12dbsinad
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Oh,so what you're saying is, totally opposite of FirstNet? Sorry, I had to... it was too wide open
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Oh,so what you're saying is, totally opposite of FirstNet? Sorry, I had to... it was too wide open
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Oh,so what you're saying is, totally opposite of FirstNet? Sorry, I had to... it was too wide open
Yeah, different times, different attitudes.
And, good one!
ohiodesperado
Member
Something like that
I ran across one of these AT&T sites about 15-20 years ago in northern Illinois and spoke to a guy who was going to buy it and renovate it for commercial antenna hosting. I got to go inside and wander around and it was pretty much barren.
I thought it would make a great ham shack as it was on the highest ground around, had a large building at the base of the tower and of course the 200 or so foot tower itself. I would have considered buying it myself if it wasn't a 3 hour drive to work, I wasn't married and actually could have afforded it but a boy can dream.
Last I heard was that the commercial tower idea didn't pan out but the guy was restoring the TD-2's cosmetically, I think he was part of the Longlines historical society.
I thought it would make a great ham shack as it was on the highest ground around, had a large building at the base of the tower and of course the 200 or so foot tower itself. I would have considered buying it myself if it wasn't a 3 hour drive to work, I wasn't married and actually could have afforded it but a boy can dream.
Last I heard was that the commercial tower idea didn't pan out but the guy was restoring the TD-2's cosmetically, I think he was part of the Longlines historical society.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, there's a lot of people/investors that bought up these sites without really understanding them.
They were designed for point to point microwave paths, that was it. Some had 2 way radio capability for the US Government, but not all sites. Usually it was for aircraft use.
Not all of them are in good radio sites, as in not in advantageous locations that were ideal for 2 way radio coverage.
Many cell carriers have utilized some of the towers that were on suitable high sites. Crown Castle/American Tower own some. Not all the locations were useful, though. Some are out in the middle of nowhere and had little value.
I've been to a number of these in the Western US, and there are a lot sitting empty.
But, yeah, some area great sites, and would be useful to amateur radio operators.
They were designed for point to point microwave paths, that was it. Some had 2 way radio capability for the US Government, but not all sites. Usually it was for aircraft use.
Not all of them are in good radio sites, as in not in advantageous locations that were ideal for 2 way radio coverage.
Many cell carriers have utilized some of the towers that were on suitable high sites. Crown Castle/American Tower own some. Not all the locations were useful, though. Some are out in the middle of nowhere and had little value.
I've been to a number of these in the Western US, and there are a lot sitting empty.
But, yeah, some area great sites, and would be useful to amateur radio operators.
ohiodesperado
Member
What Rich said was spot on. While some of these sites were near a populated area many were not. This was due to the distance limitation with the microwave of the time. If the next tower was near a town, fine but if it was in the middle of no where, it still needed to be in some location that was 50 or less miles away. And the topography or the area between the two towers had to be taken into account as well. There had to be line of site from tower to tower. There were three major systems that were nation wide. The first and largest was obviously the Long Lines system that was owned and run by AT&T. The other two were MCI and Western Union. MCI used a variety of tower types, but mostly heavy guyed towers with the round faced horns. There were far fewer sites than the AT&T system and they only linked major metropolitan area's. Western Union, was vastly different with their system. They used H type towers that had dishes that pointed UP and reflectors at the top of the twin towers on a cross bar that bounced the signal from the ground to the next site. I believe that system was only used for internal data transfers for their money transfer business.
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