Man builds 60-foot tower to nab some wireless broadband
By Paul Miller 
posted Mar 3rd 2006 10:41AM
posted Mar 3rd 2006 10:41AM
posted Mar 3rd 2006 10:41AM
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Raised my child? Made progress towards becoming a doctor, so I can save some lives?
Ham radio is back! Well, sort of...
At least someone is doing something important....
saving lives, who needs that. I'd rather die than suffer 56k
I think this story may have come from the comments on the "Ask Engadget" story from last night? Wow.
Raised your child in a week? What are you raising, a fly? And one week must have gotten you so much closer to saving lives.
I really can't stand people who can't see the sarcasm in a statement like "What have you done with your week?
" and need to make themselves look all big and important. Yeah, I mean you, DT. Get a grip.
#1: Through the Canadian's work, he has improved enjoyment of his life, and heart condition, more than you who would achieve in a week. Apparently you think your child wouldn't raise without you, and just studying and saving lives is more important than quality of life..?
Definitely a long length to go to for wireless internet access, but putting up this kind of tower in and of itself isn't particularly unique. Thousands of ham radio operators across the country have them, many quite a bit taller than 60 feet.
DT- little tidbit, the only people who talk about being doctors are not doctors...
I wonder if I could get away with something like that in my yard. 60' is really high, most zoning regs limit you to something like 35' or so.
So you get your tower, you get an antenna rotor up there, and you mount it with a highly directional 2.4GHZ Yagi antenna with a pre-amp. You could effectively mooch off ANY open wifi in the surrounding area.
I don't know about you guys, but almost every house in my neighborhood has wifi. Some are open networks (and if you are going to mooch, you could probably hack into any b network if you wanted to, security or not).
I can't imagine that that tower was cheap, but at $50 bucks a month, you can pay off a significant sum in very little time at all.
Myself, I've been thinking of just getting the antenna, rotor, and pre-amp, and seeing what I get when I put them on a tripod on the roof.
Wifi is indeed the ham radio of our generation.
Also, you shouldn't be raising a child, if you are still in Med school, unless your significant other is capable of supporting a family by her/himself.
This guy is a tool. He built the tower to overcome the church in his small villiage of 2000 people (the curch being relatively close to his house). Why didn't he just ask them if he could put a small antenna on it's roof? Would have saved himself a lot of time and well, there wouldn't be a huge eye-sore in his backyard.
Wow, that person really is desperate to get away from dialup. About time!!!
That's a really good idea!!!!
jk.
My wife won't even let me put up an indoor antenna for HD channels, I wonder what she would say if I went to her said "honey, I am taking abou 500.00 from checking to dig a six foot ditch in our yard then rig up 60' of gun metal grey steel to erect a giant tower in the backyard...can you watch the kids for a while?"
YOu know what she will say don't you??? "Honey, why don't you take that time and become a doctor or raise our kids?"
Good point honey, pass me another beer.
Exactually mark #11, Our Church is used by Cell Phone and Internet providers. Were not called Church on the Hill for Nothing. If you look in most your smaller towns a Church is the tallest building.
...and I thought I was cool with my Chinese strainer and USB Wifi adapter. Oh well.
Its probably Look.ca they have wireless broadband now available.
#3 Wins best comment ever (of today).
"Do you think he's compensating for anything..." -Shrek
Wow. Realy nice haha :)
I wonder what lightning would do to your wireless adapter?
I had a busy week of removing 60ft wifi towers during the night. Not an easy process. Also I taught children bad habits.
And he only spent $404 CND. I suppose he could have saved a few children for Sally Struthers, #1 any comment?
:P
I faced a similar problem where I live. The local broadcast broadband company said I would need a 60 to 80 foot tower to get a signal. It was not cheap, but every day I spent on dial up at 28k (the phone network in my area is badly in need of an overhaul) brought me closer to putting one up. Luckily the local guy found a new system called Canopy. I did need a tower, but its only about 20 feet tall. It sits atop my garage with three small guy wires and a yaggi antenna. Now I get sweet, delicious broadband and life is good.
Um, since when did a 6 foot deep column of concrete weigh 14000 lbs? Maybe 1400 lbs....
It's 14,000 lbs. Canadian. That's like 1400 lbs. American.
Sheesh, chill out people. And hcmiller, NYU school of medicine, class of 2008. Bite me.
This guy's internet is now flowing in wonderfully fast and stable.
But everyone who attends the church seems to leave with random stray thoughts of free porn, cheap viagara and various hair-growing pills...
(Oh, and now the pastor can pick up Howard Stern on his gold tooth fillings if he stands jussst right.)
"It's 14,000 lbs. Canadian. That's like 1400 lbs. American."
That is too funny... Hold on I am Canadian.
see what 56KBPS does to you head. Helps you aim higher. Kudo's friend, admire your tenacity if I can call it that!
Where I live, applying for the permit alone will take 6 months by which time then they'll send me the permit rejection letter.
Canadians will one day conquer the world, be afraid, very afraid!
WOW. that was expensive. That tower probably laid him back at minimum $1,800. Unless he bought it used.
Check out this - http://www.windcastbroadband.com/trees.htm
Correction $1,249.99
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=SDMX52
Maybe he built that tower to save some money so he can afford to raise his child while learning to become an anle surgeon? =O)
#Edit#
Maybe he built that tower to save some money so he can afford to raise his child while learning to become an anal surgeon? =O)
Do you not have to have planning permission to do that kind of thing in Canada ?
I think you would probably have to in the UK
"This guy is a tool. He built the tower to overcome the church in his small villiage of 2000 people (the curch being relatively close to his house). Why didn't he just ask them if he could put a small antenna on it's roof? Would have saved himself a lot of time and well, there wouldn't be a huge eye-sore in his backyard."
"WOW. that was expensive. That tower probably laid him back at minimum $1,800. Unless he bought it used."
The answers to your questions ... in the article you didn't bother to read before posting a comment.
WIth all of the connections that this guy had with all of the different materials, equipment, and manpower needed to pull of a project of such magnatude I'm really suprised that he couldn't just have the church moved just as easily.
Wow he got his 60 feet cheap. i paid 300 for mine used
arekkusu, If i choose not to read anything but the headline. thats my choice. So long as i dont make stupid replies in regaurds to what i did not read. And my reply did have the used remark. So get a grip
Everyone needs to chill out and grab a beer. Unless you are a doctor in training, raising your kids, saving the world and all that other good stuff, all while having time to tell people to bite you on some silly, frivolous comment board. Ironically, why are you even surfing and posting, go save some lives, Dr. Irony.
I'm drinking to rabies tonight.
I think we're missing the obvious solution here: burn down the church.
About 30 years ago my dad put up a 30 foot CB antenna next to our house. If anyone thinks this is a good idea, I have two words for you: Proper Grounding.
$404 CDN total. That's incredibly cheap. I've got a co-worker here that was looking at doing the same thing. The quote?
$4000.
Plus, he had to run power and wiring himself to the tower location (which had to be ~ 100' from his house to avoid a treestand).
He went with Ka-band satellite instead.
I think what this guy did was great. He was driven to get himself broadband, and didn't let technical issues get in the way. He's not harming anyone, and as long as he's taking care of his family and his responsibilities, there is nothing wrong with it. Anyone into hobbies of any sort spends a considerable amount of time and money on that interest. This was his.
I know microwaves are supposed to be non-ionizing, but do you think this thing is entirely safe and up to regulation? It's awfully close to his and his neighbor's house. If I lived next to him I'd probably be just a little worried. For all practical reasons though, kudos to that guy.
what happens when lightning strikes?