Alston Aerial

SBC TV
Type	Television reception tower
Location	Alston, NCD, Sirocco
Completed	1987 (initial) 2001 (following collapse)
Height	6m approx (from base) 11m approx (from ground)
Owner	Alston City Council

The Alston Aerial is an approximately six-metre tall television reception mast in Alston, National Capital District, Sirocco. Constructed in 1987, it is the tallest structure in Sirocco. It is also the only guyed mast in the National Capital District.

Overview

The Aerial was built in 1987 to enable Alston (then unincorporated) to receive analogue television broadcasts. However, due to the topology of the area the aerial needed to have extra height to pick up the channels and as such is the tallest television aerial in the wider area.

In July 2001, the Aerial suffered a catastrophic collapse when high winds snapped a rusted guy wire, bringing the aerial down and narrowly missing a car. Analogue television reception was interrupted for four days, however satellite television was able to 'fill in' for the downtime. The Aerial was re-erected with new guy wires which support the Aerial to this day.

Future

The future of the Aerial is in doubt after a proposal was put forward for the demolition of the Aerial. At current it is 24 years old and due to the impending analogue switchoff in 2013, the Aerial will essentially become obsolete and it is unlikely it will remain standing after analogue switchoff in Alston.