Cell Trees O.o

[lxskllr]

I saw my first cell tower "tree" yesterday. My first thought was "WTF is that??!!", and then what I was seeing dawned on me. Really stupid idea. It blends in as well as a pink camo elephant, though that would be an improvement. Interesting abstract art, or paint jobs would be better imo. Instead of trying to hide it, and utterly failing, make it stand out, and make it interesting to look at.

 

[KaOTiK]

We should make them look like giant dildos

 

[dud]

Trees in the east ... palms in the west. OP, can't believe you haven't noticed them before.



Perhaps the camo is working and they are doing their job.

 

[BoomerD]

Yep...I've seen many of them. "Piney" trees, palm trees...they look about as much like trees as a missile silo...but they're still somewhat nicer looking than normal cell towers.

How about a saguaro cactus?

 

[lxskllr]

Trees in the east ... palms in the west. OP, can't believe you haven't noticed them before.



Perhaps the camo is working and they are doing their job.

I don't travel as much as I used to, and most of the towers around here are on steel towers, or things like barn silos. I avoid urban areas as much as possible, and I'm guessing that's where most of them are. The one I saw was off of I95. on the north side of Philly.

Edit:
I like that cactus Boomer, but that might look a little out of place in MD :^D

They should bring back road statues for cell towers. Nothing says fun like a ginormous dude in overalls holding a wrench :^D

 

[jupiter57]

We should make them look like giant dildos

Keep your fantasies to yourself!

 

[Red Squirrel]

What I find odd about these is that they are very low to the ground unlike traditional towers that are 100's of feet high. I wonder what kind of range they get.

 

[Lifted]

What I find odd about these is that they are very low to the ground unlike traditional towers that are 100's of feet high. I wonder what kind of range they get.

The only one I see on a semi-regular basis towers over everything in site. It's at least twice as high as every tree around. Anyone who takes the Hutch occasionally knows the one I'm talking about, near the gas station south of 287. It looks like a super tall Charlie Brown xmas tree, with 5 or 6 pathetic little "branches".

Found it...

 

[Jeff7]

We should make them look like giant dildos

...
They should bring back road statues for cell towers. Nothing says fun like a ginormous dude in overalls holding a wrench :^D

Hmm....or perhaps some combination of these things? :sneaky:


Or how about a ginormous 80s guy holding one of the early cellphones with the huge antennas?

 

[Imp]

What I find odd about these is that they are very low to the ground unlike traditional towers that are 100's of feet high. I wonder what kind of range they get.

News story about this recently... As long as they stay below 15', or whatever the hell the regulatory limit is, they don't have to consult neighbours or something like that. Essentially, it's WAY easier to put short towers up than put up a very high one, hence the beaucoup small ones.

 

[lxskllr]

Or how about a ginormous 80s guy holding one of the early cellphones with the huge antennas?

See?? Now we're thinking. That would be better than those ridiculous trees.

 

[mnewsham]

I don't travel as much as I used to, and most of the towers around here are on steel towers, or things like barn silos. I avoid urban areas as much as possible, and I'm guessing that's where most of them are. The one I saw was off of I95. on the north side of Philly.

If you are ever on I-200 heading east from I-97 (Georgia ave.) there is a big tree one there, I hate it, you can spot it from over a mile away because it is on the top of a hill with no surrounding trees.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually would be cool to put them on top of one of those huge wind turbines. The wind turbine could also power the cell site.

Really I don't get why we don't see more of those wind turbines. Seem to only see those on TV. Once the capital investment is paid, it's pretty much free electricity.

 

[lxskllr]

Really I don't get why we don't see more of those wind turbines. Seem to only see those on TV. Once the capital investment is paid, it's pretty much free electricity.

They're expensive and ugly. You have to have the right location for wind to make sense, and they need to take aesthetic and environmental concerns into account. I think they could be used more than they are, but it isn't a drop anywhere technology.

 

[MrDudeMan]

They're expensive and ugly. You have to have the right location for wind to make sense, and they need to take aesthetic and environmental concerns into account. I think they could be used more than they are, but it isn't a drop anywhere technology.

The environmental concerns are very significant, which is a big reason wind turbines aren't installed in many places.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The environmental concerns are very significant, which is a big reason wind turbines aren't installed in many places.

Which I always found silly that environmentalists freak over them. A couple dead birds, vs global warming and killing off of entire species. Rather a couple dead birds. Perhaps they'll eventually evolve to avoid them. :biggrin:

Even in places that arn't known to be windy, there is still wind, so they'd work. They'd be less effective mind you.

I rather see those environmental concerns than the ones associated with burning of fossil fuels.

 

[Imp]

The wind mill "sickness" stigma is probably the biggest barrier to having them in urban locations. They also look like ass, but we, as a society, have decided that running dirty power miles away with huge transmission losses is more important than making our cityscapes less pretty. This is all assuming that the wind potential in cities is actually there.

 

[MrDudeMan]

Which I always found silly that environmentalists freak over them. A couple dead birds, vs global warming and killing off of entire species. Rather a couple dead birds. Perhaps they'll eventually evolve to avoid them. :biggrin:

Even in places that arn't known to be windy, there is still wind, so they'd work. They'd be less effective mind you.

I rather see those environmental concerns than the ones associated with burning of fossil fuels.

I'm not one of the crazy bird people, but I don't fully support wind turbines being placed everywhere either. They have other effects on the environment as well. Changes in moisture levels because of the dramatically altered air pressure in the wake can kill miles of vegetation. It's area dependent, but the energy isn't free in this capacity.