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Cell towers

Started by zachary_amaryllis, July 16, 2022, 04:06:28 PM

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zachary_amaryllis

So, ever since I was a kid, I've been obsessed with antennas. Go figure, right? So, when cell service started appearing up here, I wanted to know where the tower was. I like to play with CellMapper and I'm a contributor to it. So, it turns out, my tower is somewhere in this hot mess, on top of a hill west of Fort Collins. I don't see anything that looks like cell antennas, but they might be of a sort that I don't recognize.

https://imgur.com/a/WGPcuSz

Anyone else into this sort of infrastructure-y stuff?
clinched:
I-64, I-80, I-76 (west), *64s in hampton roads, 225,270,180 (co, wy)


Big John

There are cell towers that look like trees to help appease te neighbors.

SectorZ

Quote from: Big John on July 16, 2022, 05:47:52 PM
There are cell towers that look like trees to help appease te neighbors.

Done to amusing effect sometimes, https://goo.gl/maps/b1pKg6wxjo3arsjv5

mgk920

And they produce the exact same radiation at the exact same power level as the all cell phone handsets.  When anyone who I'm discussing the subject with complains about supposed 'radiation' problems with those towers, I just cannot get through to them that for the towers to be more powerful than the handsets would be a complete waste of energy and money for the phone companies.

:no:

Mike

zachary_amaryllis

It didn't really hit me until later -- several radio stations, and other communication services have towers and/or antennae there. How much RF did I get hit with? Is there a reason I didn't see a bird one (ok, that last one's a stretch)? And it's surprisingly low-security for something like that. We didn't enter the fenced area, but you could - there's a gate with a simple latch-thingy to drive up there.
clinched:
I-64, I-80, I-76 (west), *64s in hampton roads, 225,270,180 (co, wy)

skluth


SectorZ


wanderer2575


kalvado

Quote from: zachary_amaryllis on July 17, 2022, 03:05:22 AM
It didn't really hit me until later -- several radio stations, and other communication services have towers and/or antennae there. How much RF did I get hit with? Is there a reason I didn't see a bird one (ok, that last one's a stretch)? And it's surprisingly low-security for something like that. We didn't enter the fenced area, but you could - there's a gate with a simple latch-thingy to drive up there.
RF in that range has no effects on living tissue other than simple heating. Which is not a big deal until the power is real high - walking in direct summer sunlight can result in plenty of heating as well - actually much more heat than a person can get from the tower at a distance. Same with the cup of hot coffee. Our bodies are designed to manage heat.
That being said, hugging an active cell antenna emitting tens and hundreds watts can easily overload heat management capabilities. Birds falling dead from high power radar beam, or horror stories of people suffering severe internal burns if stuck in operating radar antenna are almost certainly true - in high power military radar world, at least, where kilowatts of power are involved. 
Quote from: mgk920 on July 16, 2022, 11:11:20 PM
And they produce the exact same radiation at the exact same power level as the all cell phone handsets.  When anyone who I'm discussing the subject with complains about supposed 'radiation' problems with those towers, I just cannot get through to them that for the towers to be more powerful than the handsets would be a complete waste of energy and money for the phone companies.

:no:

Mike

"Exact same" is an interesting way of describing broad spectrum of current RF communications, 5G range 1 is from 450 MHz to 6 GHz (and there is a range 2). Power of cell tower is also way higher than that of a single phone. If nothing else, one antenna communicates with multiple handsets, and there are multiple antennas in a single assembly.

golden eagle

There's a tower in Madison, MS that's in the shape of the Washington Monument.

CapeCodder


hotdogPi

Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.



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