Post #201,186
3/30/05 3:22:36 AM
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Is a cell phone tower dangerous in a residential area?
I live in a relatively new suburb which has lousy cellphone reception. One of the cellphone operators put up a very tall antenna on the outskirts to improve the situation. People here are going wild. They are making all kinds of claims about how this is dangerous, they should have put it in an uninhabitated place etc. They are protesting and want it taken down. Does anyone have some relatively unbiased facts about this? How much radiation does this kind of tower give off? What is the range of these kinds of antennas? Where do they normally put these kinds of antennas in big cities?
The people who are complaining all have cellphones and have all in the past complained about poor reception. This seems to me to be a classic case of NIMBY.
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Post #201,187
3/30/05 3:29:33 AM
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In my neighborhood
It's not uncommon to see someone with an extra arm, leg, other body part... ;-j
Towers are EVERYWHERE. Behind billboards is a common location. I don't even notice them anymore.
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn...that was fun!"
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Post #201,188
3/30/05 3:31:10 AM
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Sure; it could fall on someone.
Perfect example of the Cult of Zero Risk.
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Post #201,193
3/30/05 5:59:59 AM
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No.
Well, not more dangerous than your telly, your car, your microwave, your diet, your spouse, your kids, your garden, your toolshed, your house, your neighbour, second-hand-smoke, your lack of exercise...
Peter
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Post #201,201
3/30/05 7:51:30 AM
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GMAFB!
Tell 'em to go fuck themselves. Assholes don't know fuck all about radio. They'll get more RF radiation from the cell phone they have permanently glued to their ear than they get from the tower.
This is absolutely nothing more than NIMBY.If they want better cell phone use, they're gonna have to pull their heads out of their ass and live with the sight of a tower.
They're just upset because they have to actually see the thing. Jackasses....
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Post #201,203
3/30/05 8:02:18 AM
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Not as dangerous as HDTV towers.
Those things are a real nuisance to aircraft. And man-made aircraft obstructions, I believe we can all agree, are the most insidious of constructs.
bcnu,
Mikem
Eine Leute. Eine Welt. Ein F\ufffdhrer.
God Bless America.
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Post #201,206
3/30/05 8:13:36 AM
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If it encourages more cell phone use while driving it is!
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Post #201,209
3/30/05 8:23:40 AM
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Well, let me answer from an engineering stand point.
First off here is a list of things you need to ask if people have these thing in the house they live in: - Microwave Oven(s)
- Television(s)
- Cell Phones
- Cordless Telephone connected to the land-line
- Computer with a Monitor
- Flourescent Lights
- Laptop with/without wireless networking
- Wireless Access Point for 802.1**
- Hand Held blow dryer for hair
- Electric heating element Stove
- Automatic Garage door opener with remotes in cars
- Speakers from a Stereo System
And then, you need to ask about external problems then too. - Any Television Stations within 5 miles
- Any FM radio station within 5 miles
- Any AM Radio Station within 20 miles
- Electricity Lines with 100 feet of the ground (telephone poles?)
- Any power sub-stations within a mile
- City within 200 miles up wind
- A CB Radio enthusiast within the Neighborhood, in house or car
- An Amateur Radio Operator
If they have any two or three of these factors, the Cellphone Tower is NOTHING. They are limited to 300mW of power per channel, each channel should handle 60 some cell phones. Channel can be used on any of the antennas. Usually they have any where from 3-60, or upto 380 channels depends on the rig. Let use take worst case scenario here 380 channels times .3 W == 114Watts of radiated power maximum. That monitor they are sitting in front of, TV they have, 1800 Watt Microwave they bought, 900MHz Cordless phone, the Cell phone they have etc... All have MORE radiation (radiation being a generic term for transmitted Radio Frequency signal) than that Tower does. Most towers have dead spots of about 500 yards in a radius around the tower. The antennas are designed to transmit more horizontally and down than Straight down and onto the neighborhood. They also minimize signal goin into space. So, given a few massive generalization in calculations, I would guess *AT* most at any one time, these people are getting radiated with something on the order of .3mW (0.0003 Watts) of Cell phone signal from the tower. There is *MORE* background noise being radiated from the Sun and the Earth to worry about. And Watch out for those handheld Hair blow-dryers... YEOWCH! -- [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg], [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ iwethey[link|http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=134485&cid=11233230|"Microsoft Security" is an even better oxymoron than "Military Intelligence"] No matter how much Microsoft supporters whine about how Linux and other operating systems have just as many bugs as their operating systems do, the bottom line is that the serious, gut-wrenching problems happen on Windows, not on Linux, not on Mac OS. -- [link|http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1622086,00.asp|source]
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Post #201,339
3/31/05 12:31:54 AM
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The phone next to your ear is more dangerous.
It's very NIMBY. The radiation concern is often used to hide behind instead of complaining that it sticks up and is so obvious. But those who complain will, as you noted, also complain about poor reception...
Arguments over these get murky easily. There are issues of $Big Money trying to pay off or otherwise fighting with local planning authorities so they can put it where they want. There are issues of loopholes in such rules leading to towers in places like next to substations or on railway easements - technically private land.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
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Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
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Post #201,345
3/31/05 12:57:07 AM
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Re: The phone next to your ear is more dangerous.
i wanted to ring Orange up and offer a place for them to put a mast.
On top of my house.
They pay handsomely for the privilege of putting their mast on your land, apparently.
Peter
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Post #201,347
3/31/05 1:18:28 AM
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*You'd* probably need council approval, though. :-)
Or whoever your local planning authority is.
It turns out that in Australia, some types of land allocations are exempt from these sort of planning rules. Land owned by the electricity provider is one of them.
Wade.
Is it enough to love
Is it enough to breathe
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
| |
Is it enough to die
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be Anything but Ordinary
Please
| -- "Anything but Ordinary" by Avril Lavigne. |
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Post #201,348
3/31/05 1:39:51 AM
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It's called "planning permission" here.
But yes, there'd a be a veritable forest's worth of paperwork.
Peter
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Post #201,438
3/31/05 12:23:07 PM
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Yes. And. a nearby tower is good for you!
It allows your cell phone to broadcast a weaker signal for a given (signal/noise ratio) situation. Many cell phones have at least two signal levels for broadcasting - e.g. 0.6 watts and 3 watts. If you're close to the tower, the lower transmit strength is adequate. That means it is less likely to affect to your body. It makes a difference to your cell phone's battery life as well.
Those "signal bars" on the cell phone displays aren't just of peripheral interest. They influence your cell phone's behavior.
Alex
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -- Bertrand Russell
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Post #201,500
3/31/05 11:16:21 PM
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Love. It.
Indeed the celfones are quite cleverer than those users with now permanent indentations in the ear area. Can implants be more than a hop, $kip and a jump - away?
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Post #203,089
4/12/05 6:59:31 PM
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Only when it falls over
and takes out half a block of houses
lincoln
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