Radio of Joplin, MO. It is a classic country format. Transmitter was
located about 3 miles NW of Neosho, MO, or about 10 miles SE of Joplin,
MO. The tower is about 400feet tall, located along state route "NN",
near it's intersection with "Iris Road".
I was involved in a Skywarn amateur radio net when my assistant, Matt
Krueger called to say that KBTN was off the air, and he was on his way
to investigate. A long-track tornado had been on the ground for some
time, moving from northeast Oklahoma into southwest Missouri. Matt
called back to say that the KBTN transmitter building was demolished,
and the equipment was scattered across the adjacent field. The 16x20
pre-fabricated wood frame building is a type that's commonly used for
transmitter buildings in this area. It was completely destroyed. The
steel entry door hasn't been found yet.
The transmitter, a BE FM10T was tumbled into the adjacent field. It
was also pounded with baseball sized hail during the event.
The site was right in the path of the 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide tornado,
described as perhaps an F4. Homes and other buildings in the area were
also demolished.
The tower is still standing, and appears sound. The antennas and coax
look good, but there's no building or power on the site. The station
is currently off the air, and we're considering what we can do to get it
back on the air.
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