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Borrego Springs California AT&T tower Callsign KMN97 2023
This is a five-frame panorama showing one of the elderly microwave towers that used to carry analog telephone calls in the era of telephones with wires.
** Technology **
You know how the stars 'twinkle' at night? The same thing happens with radio signals. The KS15676 horn antennas are paired for diversity reception. Bell Labs designed these so a second receiver antenna could be placed a few feet away. There's a low probability that both receivers will experience a fade at the exact same moment. Your wired telephone call sound would be sturdy so long as one of the two receivers still had a signal from microwave tower at the other end. (If your eyes were further apart and summed the light received, the stars wouldn't twinkle.)
According to public documents, the circular horn facing this way still connects via 10 gigahertz with a companion on Mount Laguna. The tower is about 162 feet tall. The tower legs are maybe 30- or 40-feet apart, keeping the narrow-beamed antennas pointing in exactly the right direction in spite of winds or earthquakes. This is a possible benefit of monopoly where the sole provider is required to meet a service level. The current model is designed for quarterly profits instead of reliability.
The next tower east of here was in the city of Brawley. I say "was" because it was dismantled about 15 years ago. This means the three horn-type antennas on the far side appear to be unused.
This building has a crap-load of fiberoptic lines going into it as evidenced by miles of signs along this road. In other words, all the stuff that used to be carried by microwave radio is now carried by digital fiberoptic links, it appears.
** End of Technology **
Because some percentage of people in law enforcement are Brady cops, I generally stay away from electronic sites. Although the site is within about 50 feet of the road's edge, I shot this from the road 0.8 miles east on S22 and did not get near the site except for the few seconds it took to drive by.
That's the Salton Sea and the Chocolate Mountains in the background. The site is a few hundred feet east of the county line inside San Diego County. The terrain you're seeing is almost entirely in Imperial County.
The paint scheme is called aircraft obstruction marking paint. This thing also has a nice set of lights, keeping aircraft away during dusk and night.
Journalism grade image.
Source: 9,700x7,000 pixel 16-bit TIF panorama file.
Please do not copy this image for any purpose.
Borrego Springs California AT&T tower Callsign KMN97 2023
This is a five-frame panorama showing one of the elderly microwave towers that used to carry analog telephone calls in the era of telephones with wires.
** Technology **
You know how the stars 'twinkle' at night? The same thing happens with radio signals. The KS15676 horn antennas are paired for diversity reception. Bell Labs designed these so a second receiver antenna could be placed a few feet away. There's a low probability that both receivers will experience a fade at the exact same moment. Your wired telephone call sound would be sturdy so long as one of the two receivers still had a signal from microwave tower at the other end. (If your eyes were further apart and summed the light received, the stars wouldn't twinkle.)
According to public documents, the circular horn facing this way still connects via 10 gigahertz with a companion on Mount Laguna. The tower is about 162 feet tall. The tower legs are maybe 30- or 40-feet apart, keeping the narrow-beamed antennas pointing in exactly the right direction in spite of winds or earthquakes. This is a possible benefit of monopoly where the sole provider is required to meet a service level. The current model is designed for quarterly profits instead of reliability.
The next tower east of here was in the city of Brawley. I say "was" because it was dismantled about 15 years ago. This means the three horn-type antennas on the far side appear to be unused.
This building has a crap-load of fiberoptic lines going into it as evidenced by miles of signs along this road. In other words, all the stuff that used to be carried by microwave radio is now carried by digital fiberoptic links, it appears.
** End of Technology **
Because some percentage of people in law enforcement are Brady cops, I generally stay away from electronic sites. Although the site is within about 50 feet of the road's edge, I shot this from the road 0.8 miles east on S22 and did not get near the site except for the few seconds it took to drive by.
That's the Salton Sea and the Chocolate Mountains in the background. The site is a few hundred feet east of the county line inside San Diego County. The terrain you're seeing is almost entirely in Imperial County.
The paint scheme is called aircraft obstruction marking paint. This thing also has a nice set of lights, keeping aircraft away during dusk and night.
Journalism grade image.
Source: 9,700x7,000 pixel 16-bit TIF panorama file.
Please do not copy this image for any purpose.