The Armstrong Tower, also known as Alpine Tower, is a 129.5 meter (425 foot) tall lattice tower built and used by Edwin Armstrong in 1938 at Alpine, New Jersey, United States, at 40°57'39.0" N and 73°55'21.0" W (40.9607 -73.9225) for his transmission experiments that led to modern FM radio. The original transmissions occurred at 42.8 MHz. The tower is owned by Alpine Tower Company and is managed by CSC Management, LLC, both owned by Charles E. Sackermann, Jr.
The Armstrong Tower looks like a huge pylon with three crossbars and is now used for directional radio services (including as a cell site). It was also used as a temporary transmitter site for some of New York City's television stations and FM stations after the September 11, 2001 attacks and the collapse of the World Trade Center, including its transmitting antenna.
The tower still stands today, still in use, and is clearly visible from across the Hudson River.
At the base of the tower is a building originally used by Armstrong for research. It now serves as a museum and contains artifacts from the development of FM radio technology. The building still has the call sign of the original station written above the entrance, W2XMN.
The tower is used as a position point by aircraft flying the New York City Special Flight Rules Area.
Famous quotes containing the words armstrong and/or tower:
“There dwelt a man in faire Westmerland,
Jonnë Armestrong men did him call,
He had nither lands nor rents coming in,
Yet he kept eight score men in his hall.”
—Unknown. Johnie Armstrong (l. 1–4)
“The tower said, “One!”
And then a steeple.
They spoke to themselves....”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)