Vanishing Mobile Phone Masts

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Posted by Hemos on Friday September 20, 2002 @10:16AM from the locking-them-down dept.

babycakes writes "The BBC has an article about the concealment of mobile phone antennae in the UK, where the masts have been disguised as clock face hands, chimneys and so on. The company behind them, The Undetectables (flash site) aim to 'eradicate this architectural acne' - pics available."

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But if they hide all the cellular towers.... by raehl · 2002-09-20 10:19 · Score: 5, Funny

How am I supposed to know to be pissed off when I'm standing right under one and still not getting any reception?

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1. Re:But if they hide all the cellular towers.... by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · 2002-09-20 11:21 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  "Can you hear me now, Robin? Good"
  *whoosh* *swing* *thud*
  "Can you hear me now, Robin? Good"
  *whoosh* *swing* *thud* ...
  
  --
  Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
Ha... by T3kno · 2002-09-20 10:19 · Score: 3

We have these horribly fake looking metal palm trees all around my house. The first time you look at it you have to do a double take. They're so strange looking that the birds will fly around them. I'd rather look at the triangle antenna.

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1. Re:Ha... by Wakkow · 2002-09-20 10:24 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  my thoughts exactly.. Quick search on google comes across this page with *ooooh* pretty pictures.
2. Re:Ha... by DMBoyd · 2002-09-20 10:27 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Well, at least we're replacing nature with something useful...
3. Re:Ha... by Alan+Partridge · 2002-09-20 11:33 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  I agree wholeheartedly. There seems to be a huge movement to outlaw mobile 'phone masts and DTH satellite dishes in the UK, despite the fact that they're both ENORMOUSLY less visually intrusive than the telephone poles and TV aerials that they supplant. Fucking Luddites is what it is.
  
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  That was classic intercourse!
maybe it is just me ... by Alien54 · 2002-09-20 10:20 · Score: 5, Funny

but I want to disquise one as an object most appropriate to express my feelings about my local, regional, and national politicians.
There must be some appropriate gesture....

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"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Phily area camouflage by Arctic+Fox · 2002-09-20 10:22 · Score: 5, Funny

They're making them look like big ass trees. The best one is on the PA Turnpike near Willow Grove. It's in the middle of a wooded area. It looks good except, it's easily three times the size of normal trees, oh, and in the winter, it's the only one with leaves on it!!!!
1. Re:Phily area camouflage by sharkey · 2002-09-20 15:03 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  They're making them look like big ass trees.
  
  And what, pray tell, does an ass tree look like?
  
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This antenna cannot be seen by Qrlx · 2002-09-20 10:23 · Score: 5, Funny

This antenna cannot be seen. Unfortunately, it has chosen a rather obvious piece of cover...

BOOM!
1. Re:This antenna cannot be seen by McCart42 · 2002-09-20 10:46 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  for those that don't get this joke, watch Monty Python or see this script. You really should see the clip itself though...it's PRICELESS.
  
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is it really that important? by cdf12345 · 2002-09-20 10:26 · Score: 4, Insightful

I mean, I never thought attennas were that much of an eyesore. While I'm all for making them smaller and whatnot, I sure as hell wouldn't make them all cute and crap if I lose performance.

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Re:It can't be worse than here... by dhovis · 2002-09-20 10:27 · Score: 5, Funny

Yeah, they call those "Towers of Babble".
No, really.

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And in church steeples by MongooseCN · 2002-09-20 10:29 · Score: 4, Interesting

Down in Cape Cod in Wellfleet, there is a cell phone antennae inside of a church steeple (I forget which one). The church gets paid something like 50,000-100,000$ a year to hold the antennae. The church doesn't do anything with the antennae, they just rent out the space to hold it.

I wish some phone company put an antennae in my chimney. I could quit working.

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1. Re:And in church steeples by victim · 2002-09-20 11:46 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  The Kirkwood United Methodist Church in Missouri had to take their rather massive steeple down due to rot. The church was unable to commit the resources for a replacement. AT&T had a replacement built and installed in exchange for antenna rights.
  
  I'd link a picture, but the web site also rotted away. Trust me, the steeple was an integral architectural element and the building looked silly without it.
  
  And for those worried about emissions, no need. AT&T phones barely work in the building. I suppose the antennas don't radiate down very well. Of course we are probably cooking the Christian Scientists and the Catholics next door...
NY can use their help.. by Frank+of+Earth · 2002-09-20 10:30 · Score: 3, Interesting

.. they decided to throw some fake looking tree branches on a HUGE tower just outside of NYC.

Here is the article, but unfortunately I can't find a picture. Article

I guess it would have slightly blended in if it wasn't 100' taller than the tallest tree.

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This has been done here in the US by teamhasnoi · 2002-09-20 10:32 · Score: 3, Informative

I can't find a link right now, but some Tele-company has been hiding antennas in fiberglas pine trees (in the northwest) and palm trees (in the southeast) . They aren't movie-prop quality, but chances are you wouldn't see them unless you were looking for them. They fool the wildlife at least.
They use them in residential areas and national parks. If I find a link, I'll post it.
1. Re:This has been done here in the US by teamhasnoi · 2002-09-20 10:42 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Here we go Flash free and links to US companies.
The Undetectables (flash site) by cosyne · 2002-09-20 10:32 · Score: 5, Insightful

Ok, flash site is one thing. Has so many useless little files that it throws the browser into spasms where the stop button and mozilla logo blink at around 1 Hz site is a little more annoying. Perhaps their precious little flash animations don't do so well against a friday afternoon slashdotting....
1. Re: The Undetectables (flash site) by RollingThunder · 2002-09-20 10:51 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I'm not sure it's little files - in the headers, there's this line:
  
  meta http-equiv="refresh" content=";URL="
  
  Mozilla, at least, seems to treat that as a zero second refresh to the same location. As fast as it loads it, it reloads it. :/
2. Re: The Undetectables (flash site) by yorgasor · 2002-09-20 12:14 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  It gets better. Run 'top' while you're viewing this page with mozilla or netscape 4. It's really neat to watch the amount of memory being used. After just a minute of the constant reloading, the browser takes up a few hundred MB of memory. It's a really neat trick when you're trying to compile a massive project at work on your machine at the time and all of a sudden you run out of memory.
  
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Picture... by Frank+of+Earth · 2002-09-20 10:33 · Score: 5, Informative

I found one that is similar here

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Live web cams
Other options by Openadvocate · 2002-09-20 10:35 · Score: 3, Informative

There are many options and it is great NOT to see these ugly antennas everywhere.
Here is some examples, fake tress, a fake window, or a cross on a church tower.

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Will the building's maintainers know about it? by shess · 2002-09-20 10:50 · Score: 4, Interesting

A couple years ago, the city I grew up in (Pipestone, MN) repainted (or otherwise maintained) their water tower. While the guys were up there, they took down some antenna, because neither they, nor anyone at city hall, could figure out why they were there.

Turned out to be a repeater installed twenty years ago by the local radio station, with city permission.

So now I'm imagining some roofer coming down off the roof and telling the homeowner "Uh, listen, you have a chimney up there which doesn't connect to anything. I think it might be causing your leak, do you want me to get rid of it?"
Re:It doesn't beam downwards by silentbozo · 2002-09-20 11:27 · Score: 3, Informative

Depends on the antenna design. You may get unwanted stray lobes of radiation if they've installed it improperly though. I'd rather put my faith in the inverse-square law.
Good ./ing by raiyu · 2002-09-20 11:50 · Score: 5, Funny

Undetectables website is now undetectable.
Re:Not super new by Jonny+290 · 2002-09-20 11:55 · Score: 4, Interesting

I live in the bottom floor of an apartment building (my apt is actually half underground). I looked at the side of it and said, "Hey. Look at those six runs of 1.5" PVC running down the side of the building for HVAC drainage." I just bought another length of the same color and size PVC, used some brackets to bolt it to the side of the building, and put a 2m 5/8" wave and a multiband vertical VHF dipole in the top.

I was out chatting with my landlord and watched her stare straight in that direction and not even think about it.

Keep it QRP, though. :D

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