Is there any copper left at California radio sites?

The CGC Communicator newsletter passes along word of a copper theft at KNWQ(AM) in North Cathedral City, Calif., near Palm Springs, which had a portion of its ground system stripped. It quoted Morris Communications DOE Jay White saying the company is even considering armed patrols between its four local sites, as well as other measures.

Separately, Barry O'Connor of KPSI(AM) in Palm Springs told the newsletter that all the copper at his four-tower transmitter plant disappeared just before the KNWQ incident. "At KPSI, it looked as if a vacuum cleaner with copper affinity had gone through the array," CGC wrote.

Broadcasters in various parts of the country have reported problems with copper theft due to the value of the material.

CGC recalls in an editorial that one Los Angeles AM station once designed a circuit that would set off an alarm in the studio when the copper wire was pulled up. "This was back in the days before alarm monitoring services were common. But the idea could be resurrected," CGC wrote.