Frankenpine approved by APA today

[beverly]

Hey rondak46

Go hijack somebody elses thread - this aint about ski areas or the economy of the Adirondacks, etc. It's about fake trees that may or may not look like pine trees or toilet brushes.

In researching this issue about cell phone towers in the Adirondack Park, I learned a number of things. There were other (better) available sites on existing structures that weren't considered; Nextel wasn't forthcoming about existing transmitters on other sites that had already improved communication; construction and clearing might have created problems for nearby wetlands; local landowners were willing to host equipment on existing structures but weren't approached. There was opposition from the Town, locals, and a number of local and statewide organizations. And it was a surprise decision, in light of the fact that the APA staff had recommended against it.

The only thing I agree with you about is that placement of equipment on firetowers might be a good idea.

 

[teleskier]

Aw, c'mon, Bev, admit it... After your next Great Range traverse, when you're cruising home tired and hungry, itchin' to order a pizza on your cell phone right around Lake George... you're going to love that mutant tree!

 

[NumNum]

Pulp

I wonder if someone would log it........roflmbo
or maybe we could cut it down and ship it to N.Y.C for christmas?

 

[paul ron]

You forgot something.

These towers need lots of power, so to put em on fire towers, ah uh, you'd have to drag power lines up the mountain besides a road to service em.

NYC can use a few good trees. Send it on down, we'll decorate it and make a big fuss and then mulch the bastard. It would make an intersting statement to throw your phone in the mulcher right after it.

 

[rdl]

I am for them. While many peope love to visit the pristine park, they go home to communites where they can make a living. The people that live in the park have a difficult time of it and their future is limited as things are

And what does a cell tower have to do with the Park residents making a living ?

Regardless of where I live, I survive quite nicely without a cell phone -- too bad more people can't survive without cellular service.

 

[NewHampshire]

Does anyone know of a picture of one of these things floating around? Ive never seen one and am curious what they really look like (aside from the vivd toilet brush description )
Brian

 

[DougPaul]

Does anyone know of a picture of one of these things floating around? Ive never seen one and am curious what they really look like

I've spotted one along a road. (Sorry, don't remember where.) Look for a single odd-looking tree taller than the others around it. When you focus on it, it becomes obvious that it isn't a natural tree.

Doug

 

[Adk_dib]

I also would like to see a picture of one. I would also like to hear from the local people who are going to have to live with it, I would like to hear their opinion.

 

[HAYDK]

Adk dib , heres a link to some cell tower (tree) photos.http://danbricklin.com/log/celltowers.htm

 

[Tuggy]

That cell tower tree pictured along the Pa Turnpike in the previous post's link can be seen for miles. Its way higher than anything in the area. Made me wonder why sugar pines were growing in Pa.

 

[Rivet]

"The tower would be 104-feet tall, about 30 feet higher than most of the other pines on Buck Mountain. But supporters say it could blend into the forested slope.

The base of the tower will have a small building, which Nextel said is about half the size of one-family homes in the region. After construction, the only road will be a 200-foot gravel maintenance route, according to the company."

 

[HikerBob]

Just another image to check out.

Disney

Shows a distance and close up view.

Bob

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

When will cell phones be working off of satelites? I read years ago that this was coming in the not to distant future. In fact, the phone my wife got me( the one I used for 94 minutes total the past 13 months ) is supposed to be satelite ready for when this time does come. Anyone else hear anything?

 

[TCD]

A few points, to keep this lively:

I think the tech challenge with satellite phones is that it takes quite a bit of power to transmit TO the satellite, which is usually further away than a tower. This is not an issue for GPS, because the GPS unit only needs to receive, not transmit.

This cell tower is not being installed to provide service for us hikers. The need for cell service for people living in an area is a fact of life. If you oppose the tower, saying: "These hayseed adirondackers don't really need to move forward into the 21st century; I've been crunching granola all my life, they can to." will not help your case. (I know no one actually said those words. As we know, words are only part of the message.)

I hike Pilot Knob all the time, and I don't think I'm going to have a problem with the tower. I tend to look at the scenery as a big picture, and if I look for details, I usually look for details I like, rather than looking for details to complain about.

That said, I don't know why (probably $) the cell companies can't do a better job of this. Maybe two smaller towers, of maybe 60' in height, and better designed to look like real trees, might do the job, and meet far less opposition. It would probably be much more expensive though, and that's the only real driver for corporate (and Government) decisions.

TCD

 

[SAR-EMT40]

When will cell phones be working off of satelites? I read years ago that this was coming in the not to distant future. In fact, the phone my wife got me( the one I used for 94 minutes total the past 13 months ) is supposed to be satelite ready for when this time does come. Anyone else hear anything?

Probably never. Sats are too expensive to launch and maintain and they don't have enough bandwidth to handle all the calls that cell networks need to handle. Iridium was an attempt at this and it went out of business. The company using Iridium phones at last look was the government. Iridium the company went out of business several years ago. There is also the power issue of the phones themselves because of the distance to the sats.

However, there are ideas about using balloons in near space that can stay on station for long periods of time that would have large footprints. The military is checking on this and amateur radio operators have fooled around with this as well.

That may be the greatest hope to cover large areas that we want to keep untouched by man.

Keith

 

[Tom Rankin]

These towers need lots of power, so to put em on fire towers, ah uh, you'd have to drag power lines up the mountain besides a road to service em.

Quite a few firetowers already have old roads up to them. On some, you can still drive a rugged vehicle all the way to the top. And a lot of those cabins did in fact have electricity in them, so this is not unheard of.

As a matter of fact, this is already being done on a few in the ADKs. I agree, it's better to use it for a cell tower, than tear it down. From any distance, it simply looks like a firetower. (Gore, and a few others come to mind).

 

[DougPaul]

That said, I don't know why (probably $) the cell companies can't do a better job of this. Maybe two smaller towers, of maybe 60' in height, and better designed to look like real trees, might do the job, and meet far less opposition. It would probably be much more expensive though, and that's the only real driver for corporate (and Government) decisions.

(Real) foliage has similar effects on cell phone signals as it does on GPS signals (ie absorbs, scatters, blocks, etc). (The "foliage" on a cellphone tree is plastic--but it gets wet too.) A smaller number of taller towers is cheaper than a larger number of shorter towers.

Doug

 

[rondak46]

E-911

TCD wrote:

"This cell tower is not being installed to provide service for us hikers. The need for cell service for people living in an area is a fact of life"

To be sure. This tower is being put in place to provide better triangulation across the lake and nearby areas, in order to enhance E-911 location capability.

mike

 

[DougPaul]

This tower is being put in place to provide better triangulation across the lake and nearby areas, in order to enhance E-911 location capability.

And perhaps to provide any coverage at all in some areas.

There is an area on the western shore of Lake George (includes Silver Bay) that has had basically no coverage at all. I had to drive S to the lake viewpoint just N of Tongue Mtn to get a connection. Others have told me of driving a distance N to get a connection.

Doug

 

[Rik]

I think we should have uncovered areas where no service is available. I'm not sure this is the place for it but I like the idea of places where there is no coverage. As for this tower. It's ugly.