Remembering the Takoma Park Tower, Broadcast System Strong at Arlington

The antenna at the former WGTS 91.9 studios on the campus of Washington Adventist University was dismantled earlier this year in February. This antenna system was constructed in 1965 after the station moved from the men’s dormitory into the General Services building. It was an upgrade from a 10-watt transmitter and a short antenna.

That upgrade consisted of a six-bay antenna with a 125-foot tower, and a transmitter, which generated 30,000 watts of power. Now the signal could reach beyond Takoma Park, Md., and into Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Baltimore to the north and Virginia to the south.

Joshua Pierce, WGTS 91.9 engineer; Kevin Krueger, president and CEO; and the tower climbing crew at the former WGTS 91.9 studios in Takoma Park, Md.

In 2004, WGTS moved the primary transmission location to a broadcast tower in Arlington, Va., with a power output of 23,500 watts, at a height of 696 feet. With the height increase and the new location, the listener base increased from 20,000 listeners to eventually, 500,000. Earlier this year, the Takoma Park transmitter and antennas were removed, and a backup transmission system was added at the Arlington site, allowing both the primary and backup systems to cover the entire metro region.

“As we give thanks for the many years of successful broadcasting at the transmission site in Takoma Park, Md., we think of the hundreds of staff members, and the many engineers who have built and maintained our broadcasting systems at this historic broadcast location for WGTS 91.9, says Kevin Krueger, president and CEO.