Feed line damage high above northwestern Fort Wayne. (NWS Northern Indiana photo)

Technicians have discovered damage to the coaxial feed line that connects the Fort Wayne NOAA Weather Radio transmitter to its antenna approximately 700 feet above the ground on the WFWA-TV tower on Butler Road. In addition, they discovered water in that feed line, which means all 700 feet of feed line must be removed from the tower and replaced. Feed line with water in it doesn’t work well and there’s no reliable way to drain all the water from a feed line.

According to an NWS meteorologist, the tower crew discovered the feed line damage after they installed a new power divider and feed line jumpers for the four-bay antenna.

It is unknown at this time how long it will take to receive and install the replacement feed line. In the interim, the Fort Wayne NOAA Weather Radio transmitter will continue to operate at lower than usual power, which means some weather radios that normally pick up the signal will be unable to do so.

In addition, expect the transmitter to go off the air completely during the feed line replacement work, whenever that happens.

View of the bottom two bays of the NOAA Weather Radio four-bay antenna, side-mounted near the top of the WFWA-TV tower on Butler Road. Fort Wayne’s animal control facility appears in the lower right-hand corner. (NWS Northern Indiana photo)