AT&T Long Lines "Oak Hill Tower", San Jose, CA, 2021.
All the pixels, none of the RF exposure, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51261791084
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this post was submitted on 14 Jan 2025
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Captured with the Rodenstock 50mm/4.0 HR Digaron-W lens (@ f/4.5) on a Cambo WRS-1600 camera (with about 15mm of vertical shift to preserve the geometry), the Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50) in dual exposure mode (which preserves a couple stops of additional dynamic range into the shadows).
The tower's shape is irregular; it tapers slightly.
The wide angle and panoramic orientation give a bit of context, alone on a hill (which is being rapidly encroached by adjacent residential development).
For much of the 20th century, the backbone of the AT&T "Long Lines" long distance telephone network consisted primarily of terrestrial microwave links (rather than copper or fiber cables). Towers with distinctive KS-15676 "horn" antennas could be seen on hilltops and atop switching center buildings across the US; they were simply part of the American landscape.
Most of the relay towers were simple steel structures. This brutalist concrete platform in San Jose was, I believe, of a unique design.
@[email protected] I've been looking at some of the Alert California cameras around LA (have friends in Northridge) and stumbled across a tower on one of the cameras on Topanga Peak which has a nice view of another one of those Long Lines stations. https://cameras.alertcalifornia.org/?pos=34.0959_-118.5425_12&%3Bid=Axis-TopangaPeak2