Photos from a WiMax Protection Site in Ponce, Puerto Rico

[S4GRU]

S4GRU member, kendog, Tweeted to me photos of his WiMax Protection Site in Ponce, Puerto Rico. See below:

 

WiMax Protection Site - Ponce, Puerto Rico. Click to Enlarge.

 

 

WiMax Protection Site - Ponce, Puerto Rico. Click to Enlarge.

 

 

 

Another Sprint CDMA Site - Ponce, Puerto Rico. Click to Enlarge.

 

 

 

Another Sprint CDMA Site - Ponce, Puerto Rico. Click to Enlarge.

[digiblur]

I know the protection sites around here it looks like they almost mount the antennas smack dab on the monopole without a "rack".

[BenChase7]

Its funny to me when I see these gigantic cell phone towers. They're not nearly this much of an eye sore around PHX. In fact, many of the new ones you would mistake for a palm tree.

 

[pyroscott]

Maybe if they were updating conus towers instead of Puerto Rico, they would keep customers...

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[digiblur]

Its funny to me when I see these gigantic cell phone towers. They're not nearly this much of an eye sore around PHX. In fact, many of the new ones you would mistake for a palm tree.

 

 

I think those things would look out of place in Louisiana :-) I for one think they are ugly...nothing wrong with the look of a cell tower to me. If you bitch about the look of a cell tower and don't want it in your town then you have no right to complain about coverage on your diamond encrusted iPhone.

[BenChase7]

I think those things would look out of place in Louisiana :-) I for one think they are ugly...nothing wrong with the look of a cell tower to me. If you bitch about the look of a cell tower and don't want it in your town then you have no right to complain about coverage on your diamond encrusted iPhone.

 

Easy stinger... I wasn't "bitching" about the towers at all. Nor do I own a "diamond encrusted iPhone" (not a single iDevice here, for that matter). I was simply showing how they are doing some of the towers in PHX. So, no need to make assumptions and get hostile.

 

PS. They make the "hidden towers" in the form of various other types of trees as well. Perhaps this style would better fit your geographical placement.

 

[digiblur]

 

Easy stinger... I wasn't "bitching" about the towers at all. Nor do I own a "diamond encrusted iPhone" (not a single iDevice here, for that matter). I was simply showing how they are doing some of the towers in PHX. So, no need to make assumptions and get hostile.

 

PS. They make the "hidden towers" in the form of various other types of trees as well. Perhaps this style would better fit your geographical placement.

 

 

The comment wasn't directed at you unless you had a diamond encrusted iPhone and hated cell phone towers :-)

[BenChase7]

The comment wasn't directed at you unless you had a diamond encrusted iPhone and hated cell phone towers :-)

 

Haha! Love cell phone towers... and for the iPhone.. just read some of my other posts.

[digiblur]

Easy stinger... I wasn't "bitching" about the towers at all. Nor do I own a "diamond encrusted iPhone" (not a single iDevice here, for that matter). I was simply showing how they are doing some of the towers in PHX. So, no need to make assumptions and get hostile.

 

PS. They make the "hidden towers" in the form of various other types of trees as well. Perhaps this style would better fit your geographical placement.

 

 

Still the wrong kind of tree... Katrina, Rita, and Gustav cleaned all of our pine trees right out.

 

In all seriousness, we don't have short towers like that anywhere around here. All of ours are much taller towers. There's one "tree" antenna in the middle of an apartment complex parking lot. The only one I know of around here. It looks so out of place and retarded looking. Its brown and has dead tree limbs near the rack of antennas. Looks like a cell phone tower with some crap hanging off the side to me.

[BenChase7]

Believe it or not, the palm tree towers in Phoenix fit right in. They are a bit taller then the average palm, but from a distance, you can't even tell its a cell phone tower.

[S4GRU]

I love the pine tree ones they use here in some places of Northern New Mexico. The native ponderosa pines are between 30' - 50' tall. Then there are these faux mutant pines with a glandular diseases that are 3 times wider and double the height. They look like they are examples of high doses of RF exposure. They actual blend in worse than the normal towers.

 

To me, in this day and age, most modern towers are like white noise...perhaps white visual pollution? We just don't even really notice them anymore. At least I don't. And I look for the darn things!!!

 

And I do find it amazing that the NIMBY-assed folks who whine the most about the visual pollution, usually have an iPhone in their hand. Just an observation.

[S4GRU]

I thought I would share some pics with you at a non-conventional cell site here locally near Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is a 'covert' site that I don't mind so much. It looks better than faux mutant pines.

 

These are at the Santa Fe Opera house. The US 84/285 Freeway connects Santa Fe with the Los Alamos/Española/Taos region and this is a heavily traveled highway in our area. Especially at rush hour. However, for approximately a 1-1/2 mile section, this freeway was a RF black hole, with no carriers being able to cover. There is only one piece of property with a perch that could accommodate a site that could cover this section of freeway. The Santa Fe Opera.

 

Needless to say, the demographics who support the Opera, are not fans of cell towers. AT&T, Verizon, Alltel, Sprint and Cricket wanted to be on the site too. They worked out a solution where the property owner developed the site, including shared fiber backhaul provided by the Owner. Antenna/panels were mounted to the parking lot light standards (poles) that are at the edge of the bluff overlooking the freeway. There is one hidden shared equipment yard behind coyote fencing. Coax runs are pretty long to the furthest set of panels. Maybe 500'? But since they are only aimed to cover a 1-1/2 mile section of freeway, it's no biggie.

 

I like these types of solutions. Just integrating new cell sites within existing infrastructure. Pretty neat stuff.

 

Driving down Freeway frontage toward Santa Fe Opera. A little blurry, zoomed in shot.

 

 

 

Santa Fe Opera zoom shot, light standards and panels now coming more into view.

 

 

 

Good overview shot from the parking lot at Santa Fe Opera. You can see four of the six sets from here. Also, down in the noted set of pinion bushes is where the equipment cabinets are located.

 

 

 

Good view of a typical set of panels on the light standards.

 

 

 

Here is the equipment yard, hidden behind a coyote fence. Radios are here. This site will likely not be able to have remote RRU's when NV occurs.

 

 

 

Looking down a row of them.

 

 

 

One final shot, looking toward the Opera. Not visually polluting at all!

[AJC1973]

Believe it or not, the palm tree towers in Phoenix fit right in. They are a bit taller then the average palm, but from a distance, you can't even tell its a cell phone tower.

 

They look ok when near palm trees its the ones that are out in the middle of nowhere and well over twice as tall as any palm tree on the planet that just look wrong.. I have one down the road from me off hardy and university in tempe that i didnt even notice was there till i sitting at the light something caught my eye and i noticed it, i lived next to it for 2 years that one blends in.. theres one off the 202 in mesa that stands out so bad that i think its worse than any of them i have seen.. its more of an eye sore than if they just left the tower out in the open, you expect a tall tower, you probably wouldnt even look at it twice, but a 100 foot palm tree now that gets attention lol

[twospirits]

They have these cell towers looking like palm trees also in Hawaii.

 

TS

[bgguy]

Here is a screen shot of a tower that has been built into a cross high on a mesa in Farmington, NM. (Sorry had to use Google maps to get it)

[S4GRU]

Here is a screen shot of a tower that has been built into a cross high on a mesa in Farmington' date=' NM. (Sorry had to use Google maps to get it)[/quote']

 

I've used this site before. I live in New Mexico.

 

Robert - Posted from my E4GT with ICS using Forum Runner

[bgguy]

I grew up in F-town. I worked for a computer store across the street from that site when Sprint first came into town and we were a retailer for a short period. I remember the rep telling us about them installing it and the lengths that Sprint goes to accomadate the land owners.

[Mistafreeze]

Two "covert" sites I know of in Waterloo, Iowa.

 

The first one, is a flag pole:

 

http://maps.google.c...2,28.8,,0,-9.77

 

The second, as posted above, is a cross:

 

http://maps.google.c...210.58,,0,-7.53

 

I never looked at who the carriers are for these towers, just thought it fit into the conversation that has been going on in this thread. They both blend in fairly well, though for years I wondered why we needed a pole that large for such a little flag.