The history of communication towers 2: forms and types

There are many interesting communication towers in the world - from a constructive and aesthetic point of view. About them under the "cut".

Cellular towers are the most common class of supporting structures in the telecommunications world. This is due to the fact that for sustainable coverage it is necessary to create a whole network of numerous base stations (moreover, there are even more of them in cities than in open territories). In addition, many operators create their own infrastructure, "duplicating" coverage areas. As a result, cities are filling up more and more with such constructions.

From an engineering point of view, there are three types of towers:
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• Frame . These are voluminous lattice structures - free-standing towers. Possess high wind resistance and carrying capacity.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Mast In fact, they represent a pole on which antennas are fixed and, sometimes, system modules (such “boxes” that are responsible for receiving and transmitting data separately for each standard - GSM, CDMA, LTE).
  
  
  
  These towers are the cheapest in the manufacture and installation, they are usually placed where there is little free space or there are restrictions on the maximum height of structures.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• With delays . These are high mast and narrow frame towers. The stability of the system gives them stretch marks. Such towers make it possible to place antennas relatively cheaply at high altitude, but at the same time, they formally occupy a very large area, outlined by stretch marks. Therefore, they are usually placed in industrial zones or outside the city limits, in rural areas. In addition, due to its height, such towers often perform the function of repeaters.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  There are very compact versions of towers with quickdraws. Usually they are erected on the roofs of buildings where, for some reason, it is impossible to install a freestanding turret.
  
  
  
  
  
  

Of course, within each of the described species there are a lot of variations. For example, mast towers are made of pipes of constant diameter or gradually tapering towards the top. For the sake of increasing bending and torsion stiffness, the tower column can be a polyhedron rather than a cylinder or a cone:


Antennas and other equipment are placed all over the mast or just at the top, in the form of a “chandelier”.






Frame towers are square or triangular in cross section, depending on the required capacity, stability and conditions on the ground.



And even, it would seem, stable towers can be enhanced by stretch marks, because strong winds are capable of knocking down rather powerful towers:




© V-Tagile.ru

Exotics and aesthetics in the world of communication towers

Whatever one may say, the cell phone towers look too urban and often spoil their deliberately technical view with a panorama of nature or an architectural ensemble. Therefore, abroad are increasingly trying to disguise the masts and towers. Sometimes very inventive!

When you need to disguise a cellular pole, the tree comes first. Popular thought all over the world works in the same direction:




Of course, palm trees in Russia would look too exotic. We have more familiar solutions that at the same time allow us to hang antennas and system modules all over the post:











If desired, you can give a cellular mast for dead wood or some kind of natural installation:



Even in the rocky desert there are options:


In the end, you can give the tower a futuristic look based on the flora:


If the masts can easily be disguised as trees, then what to do with the towers? You can give them to the bell tower:



minaret:


tower clock:


Oriental-style turret:


or even an old school boiler tube brick:


Someone was not too lazy to build a fake house around the tower:


The idea is to note those who mount the towers in the mountains: they can be issued for large boulders or small rocks:


And you can generally just sheathe the antenna boxes:




The inhabitants of the village of Paris in the Chelyabinsk region made a beautiful but very impractical way. As a cell tower, they erected a 50-meter copy of the Eiffel Tower .



If the cellular antennas are simply hung on the building, then they can be masked with paint:



While in the "beauty contest" towers of power lines are leading. We propose to take an example from them and give the towers and masts of cellular communication the appearance of these attractions.


(c) The Colossal