• RustyNova@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    It’s been mocked to death, but it’s still better than a regular cell tower. Instead of a boring pylon with antennas, you get a funny fake tree.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
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    2 days ago

    We have a bunch of these disguised radio towers around here and it’s extra funny because most of them are alone out in a flat, dusty field with no trees around, or if there are other trees, absolutely none of them are evergreens so the tower still stands out like a sore thumb. They would look better as cactus, even though cactus isn’t even common in this part of the state.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      If you see a church suddenly get a new steeple, there’s a good chance it’s a cell tower. The cell companies will pay for the steeple addition. It works out for the cell companies because they can usually get a deal to build the church a steeple one time instead of paying a lease for decades.

  • ToastedRavioli@midwest.social
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    2 days ago

    In the DR, especially in Santo Domingo, there are a lot of Norfolk Island Pine trees / Araucaria. They are the only conifers that can exist there at sea level, so they look super out of place surrounded mostly by palm trees and other tropical plants

    They look exactly like the fake cell phone tower trees (photo below of them somewhere else), but they are actually real. Really threw me for a loop seeing them when I was there

  • spicy pancake@lemmy.zip
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    2 days ago

    hehehehe I love fake tree/cactus disguises for equipment. If they ever figure out how to make hyper-realistic ones, I hope they use the comically fake-looking ones instead, because they’re way funnier

    • arin@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      RF interference gets worse from shorter wavelengths in 5g unfortunately. The same people who hate these antennas are also the same people who complain that they don’t get any good signal. This is just a compromise by bending over backwards

      • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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        2 days ago

        Yup, and these disguised sites can cost 3-5x as much to install and maintain depending on the specific style needed for the area.

        It also limits the compatible networking hardware that can be used, which can be more expensive than what’s necessary for those locations.

    • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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      2 days ago

      Found the NIMBY that demands the 5x more expensive equipment, that isn’t as capable because it has to be hidden, and still complains about service being bad.

      Do you have a problem with the look of solar panels on houses as well?

      Probably on your HOA board too.

      • crozilla@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        You went 0 for 3 with those guesses. 👍

        But seriously, how much would it cost to get an artificial Xmas tree manufacturer to sell fake leafy-limbed wrappers to cover those things? Why they gotta look like surveillance systems…?