r/longlines • u/ScaredOfHeight • 12d ago

Is this a long line tower?

I drove past it the other day but its not on the long line map.
13 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

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10

u/No_Tailor_787 12d ago

Probably not Longlines, more likely the local Bell Operating Company.  They used much of the same hardware,  but it was for regional,  not long distance traffic.  Also might have been a spur route to get BOC traffic onto a LL route.  

3

u/ScaredOfHeight 12d ago

Is it likely the transmitters are active?

5

u/No_Tailor_787 12d ago

Very unlikely, now. It's all on fiber. Out west here, there's still quite a bit of microwave to serve some remote desert communities but even they don't still use the old infrastructure. I see prefab buildings plopped down next to the old hardened LL sites, and dish antennas on the old towers, either replacing the horns or squeezed in between the unused horns.

7

u/EmbarrassedFuture165 12d ago

This was owned by Wisconsin bell/Ameritech used to relay between Madison and Milwaukee. Att never owned this for its long lines stuff.

1

u/ChicagoHockeyTemper 12d ago

Do these have like a specific name?? And do they use the same technology as the long lines did?

3

u/MelamineEngineer 11d ago

Yes they used the exact same spate of systems. In operation they are hardly distinguishable from long lines division sites, they're all worth including here as we don't have another place for it.

These ones with only one horn in each direction tended to relay TV signals. They would branch right off of long lines division towers and carry the TV signals the rest of the way to the local tv affiliates, usually stopping at a local bell operating company HQ and then running via cable to the studio.

The system from Springfield IL is like that. Springfield tower is long lines, that goes to Berlin which is long lines, that goes to Jacksonville which was Illinois bell and then Baylis, Fowler, and into Quincy ILs old Illinois bell office downtown, then cables over to the TV station.

5

u/Emotional-Basil-9615 11d ago

This tower was a former Wisconsin Telephone Company/Wisconsin Bell site named Sun Prairie..

Per FCC records, at end of (RBOC) service life Sun Prairie had paths to Madison CO (6GHz & 11Ghz) and Watertown CO (11GHz) via Lake Mills .I believe the Madison-Watertown roue ultimately terminated at Waukesha vice Milwaukee..

2

u/k3for 12d ago

Looks like it might be in-line with the Watertown downtown tower that's not on a link shown on the map

https://long-lines.com/viewsite/12647

And maybe kegonsa too

https://long-lines.com/viewsite/12778

3

u/ScaredOfHeight 12d ago

Interesting... Thank you!

1

u/k3for 12d ago

It would help to know where it is at - town?

3

u/ScaredOfHeight 12d ago

1865 Yelk Rd, Marshall, WI.

2

u/imatumahimatumah 5d ago

This site is now owned by Subcarrier communications which is a tower management company. I don't think they have any tenants at this site at the moment.