What happened to the Vista Ridge tunnel antenna

[bigpine320]

The Oregonian's Joseph Rose laments the lack of AM radio reception.  In the Vista ridge tunnels on US Highway 26. Between Downtown Portland and Canyon Road.  Does anyone remember the long radio antenna's in the tunnels?  Which were first install before the tunnels opened in 1968.

http://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/index.ssf/2014/05/joseph_rose_with_trail_blazers.html

Just west and outside of the tunnels along Sunset Highway.  There is also land base antenna.  For those who subscribe to satellite radio service.

[Jardine]

Tunnel management would have to negotiate retransmission agreements with the local radio stations.  Also, since the system is AM only, expect protracted litigation from the FM station owners from not being allowed equal access to the tunnel market.

Also, the retransmission agreements might get rather complicated as RIAA would have different rates for different songs and muscians, also, various talk shows would also have differing rates of compensation.

Tunnel management would also be subject to criticism, boycotts, and threats for carrying/not carrying religious programming of all stripes, and not guaranteeing equal access to political points of view on their system.

Also, not every car has a functional AM radio, and the tunnel is a public area, so they would have to provide radios to everyone who requested one.

The signals in the tunnel would need to be evaluated for safety, they could not interfere with any nearby facility (hospital, data network, communication link) and they would need to demonstrate the signals do not induce cancer with prolonged exposure.

If a driver were distracted by programming carried on the system while driving in the tunnel and caused damage or injury, the tunnel authority might be held liable for damages.  The legal ramifications and exposure to litigation could be significant.

It is also possible the tunnel authority would need to provide equal access to the system for various community groups to broadcast their messages.  Bandwidth could be an issue. 

The system would need to provide cellular service, data, and possibly video too.  If motorhomes are allowed in the tunnel, those with in-motion satellite service will need coverage too.








 

[nexus73]

Jardine, you cracked me up with that post...LOL!

Rick

[jakeroot]

Jardine, I think you just properly summed up the whole of the US domestic policy in one go.