Facility near the corner of Baxter Rd. and Dean Rd.?
A: There is a utility shed at the base of the tower, and a sign on it has the ominous message “Radio frequency fields beyond this point may exceed the FCC general public exposure limit.”
“The structure was built in the 1980s as part of the first university-owned telephone system,” emails U-M spokesperson Kay Jarvis. “Today, the antennae support radio communications that might be used in emergencies.”
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Calls & Letters: WCBN broadcasts from U-M tower
“You probably have already received a bunch of emails about this,” Zach Wilkinson emailed, “but in regards to the Question Corner in the January issue, the communications tower on North Campus is probably now best known for hosting the transmitter for WCBN,” the U-M’s free-form student radio station.
The station’s chief engineer, Jim Campbell, corroborates: “It is a U-M tower that hosts a number of services, such as the public safety repeater, and University data links,” he emails. “WCBN had broadcast from atop what is now Weiser Hall, then became a tower tenant about 8 years ago when we increased our transmitter power from 200 Watts to about 1400 Watts. The tower also has a WUOM backup studio transmitter link, should the primary, internet-based WUOM transmitter fail.”
