Portland Tower Question

[JATO757]

I walk past this tower almost daily, and was curious if anyone could fill me in as to what it's used for/who it's owned by. Seems like an awfully large installation for the middle of an urban environment.

iPad Air

 

[W8RMH]

It looks like a telephone microwave relay tower.

 

[Cameron314]

Looks like an old Long Lines tower.

 

[scaseyjordan]

AT&T Long Lines installation. They're everywhere in the Pacific Northwest. Sadly, most have been turned down for a long time as fiber optic cables with massive capacities allowing more versatile media payloads have replaced them. They're neat installations, though. The feed horn specs are fascinating. Each horn was capable of three bands. The long lines network could be considered the transcontinental railroad of telecommunications. Do a Google search for AT&T Long Lines and you'll find some really informative websites put together by former LL techs.

 

[jim202]

Over the years some of these towers have been taken over by a cellular carrier and made into a rugged tower for cellular antennas. They strip off the big horn antennas and the copper rigid waveguide.

The main problem with many of these towers is that they are not in a good location for current cellular needs. Many of them are out in the middle of no mans land and as a result have few prospects for being re purposed into a cellular tower site. There is just no call for the remote locations to supply coverage. It's the old adage of if I spend money on a location, it needs to supply an income to pay for the investment.

 

[mikepdx]

neat old long lines microwave map for Oregon here
(for Bell System use only):
AT&T Long Lines routes, Oregon, Jan. 1976

a great history site:
The Microwave Radio and Coaxial Cable Networks of the Bell System

 

[oregontreehugger]

Great info and some light reading, thanks