I watched their documentary and they definitely aren't dumb, they probably studied the building for exploits for months or maybe years. It's actually a really good film "skywalkers a love story" on Netflix. They use drones to film and then break everything down into a methodical plan.
Chuck, hypothetically speaking, if you had to climb the spire without prior coordination how would you do it? I was thinking you could use a RF monitor and somehow alter the SWR (jumper cables?) to trigger the TX protections? Or would you be cooked just getting that close for a few seconds? On Thu, Jul 2, 2026, 6:39 AM Ken Hohhof <[email protected]> wrote: > You have to wonder, did the climbers know this? Both the danger, and the > safety protocol? Or were they just dumb but lucky? > > > > *From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *CBB - Jay Fuller > *Sent:* Thursday, July 2, 2026 8:28 AM > *To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] OT Empire state building > > > > > > Regarding the climbing of the tower on the empire state building today: > > > > The antennas were not fully live while the climbers were actually on them. > > > > As soon as the two daredevils (identified as Russian "rooftoppers" Angela > Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus) were spotted climbing the spire, the building > immediately triggered emergency safety protocols. > > > > Broadcasters quickly shifted their signals to backup auxiliary sites > (mostly located atop 4 Times Square, the Condé Nast Building) for about an > hour to avoid injuring or killing the climbers with extreme RF (radio > frequency) radiation. > > > > They returned to normal operations once the NYPD took the couple into > custody around 1:00 PM. > > > > What Stations Broadcast from Those Antennas? > > > > The Empire State Building is one of the most critical broadcast hubs in > North America. To reach the very peak where they unfurled their peace > banner and staged their marriage proposal, the couple had to scale directly > past equipment used by a massive lineup of New York City stations. > > > > > > > > The primary stations affected and forced to temporarily use backup > transmitters include: > > > > FM Radio Stations (The Master & "Mini" Master Antennas) > > > > The couple had to climb past the main master antenna—home to 15 major NYC > FM stations—as well as the "Mini" master antenna. > > > > Some of the most notable radio stations transmitting from the spire > include: > > > > WCBS (101.1 FM) > > > > WQHT (Hot 97.1 FM) > > > > WPLJ (95.5 FM) > > > > Plus over a dozen other major commercial FM stations covering the > tri-state area. > > > > Television Stations (VHF & DTV Master Antennas) > > > > They also scaled past the high-power digital and VHF television > transmitters, which include major local network anchors: > > > > WCBS-TV (CBS New York) > > > > WABC-TV (ABC 7) > > > > WPIX (PIX11) > > > > WXTV (Univision 41) > > > > WFUT (UniMás 68) > > > > The very top tip where they hung their banner was the old top-mount > master antenna, which historically serviced the analog signals for WNBC and > WNYW (Fox 5). > > > > > > > > Why Shutting Down Was Critical > > > > Broadcast engineers and former chiefs noted after the incident that > climbing a live master antenna array without specialized protection is > incredibly lethal. The sheer amount of concentrated electrical and > electromagnetic energy on the spire can cause massive internal RF burns to > human tissue within minutes. Broadcasters acted instantly to drop power and > reroute the market's airwaves until the NYPD Emergency Services Unit safely > escorted the couple down > > > > ----- Reply message ----- > From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > To: "AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group" <[email protected]> > Subject: [AFMUG] OT Empire state building > Date: Wed, Jul 1, 2026 2:28 PM > > > > How did those two climbers not get cooked by the bat wing tv transmission > antennas they had to climb. Say those were 25kW stations, they would have > over 1kV at the feed points. > > > > > -- > AF mailing list > [email protected] > http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com >
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