WQED-FM Tower Climbers

My favorite radio station is WQED-FM, a classical music channel. Normally I listen for a couple of hours each day.

But WQED has been off the air for weeks due to technical problems. Now a “tower crew” is preparing to climb hundreds of feet up the antenna tower in the middle of a Pittsburgh winter to make repairs. You can read about that by following the link above.

The tower is on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Pandemic-sequestered Pitt students can take a break from their studies (if they are studying) to gawk at the tower climbers doing their dangerous task. 

 In the meantime, I am listening to WQED's internet stream. But it’s not the same as listening in HD radio format. WQED normally broadcasts two HD subchannels. I have an old Sony XDR F1HD tuner that does a great job of pulling in both of them.

 This is the sort of thing that takes on great significance when you’re stuck in the house for a nine-month pandemic, like Eskimos huddled in our igloo, waiting for winter to be over. But winter has just begun.

Sony has discontinued production of the XDR F1HD tuner, but used units are easy to find on the Internet. It's a component that connects to your stereo or AV receiver.