Who here likes radio, and cell towers? I do! Why? Because taller obstruction towers up to 250ft or more, have beacons and strobe beacons. As well as those big microwave dish antennas (especially the Andrew Commscope ones), and the cell sector antennas, on cell towers.

I'm a licensed radio amateur, so antenna masts etc. have always fascinated me. Unfortunately, as I'm now in a flat with no possibility of putting any metalwork up outside, activity is necessarily somewhat limited 

However I'm always interested in aerials seen out and about, this one is on a lamp post that we can see from the living room window, it's been dayburning for months, so there's a double interest of radio and lighting 

I think they're neat to look at. This is a timely thread, because yesterday I was at a yard sale and walking down the street to it, and I heard this lady ask the guy that was with her if that was a cell phone tower. So then I turned around and there was this huge tower right behind some houses. I thought it was strange location for a cell tower or the subdivision, whichever didn't come first. 

Plus I like antenna towers in general. There used to be a few of the big HAM radio towers in my neighborhood, but they all seem to have been taken down. I remember some houses used to have big TV antenna towers as well, and sometimes they'd have a yard blaster mounted right on them.

I have previously worked as mobile network technician and before that I worked as technical trainee at broadcast operator so I'm familiar with those. Here's few pics of me working

I hope all the RF was switched off while you were up there 

Well, the not whole tower was not completely off but only those in proximity of working area. We have rf field meters that alarms if the field is too strong.

In plain cellphone towers with no broadcast transmitters, it iss usually enought that you stay out of the front side of antenna.

Ham radio operator here as well.  Worked plenty of repeater sites on tops of mountains. 

I unfortanutly have no physical experience climbing these (GF would KILL ME)

I just like to get as close to them as possible and look up
So yes I have been fascinated with them

I want beacon light.... not an LED or Xenon one, but one of those Red ones that fade in and out... I believe they're incandescent. In terms of radio towers themselves... I'd be interested in watching one fall over...

I want beacon light.... not an LED or Xenon one, but one of those Red ones that fade in and out... I believe they're incandescent. In terms of radio towers themselves... I'd be interested in watching one fall over...

@HomeBrewLamps, you might like this one. Its a Hughey and Phillips/Honeywell KG114 FAA type L864 1240w (620w 2x) red obstruction beacon.

 

 
The image was from a ebay listing.

Yes that's the kind I like...

I am in the broadcast business-at present work at a gov't VOA SW broadcast facility.This plant has 9 transmitters and 39 antenna arrays that can broadcast SW programming to anywhere in the world.Power is 100,250 and on some rare occasions-500Kw.At one time the towers were lit buy a central 4160V flasher system-yes the flashers switched the 4160V going to the towers.Pole transformers at the tower base stepped the voltage to 120VThen came xenon lights-Flash Technology.Last year that was replaced by Dialight LED beacons.Now three of the tallest towers are lit.One of the beacons flashes red while the other stay white.Dialight has a guarantee on this system-if it fails we just call them-they come out and fix it.Used to work at a commercial AM/FM station in Wash DC.That would be 30 yrs ago!I can indentify what the tower is used for by the antenna arrays on it.Low Band VHF TV-in the analog days-used "batwing" shaped radiators.FM antennas can be sort of cross shaped in arrays.Circular polarization.Digital TV broadcast antennas sort of look like cell antennas-but just larger.The stations I used to work at had the incandescent top beacons that had two 620W lamps.These were flashed by a motorized tilt mercury switch-or later solid state flasers.The SS ones usually failed with the light always on.The mercury mechanical ones often failed with the light off.Have had to repair and install those-typicall in the building at at the tower base.And the really old Fisher-Pearce controllers that had the 117Z6 tube!

The incandescent flashers that 'fade in and fade out' have no machine more elaborate than a simple on-off flasher (like the ones tolivac explained). The fading in and out is because the incandescent lamps is such a high wattage, it takes time to heat up the filament when the flasher is on, and it takes time to cool the filament when the flasher is off. There is one here that has been changed to LED, and it still flashes but no longer fades in and out.

Some tower obstruction lights here have what I believe is a HID lamp (I've seen MH and HPS). There is a revolving red lens over it (obviously no flasher here). You can see the real colour of the lamp occasionally from the ground.

There is a tower about 10-ish km from my house that can be seen across the water. It has a 'day light' that is a xenon flasher of some sort and a 'night light' that is a LED red flasher.

Plus I like antenna towers in general. There used to be a few of the big HAM radio towers in my neighborhood, but they all seem to have been taken down. I remember some houses used to have big TV antenna towers as well, and sometimes they'd have a yard blaster mounted right on them.

I used to like these, but they are about nonexistent here as the TV is all digital now. I remember I liked to see those large TV antennas especially the ones that had a rotor to change the aim.

I used to like these, but they are about nonexistent here as the TV is all digital now. I remember I liked to see those large TV antennas especially the ones that had a rotor to change the aim.

My house has one of those I think...