A tower housing KNSJ (FM) 89.1 MHz and other communications antennas toppled at approximately 10:00 AM on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, atop Monument Peak. The American Tower-managed site, at an elevation of 6,255 feet, is at the steep transition between the forested mountaintop and the Anzo-Borrego Desert at near sea level. Engineers familiar with the event say the tower and antennas were laden with ice, and that winds were reported at 80 miles per hour or higher. The FAA-registered tower, originally constructed in 1972, was 93 feet tall and heavily laden with microwave dishes and cellular panel antennas.
Now you see it… This UCSD HPWREN webcam capture was taken on February 8 and includes the tower to the north, appearing to the right.
…Now you don’t. This HPWREN screenshot was captured on February 23.
American Tower Corp. building wrapped in collapsed tower steel.
Tower pier with severed leg.
Lifted pier.
If you watch the site HPWREN webcam time-lapse video (play the left-most video labeled “09-12”), you can see the tower “disappear” just before 10:00 AM. KNSJ’s antenna is the slanted Shively FM log-periodic array pictured.
KNSJ has been off the air due to weather damage before. The station, owned by Activist San Diego, is licensed for 330 watts ERP directed southwest toward San Diego, with a slant polarization.
On February 10, 2026, KRAM Borrego Springs began relaying KPBS-FM, which is now including the station in its top-of-the-hour station identifications. The independent organization Ram Media Foundation was given rebroadcast permission as an independent organization outside the signal coverage area of KPBS-FM San Diego. The foundation is associated with Gabriel Wisdom, a financial advisor and former on-air personality at KGB-FM and KPRI.
KRAM (FM) is licensed with 100 W ERP on 90.5 MHz using a horizontal antenna at a height above ground of 25 feet at 730 Christmas Circle, which had previously been a Wells Fargo Bank. The station has a Construction Permit to operate at 470 W ERP at 36 feet above ground level from the same location. A story about the station’s return is at GoToBorregoSprings.com.
The IPAWS RWT for the week of January 11—17 did not send correctly, so this was a true test of your EAS device.
From the FEMA:
“We discovered after the IPAWS RWT chron job launched the Monday morning IPAWS RWTs that the associated IPAWS digital certificate in use had expired. As individual EAS devices are required by FCC Rules to check CAP message digital signatures, the EAS device should have flagged the incoming RWT as expired. Let’s consider this week to be a test of EAS device security. We have replaced the expired digital certificate. Next week’s messages will be properly signed with a valid digital certificate.”
For that week, you should have received an error about the lack of certificate, or received no RWT from IPAWS at all. If you received a valid RWT, you have a validation issue. Log the exception and pat yourself on the back.
Thanks for joining us for the January 13, 2026 meeting with Tony Gervasi of GatesAir. He covered what’s new in the world of audio codecs and transport methods for both radio and TV, both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint, including satellite transport replacement.
About Tony Gervasi
Tony has been an Intraplex Sales Manager with GatesAir since 2018. He was VP of Engineering and Technology for Nassau Broadcasting from 1995 to 2013, based out of Princeton, NJ, with some 100 radio stations from Maine to Maryland. He started in radio back in 1983 as an on-air talent.
The SBE Program of Certification is 50 years old! To celebrate this, we’re holding a CertChallenge!
If you take an exam, upgrade to a higher certification or obtain CBT by license from November 2025 to November 2026, you will be entered into a drawing for the following prize:
An Upgrade to SBE MemberPlus
Registration to the SBE Ennes Workshop at the 2027 NAB Show
$100 Amazon gift card
An SBE certification pin
An SBE membership pin
Keep an eye out for your local chapter to host a CertConnect meeting dedicated to all things SBE certification. If you attend, you will receive a coupon code for $5 off of an SBE CertPreview.
