Am I right in thinking that those older horn reflectors have the reinforcement kit installed? The smooth sides kind of give it away. I also thought I saw the side lobe reduction kit installed.
+AlaskaMike72 you are correct. we called it bomb proofing. it actually provided an air cushion to prevent them from exploding during the rapid decompression in a nuclear blast. Side and front blinders were later installed to eliminate reflections in most multi antenna arrays...
Very cool! I never got to work on gear like this, but I grew up seeing those older horn reflectors on towers here in Alaska. I didn't learn until much later that it mostly carried AUTOVON and WHITE ALICE traffic. However, even today you can see interesting cold war gear abandoned in place on many of the Alaska towers, like Combat Ciders ground entry points (UHF voice and data links for strategic aircraft). Those round horn reflectors look weird though, and I have never seen them up here in AK. Sadly, in 2016 the last active microwave shot involving the old KS horn reflectors here in Alaska was turned down, I believe between the AT&T Paxon and Aurora sites. The Paxon tower concrete mounting piers had shifted, so they demo'd the tower.
One like 30 miles from me is still FULLY intact with all the equipment still inside along with desks! The tower has cell antenna on it but the block house is intact will all the old equipment. It's fenced and barbed wired off and nobody has disturbed it. I will NOT reveal the location because I don't want it turned into this!!
i know you said you wouldnt reveal it, but im a huge cell tower nerd, would you be willing to maybe discuss some details if i promise to keep it between us? just wanna do some google maps research and possibly see it one day (if its still around)
I worked at most all of the sites in northern California. Very cool places. Always dreamed of owning one someday. The underground sites were also amazing. Great job on the video.
I know this place is abandoned and prob will be torn down eventually but it is still painful to see graffiti and vandalism in these locations. Great video and great quad shots.
I have one of these in my city but its a tall concrete tower that sticks out into the skyline. at one point it was the busiest in the bell network but I don't think it's in use anymore since at&t moved out of the building.
Interesting video, and definitely a thumbs up! The youth in the area where this site is located have some SERIOUS problems. There was one of these stations close to my house here in NM, however, it was completely dismantled and there is virtually no trace that it ever existed at the site.
Excellent video! You got some stellar footage, great angles. Showing us the entire tower! I appreciate in your videos that you include history, facts, and other cool bits about the location you're filming. Solid work, keep it up, looking forward to more in the future! Two thumbs up!
There is still one in Thetford Michigan that I pass on my garbage rout. Seeing one up close is spectacular. I wish I could get inside the shed. Pretty sure it's still intact.
Most of these were constructed the same year that I Love Lucy went on the air in October 1951, and everyone in the U.S. got to see that show in perfect quality (via film) and didn't have to view it in kinescope on the west coast.
Great video and explore. I remember these being built in the early 60's and scattered around our state. We were/are a large defense contracting state so we were high target points. It was interesting to see what the insides looked like even though it was stripped out. Thanks for sharing!
dig around a bit on YT, there are videos out there showing more and AT&T long lines actually runs their own "museum " type channel - very cool for the telecom geeks , like me :) I believe Ames Tower Group has some of the demo work - they also have several real good videos out there on them.
Its ironic that I thought a lot about a similar tower in Plflugerville Texas and was always fascinated with it. It stood outside the small town in the 60s when green meadows surrounded it. I could see it from on outskirts of Austin where I grew up when lots of country was around. I wondered what it was and a few weeks ago I had a dream that I saw it dismounted in a field across from me in this distorted dream. I live in Indiana now away from the sprawl of Austin.merging together in solid city. Its a shame. I hate the replaced cell towers and huge drumlike water towers . they are so foreboding. Forgive this lengthy comment. I'm an old lady now
@@MrNeptunebob From what I know, things keep being left abandoned like this because it costs more to demolish and clean up than you can get back from the scrap, so no one bothers unless they need the land, or are forced by authorities (and the later still after a LOT of legal battle).
In the early nineties American towers acquired most all the long lines microwave buildings from AT&T and now they have been off for awhile.. thanks to fiber and satellites. . They built one just about every 50 miles one direction or another. Most of the buildings have been stripped and I know of a few that have not been touched yet .. I will make some videos of these and post them ..amazing buildings
Those dishes look like spooky eyeballs. The dishes on the top of these antennas give me butterflies in my stomach, and goosebumps all over. I feel like they are watching me. Js.
TxMeterBoy J Towers like this are the last of my thoughts right now, especially because of COVID-19. This deadly year-long pandemic is the only thought on my mind this year. These Towers are from the 80s, aren’t they?
3:46 "The microwave horns were covered with a protective shield to keep out not only the elements, but also radioactive fallout". As a former Microwave Transmission Engineer, this is one of the biggest lines of BS that I've seen......
The radomes over the antenna horn openings also would keep out insects and birds.If these built nests in the antennas-they would not operate.The power feed from the powerlines nearby has long been removed-Looked like from the panels in the racks it was 208/120V 3 Ph.And spotted Western Electric on one of the rack panels.The place also must have had a genset-long removed.Also like seeing the cut waveguides going into the building from the antenna horns.
JP this was so cool as well as informative, I didn't expect there be an accompanying text and that extra step to add it really makes the video stand out. Just subscribed keep up the awesome job
Me Too. By 'Trade' I was a BNSF/ATSF Railroad Conductor for 37 years but my personal interest was in terrestrial microwave. The AT&T long lines have long been of interest to me but of the rare times I've encountered one of their techs at a site in hopes of getting a tour never happened. I think the original intent was to keep the inside workings 'Under Hat' so I'm happy to find detailed videos on You Tube of the interior of a few of the preserved and intact TD2 sites. I eventually got familiar with their 3.7Ghz to 4.2Ghz microwave systems. But to satisfy my interest I built a 5.8Ghz multiple link under part 97 for my personal use. Changing subjects, I checked out your channel and I am impressed. I recall most of the history you've documented and thank you for preserving railroad hardware history.
Very cool JP! I just looked at your revisit video and somehow missed this one! I remember going from Scarborough ON to Apsley where our cottage was and there was (and still is) one of these towers although I think it's still in use today. They used to scare the shit out of me when I was young just due to their evil looking shape! Question.. the cell horns they looks as though they can be rotated like the old 80's sat dishes? Wow this brings back some memories!
they would be semi ( minor movements ) steerable when first mounted to acquire the signal from the "mate" tower, but then would get Locked into that spot .
Are these long line things from AT&T really related to civil defense? Seems they really just carried civilian phone calls. It never made sense that alleged civil defense infrastructure in the height of the cold war would be all aboveground like this. I think somehow they were connected to the autovon system, which was underground coax IIRC, and all had underground bunkers with fallout protection and living quarters.
Cool pics and facts. Too bad the building facility went the way it did. Have to admit, some good artwork though. Maybe the building could get repurposed someday? 🤔 Unless its been torn down.
Now that 5G is rolling out it will make wireless great again. Just as I install WISP systems that compete with landlines for the internet in rural areas.
This building seems to be covered in what looks like urethane foam insulation for some reason. Does this location see cold temps, or big swings in temps? Never seen a Long Lines site encased in urethane insulation like this.
1. at&t built it 2. They decided to get rid of it 3. They ruined what they built back in the 1950's 4. It shows you how dumb they are. 5. Digitally now the horns can still be used, except they would need to be updated with wiring
Fiber optics are way cheaper to operate and maintain than this microwave network. I read that Long Lines kept most of the repeaters on standby for several months after the fiber network that replaced it went online. After the long term reliability of fiber was proven, they abandoned the stations. It is important to remember that the microwave network went off line after the Bell System was broken up. In the "glory days" before the breakup, I suspect Bell System would have decommissioned these sites completely, as that is the way they did things when they had the resources of the entire company. Long Lines itself did not exist then, and were absorbed into some of the regional bell operating companies.
One might compare low IQ, ignorant, lowest tier humans to flies, in that they destroy and decompose what came before. Looking at this structure, it's evident the 'flies' have been hard at work...
@@JPVideos81 so you can tell us where this one was right ?? :) Check out the Urban Exploration of Comiso AS on Sicily - wanna talk SPOOKY !!! I'll leave it at that ! :)
please lose the camera shutter sound . very annoying . drone cameras don't have 35mm SLR . you are shooting video and there is no shutter sound. the video was great and the tower and station were very interesting . very sad to see some thing so important at one time is just left to rot. wait till all your cell phones stop working because of the sun flair or a nuke bomb . we will need this equipment some day and it will be gone.
![[63] New Look at the Historic Bell/AT&T Long Lines Tower](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/MvXxNheLATw/mqdefault.jpg)
I worked on those towers from 1972-2000, in the North East. Real shame to see them destroyed by the partyers. Lots of stories up on that steel!!!!!
That must of been a heck of a job.
Am I right in thinking that those older horn reflectors have the reinforcement kit installed? The smooth sides kind of give it away. I also thought I saw the side lobe reduction kit installed.
+AlaskaMike72 you are correct. we called it bomb proofing. it actually provided an air cushion to prevent them from exploding during the rapid decompression in a nuclear blast. Side and front blinders were later installed to eliminate reflections in most multi antenna arrays...
Very cool!
I never got to work on gear like this, but I grew up seeing those older horn reflectors on towers here in Alaska. I didn't learn until much later that it mostly carried AUTOVON and WHITE ALICE traffic. However, even today you can see interesting cold war gear abandoned in place on many of the Alaska towers, like Combat Ciders ground entry points (UHF voice and data links for strategic aircraft). Those round horn reflectors look weird though, and I have never seen them up here in AK.
Sadly, in 2016 the last active microwave shot involving the old KS horn reflectors here in Alaska was turned down, I believe between the AT&T Paxon and Aurora sites. The Paxon tower concrete mounting piers had shifted, so they demo'd the tower.
Did those big microwave horns have Klystron tubes in them, or were there magnetrons in there?
One like 30 miles from me is still FULLY intact with all the equipment still inside along with desks! The tower has cell antenna on it but the block house is intact will all the old equipment. It's fenced and barbed wired off and nobody has disturbed it. I will NOT reveal the location because I don't want it turned into this!!
I dont blame ya
A lot of ham radio groups took over the old long line locations. It is an ideal set up for expensive radio equipment for a repeater.
Im sure I could get it to the proper people, if its still there.
i know you said you wouldnt reveal it, but im a huge cell tower nerd, would you be willing to maybe discuss some details if i promise to keep it between us? just wanna do some google maps research and possibly see it one day (if its still around)
I worked at most all of the sites in northern California. Very cool places. Always dreamed of owning one someday. The underground sites were also amazing. Great job on the video.
I know this place is abandoned and prob will be torn down eventually but it is still painful to see graffiti and vandalism in these locations. Great video and great quad shots.
All the graffiti and vandalism is completely unnecessary.
Got torn down this past week.
I have one of these in my city but its a tall concrete tower that sticks out into the skyline. at one point it was the busiest in the bell network but I don't think it's in use anymore since at&t moved out of the building.
will probably be re-purposed for a cell tower
Interesting video, and definitely a thumbs up! The youth in the area where this site is located have some SERIOUS problems.
There was one of these stations close to my house here in NM, however, it was completely dismantled and there is virtually no trace that it ever existed at the site.
This one just got torn down because of fire damage from people who come up the mountain.
3:44 Also the protective shields were there to stop birds from going in, eliminating distortion due to bird droppings.
The only problem with site is stupid kids with spray paint. Graffiti never improved anything .
Agreed
0:19 "2020 Free XXX"
*_uuhh no thanks_*
good old Bell would have a 40 page document that detailed the metallic composition of the threaded rod utilized in the cable tray.
the govt told em too ! :)
My husband's specialist training in the Military ( Army Signal Corp ) was the Microwave towers. Very interesting tour . ...
Excellent video! You got some stellar footage, great angles. Showing us the entire tower! I appreciate in your videos that you include history, facts, and other cool bits about the location you're filming. Solid work, keep it up, looking forward to more in the future! Two thumbs up!
Thank You Chris
There is still one in Thetford Michigan that I pass on my garbage rout. Seeing one up close is spectacular. I wish I could get inside the shed. Pretty sure it's still intact.
This one is now gone
If it's on North Lewis Road, the facility name given to it by AT&T was PINE RUN.
@@ericsvalland4417 That's the one!
Most of these were constructed the same year that I Love Lucy went on the air in October 1951, and everyone in the U.S. got to see that show in perfect quality (via film) and didn't have to view it in kinescope on the west coast.
Great video and explore. I remember these being built in the early 60's and scattered around our state. We were/are a large defense contracting state so we were high target points. It was interesting to see what the insides looked like even though it was stripped out. Thanks for sharing!
wished I got there a year or two earlier, but still a cool location.
dig around a bit on YT, there are videos out there showing more and AT&T long lines actually runs their own "museum " type channel - very cool for the telecom geeks , like me :) I believe Ames Tower Group has some of the demo work - they also have several real good videos out there on them.
Its ironic that I thought a lot about a similar tower in Plflugerville Texas and was always fascinated with it. It stood outside the small town in the 60s when green meadows surrounded it. I could see it from on outskirts of Austin where I grew up when lots of country was around. I wondered what it was and a few weeks ago I had a dream that I saw it dismounted in a field across from me in this distorted dream. I live in Indiana now away from the sprawl of Austin.merging together in solid city. Its a shame. I hate the replaced cell towers and huge drumlike water towers . they are so foreboding. Forgive this lengthy comment. I'm an old lady now
Attempt to scrap that tower and you'll quickly find out just how 'abandoned' the site is.
What do you mean by scrap
@@Sciron Recycling the metal for profit.
AT&T should have scrapped the tower, it's an eyesore and perhaps the money from all that scrap metal might keep our communication bills down.
@@MrNeptunebob From what I know, things keep being left abandoned like this because it costs more to demolish and clean up than you can get back from the scrap, so no one bothers unless they need the land, or are forced by authorities (and the later still after a LOT of legal battle).
I spotted the C Band and 6GHz waveguides pretty quick
In the early nineties American towers acquired most all the long lines microwave buildings from AT&T and now they have been off for awhile.. thanks to fiber and satellites. . They built one just about every 50 miles one direction or another. Most of the buildings have been stripped and I know of a few that have not been touched yet .. I will make some videos of these and post them ..amazing buildings
Those dishes look like spooky eyeballs. The dishes on the top of these antennas give me butterflies in my stomach, and goosebumps all over. I feel like they are watching me. Js.
Ben Malloy lol same.
TxMeterBoy J Do they look spooky?
TxMeterBoy J Don’t they not use these anymore?
TxMeterBoy J Towers like this are the last of my thoughts right now, especially because of COVID-19. This deadly year-long pandemic is the only thought on my mind this year. These Towers are from the 80s, aren’t they?
The original system dates back to the 50’s believe it or not.
And no, the system is not in use anymore.
3:46 "The microwave horns were covered with a protective shield to keep out not only the elements, but also radioactive fallout". As a former Microwave Transmission Engineer, this is one of the biggest lines of BS that I've seen......
The radomes over the antenna horn openings also would keep out insects and birds.If these built nests in the antennas-they would not operate.The power feed from the powerlines nearby has long been removed-Looked like from the panels in the racks it was 208/120V 3 Ph.And spotted Western Electric on one of the rack panels.The place also must have had a genset-long removed.Also like seeing the cut waveguides going into the building from the antenna horns.
I would love to overbuild stuff like this again. 1 foot of concrete. When was the last time you were at this location? Before this time.
I can't believe how high that drone gets man. Awesome place man, your nephew was smart to suggest it!
I would never be able to get those shots without the drone, its an great asset for video makers.
Oh believe me man, you have convinced us!
Really interesting explore, droning, and written narrative. And gosh, what a gorgeous day for filming!
Ty kelly
JP this was so cool as well as informative, I didn't expect there be an accompanying text and that extra step to add it really makes the video stand out. Just subscribed keep up the awesome job
I do the extra steps with all my Abandoned videos. I'm glad you appreciate it. Check out my Abandoned Remains playlist to see more.
JPVideos no doubt man I definitely will!
Boy I would love to live in one of these
Me Too. By 'Trade' I was a BNSF/ATSF Railroad Conductor for 37 years but my personal interest was in terrestrial microwave. The AT&T long lines have long been of interest to me but of the rare times I've encountered one of their techs at a site in hopes of getting a tour never happened. I think the original intent was to keep the inside workings 'Under Hat' so I'm happy to find detailed videos on You Tube of the interior of a few of the preserved and intact TD2 sites. I eventually got familiar with their 3.7Ghz to 4.2Ghz microwave systems. But to satisfy my interest I built a 5.8Ghz multiple link under part 97 for my personal use. Changing subjects, I checked out your channel and I am impressed. I recall most of the history you've documented and thank you for preserving railroad hardware history.
@@wes5150. thanks! Railroading has always been one of my Interests, particularly signaling, and I am very proud to have such a collection.
really cool location and history of it. Awesome drone shots too. thumbs up as always. did you climb up at all
Thought about climbing to the top to get a drone shot of myself but I didn't trust climbing and carrying the controller.
Might get there to fly a bit this weekend, looking forward to it!
what does knoebels mean in the title? is this located somewhere near the knoebels amusement park in PA?
good afternoon jp I love your sky video. and I love the view above of the camera that your are controls 😎
Very cool JP! I just looked at your revisit video and somehow missed this one! I remember going from Scarborough ON to Apsley where our cottage was and there was (and still is) one of these towers although I think it's still in use today. They used to scare the shit out of me when I was young just due to their evil looking shape! Question.. the cell horns they looks as though they can be rotated like the old 80's sat dishes? Wow this brings back some memories!
Not sure if they can.
they would be semi ( minor movements ) steerable when first mounted to acquire the signal from the "mate" tower, but then would get Locked into that spot .
hi new subscriber. Could you give some more specific directions on how to find this? thanks.
Can you turn on the power
nice video. thanks for posting. but take the frickin "camera shutter" sound out ffs. it's about 20 db louder than everything else. very irritating.
It was my first time using that effect and was a learning curve. Thanks for the feedback
Are these long line things from AT&T really related to civil defense? Seems they really just carried civilian phone calls. It never made sense that alleged civil defense infrastructure in the height of the cold war would be all aboveground like this. I think somehow they were connected to the autovon system, which was underground coax IIRC, and all had underground bunkers with fallout protection and living quarters.
not to be vulgar but.... my brother peed off of the tower
I know someone who bought one of these for 20,000$ he has remote Ham radio station in it.
bob smith man that’s a good deal for just the tower.
He will be they only person who can communicate in 2 years !
Cool pics and facts. Too bad the building facility went the way it did. Have to admit, some good artwork though.
Maybe the building could get repurposed someday? 🤔
Unless its been torn down.
Still there as far as i know.
Awesome footage!
this just popped up in recomended videos, weird
Was just there on Wednesday lol
DOAP DRONAGE nice vid heavly tagged SO COOL
never flew at a place like this, was a nice experience.
That was really interesting. What year did they cease to operate ? 🌿❤🌿
Sometime in the 90s
@@JPVideos81 🌿❤🌿
I could live ther can I move in now today WOW cool guy s
move in condition lol
all you need a new wall or two and some paint and i was thinking the same thing im still thinking of something cool to do with the tower
Now that 5G is rolling out it will make wireless great again. Just as I install WISP systems that compete with landlines for the internet in rural areas.
great video man what is that stuck in the sides of the building
Not sure what that is
This building seems to be covered in what looks like urethane foam insulation for some reason. Does this location see cold temps, or big swings in temps? Never seen a Long Lines site encased in urethane insulation like this.
Its in Northeast part of Pennsylvania. Summer months average 90° and winter gets down to around 0° Fahrenheit.
I seen one of these before and wondered what the hell it was
look up SAGE on You Tube or Wiki :) not the spice :)
Where is this one particularly also know of any other abandoned ones
This on West Mountain near Scranton, PA. There are others around, mostly on mountain tops.
About 20 years ago a lot of them still had FCC licenses and you could trace the path using information on the FCC website, as it listed both ends.
look up att long lines locations in google, an amature radio guy found em all and plotted on google maps
Kim Jong -UNy same
Where is this located? I worked on creed tower years ago.
Outside of scranton, but its gone now.
JPVideos thanks! I live right by site r. There are some cool abandoned and some active sites out here
@@JPVideos81 If this was the one on West Mountain, the AT&T facility name was RANSOM.
where is this at?
West Mountain near Scranton, Pa
JPVideos I thought so thanks
wow!1951,thats when phones comeout.i do miss pay phones.people love to call up on those phones to prank people.i was a idit pick it up,silly me ^_^.
1. at&t built it
2. They decided to get rid of it
3. They ruined what they built back in the 1950's
4. It shows you how dumb they are.
5. Digitally now the horns can still be used, except they would need to be updated with wiring
That explains why we pay so much for telecommunications.
Fiber optics are way cheaper to operate and maintain than this microwave network. I read that Long Lines kept most of the repeaters on standby for several months after the fiber network that replaced it went online. After the long term reliability of fiber was proven, they abandoned the stations.
It is important to remember that the microwave network went off line after the Bell System was broken up. In the "glory days" before the breakup, I suspect Bell System would have decommissioned these sites completely, as that is the way they did things when they had the resources of the entire company. Long Lines itself did not exist then, and were absorbed into some of the regional bell operating companies.
Why was it abandoned? Microwave is still used everywhere.
Not the one in fairburn GA
Pennsylvania
Good job :)
That was a Microwave tower
Graffiti on the roof...seriously. 🙄
Where is this?
Outside of scranton.
@@JPVideos81 in America?
@@coopersviolet9580 Pennsylvania
@@JPVideos81 thank you
One might compare low IQ, ignorant, lowest tier humans to flies, in that they destroy and decompose what came before. Looking at this structure, it's evident the 'flies' have been hard at work...
camp out spot 😊
👍👍😎
It just got torn down.
Correct
@@JPVideos81 so you can tell us where this one was right ?? :) Check out the Urban Exploration of Comiso AS on Sicily - wanna talk SPOOKY !!! I'll leave it at that ! :)
@@Wag2112 was located on easy mountain outside of scranton.
@@JPVideos81 Nice, we had a large MW shot outside Cadillac, Mich as well, but I don't know if it was "hardened" like this
5:05
Sugar Scoops..... :)
See long-lines.net for more background on the system
Microwaves?aren’t those dangerous? How many people got cancer because of technology like this? So many value this garbage over life🤷🏻♀️
please lose the camera shutter sound . very annoying . drone cameras don't have 35mm SLR . you are shooting video and there is no shutter sound. the video was great and the tower and station were very interesting . very sad to see some thing so important at one time is just left to rot. wait till all your cell phones stop working because of the sun flair or a nuke bomb . we will need this equipment some day and it will be gone.
Where is this