Entry no.18 - History of Radio Broadcasting in Pretoria - Middle East area
Kalahari peak overlooks downtown LC and rises to an elevation of 536ft/163m ASL(above sea level) which makes it the second tallest point of elevation in LC, a mere 9 feet shorter than the nearby Drogo peak 545ft/166m. There is a private road that leads up to the top that locals like to frequent. Those that make the trek are greeted with a pleasant view of downtown LC and neighboring Cisco Bay.
The peak is located near the geographical center of the Middle East borough of Pretoria which makes it an idea location for broadcasting radio and TV transmissions. Though they can propagate through and around buildings and other solid objects to a certain extent, the VHF & UHF signals used to transmit radio & tv broadcasts are best received when they are in direct line-of-sight to the transmitter.
At the advent of radio communication on Azura in the late 1920's a small 150ft tall(not including the transmitters) radio tower was built on Kalahari peak in 1929. It was from here that the first radio transmissions were broadcast throughout the Middle East.
As seen in the image above, the old tower barely rose above the tree line. Yet despite appearances broadcasts from here provided very good coverage to the surrounding area thanks to the elevation of the peak and its central location. The only direction where transmissions are attenuated is north east towards a small section of Mayfield & Gravenhurst because of Drogo peak. The mast is owned by Global News Network(GNN) which leases out space on the tower for other radio & tv broadcasters to use. By the 1960's the mast was completely covered by these transmitters, though GNN of course reserved the highest transmitter for themselves.
Radio & TV Coverage area from the highest transmitter at GNN's old KP site - HAAT of 686ft /209m (ground elevation 502ft + transmitter height 184ft)
HAAT stands for Height Above Average Terrain. It's an important factor in calculating the range of a radio broadcast, even more so then power density. For simplicity and comparative purposes I use height above sea level(ASL) as the 'average terrain' through in real life this is not how its measured.
GNN owned the land on the peak and thus had a local monopoly as there are few sites nearby from which to broadcast from without having to build taller and therefor more expensive structures. An access road could not be built on Drogo peak to reach the top due to the steepness of the hillside and nearby Broadcast Hill(originally a nameless hill) was 200ft shorter in height. The site was originally accessed by Leaf Street which crossed over highway 700 in a small single lane bridge until the highway was expanded to accommodate 2 additional lanes. The abutments of the bridge stood in the way of the expansion and thus were removed.
The abandon section of Leaf St. seen in the foreground
As a result a new access road to the transmitter was built on the east side of Kalahari Peak to maintain site access while the Leaf st. bridge was torn down. Afterwards it was decided that rebuilding the bridge to reconnecting Leaf Street to the site was not necessary. However if traffic levels in the city continue to rise Leaf st. may one day be reconnected and extended all the way to Astal Rd. via Wandu St. to provide another east-west link through the city.
GNN did not face any local competition for 38 years until the Great Western Tower(GWT) in neighboring Cisco Bay was completed in 1967.
However the GWT was built primarily as an attraction to serve as a focal point for Cisco's Bay's transformation from an industrial town. It's use as a radio/tv transmitting site was a secondary function and indeed the site was far from ideal nor was the tower tall enough to provide the same level of coverage as GNN's KP site.
Radio & TV Coverage area from the highest transmitter at the GWT - HAAT of 560ft / 171m (ground elevation 41ft + transmitter height 519ft)
Comparison of coverage between GGN's KP site & the Great Western Tower
Where as transmissions from GNN's KP site were only slight blocked by Drogo peak, broadcasts from the GWT were blocked from reaching most of Lindin City by Kalahari peak.
It wasn't until the construction of the Broadcast Hill tower in 1984 that a true competitor emerged and GNN lost some of its leasing revenue as broadcasters switched over to taller tower which provided greater coverage.
Though even this tower suffered from some deficiencies in coverage as areas of downtown LC were blocked from direct line-of-sight coverage by Kalahari peak.
Radio & TV Coverage area from the highest transmitter at Broadcast Hill - HAAT of 998ft / 304m (ground elevation 368ft + transmitter height 630ft)
Comparison of coverage betwwen GNN's KP site and the Broadcast Hill site
More competitors have emerged in recent years. The most notably of these being PRPA(Pretoria Regional Power Authority) Hillsboro tower built in 2005(seen in Entry 2). While this tower was built primarily to transmit information via microwave frequencies there are a few VHF & UHF(tv & radio) transmitters as well. Though by this point in time income from leasing space on the tower comprised only a small portion of GNN's total revenue.
Radio & TV Coverage area from the highest transmitter at Hillsboro TS - HAAT of 785ft / 304m (ground elevation 229ft + transmitter height 556ft)
With the advent of digital television the early 2010's the government pushed broadcasters to convert their systems over from analog. It was determined a new tower needed to be built in the area to accommodate the digital broadcast equipment and transmitters. And so the new Kalahari Peak tower was built in 2015. The tower is a freestanding 433ft/132m truss tower of a candelabra design which allows for multiple transmitters at the top. It is the 4th tallest structure in the Middle East borough of Pretoria.
Most broadcasters have switched over to the new tower from the old and even a few from the Broadcast Hill(BH) tower. The structure is noticeably far more reinforced than the BH tower and can therefor have far more radio transmitters on it. Within a year the tower was entirely covered from top to bottom with them.
View of the new KP tower from its base
And from the old tower
Radio & TV Coverage area from the highest transmitter(s) at new KP tower - HAAT of 966ft / 294m (ground elevation 533ft + transmitter height 433ft)
Comparison of coverage from all major broadcasting sites in the Middle East borough.
As can be seen from the map above, broadcasts from the new KP tower have the best coverage area.
Of course what everyone really whats to see is how it looks up close in-game, yes?
I'm please to say this radio tower can now be downloaded off the exchange 
Closing out the entry, here's a couple of mosaic shots of the peak and city
and back
-
13
7 Comments
Recommended Comments
Sign In or register to comment...
To comment in reply, you must be a community member
Sign In
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowCreate an Account
Sign up to join our friendly community. It's easy!
Register a New Account