[BC] NOAA

[towers at mre.com]

After 9/11, that all changed.  Universally, all federal operations MUST
directly maintain or formally contract out to have their equipment
maintained. While the hosting station can be contracted through the lease
agreement, the NWS now prefers to control maintenance internally through a
single or limited number of vendors.

As with everything federal, operating regions have some say in the
process.  So what might be one specific way in the Central Region might
not be for the Southern Region.

Also, the feds require a formal lease with a payment structure.  No more
can the sites be "donated."

MM

> I have seen a LOT of NOAA installations where the tower and building
> space is given away free to NOAA.  I have also seen a few where the
> broadcast stations actually maintain the NOAA equipment.  Frankly,
> this isn't hard.  The station just determines what went bad, let them
> know, and swap the component when it arrives.
>
> --chip