| Most viewed - Camouflaged Sites |
Camofulaged AML Receive Site?1595 viewsBack in 1983 Storer Cable was trying to secure a microwave-receive site on a hillside in San Juan Capistrano. The architect retained by Storer lost most of his hair trying to get a design that would pass muster with the City. One night, in a fit of frustration, he came up with this design. We never submitted this one to the City. Pity. It would have been fun!
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Pine tree stealth site1566 viewsWhile it stands alone above the hill, this is actually a very good camouflaged site. Sufficient faux foliage coverage to hide antennas.
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Is that a Diamond-shaped date?1481 viewsThe diamond-shaped device belong the cell antennas is a flat panel microwave antenna. In many cases, the purpose of this antenna is to save the carrier the cost of leasing a data line from the local telephone company. The trade off is that the antenna weakens or destroys the camouflage nature of the site. Not recommended in most cases. How 'bout the fact that the panel antenna supports aren't cut off above the panels. Also notice how the 'bark cladding' stops below the level of the palms. Not a complete camo solution by any means. Finally, is there a brighter green that might draw the eye even more effectively than the panel antenna on the right side? I think not!
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Faux chimney antenna site 1 of 21464 viewsThe antennas are in a faux chimney. The base station equipment is adjacent to the house in the lower right portion of the photo. Spotted in Southern California.
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Southern California palm tree cell site.1370 viewsAlong side a major freeway in the Los Angeles area, this cell site is hardly noticeable from the freeway.
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Another sickly cell-pine1367 viewsIt looks like hardly any imagination was used to design this sad tree tower site.
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Camouflaged flagpoles1334 viewsSpotted in Glendale, California.
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Camo site atop broadcast center1320 viewsMajor network studio in Los Angeles. Transmission facilities hidden behind decorative work on top of the building.
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Sending out 'the word'1273 viewsA cell site within a church cross. The antennas are behind removable panels above the cross arm. The equipment cabinets are behind the brick wall to the right in the picture.
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False 3rd story on office building1234 viewsAntenna room constructted on top of an existing office building. Windows are not real, but instead painted upon translucent plastic materia. Roof room accessible from access door on right end.
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Faux chimney antenna site 2 of 21213 viewsThe antennas are in a faux chimney (center of roof).
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What time is it?1140 viewsIt's time to make a cell phone call. This is a multiple carrier cell site.
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Disguised as Bricks1081 viewsAnother example of disguise painting used to conceal antennas on a complex surface. From a distance, they are barely noticeable.
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Panoramic view of the Rocky Peak Wireless Rocks and Wireless Sign1039 viewsHere are 5 of the 6 cell rocks at Rocky Peak. The cell sign is hidden behind the cell rock in the foreground. Note that cell rocks are on concrete pads.
The equipment building with the small microwave antenna belongs to Nextel. The hidden building with the larger microwave antenna belongs to AT&T Wireless. Other carriers are in fenced cages below AT&T and Nextel.
This site houses Cingular, Sprint, Verizon, AT&T Wireless, and Nextel, and serves the Ronald Regan Freeway (SR118) at the east end of the Santa Susana Pass between Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley.
Save for one of the Nextel rocks (shown in this gallery), there are no RF warning signs to alert the public to (suspected) high level RF fields around this easy-to-access site.
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Simple plastic covering.1021 viewsThis antenna structure looks more like a large swamp cooler on top of a building, but it is constructed out of translucent plastic panels to shield from view, but not interfere with RF.
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Camo-ish on-building cell site (close-up)996 viewsLook at how the antennas are covered with the brick-link material. Also note the color bands on the antenna cables. The color bands are used to show the service technician which cables are for transmitting, and which are receiving. The color bands also indicate additional information such as the antenna 'sector' and data transmission.
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Sign of the times (1 of 2)977 viewsThe cell site antenna is seen at the top of the outdoor advertising sign. Spotted in Connecticut.
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Unhidden and hidden967 viewsOn this hillside are located two wireless structures. One is obviously not hidden and the other one is.
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A Powerful Bison962 viewsVerizon's cellular bison, located in Carr, Colorado, serves I25. This closeup shot shows how the antenna panels are affixed to the metal body of the bison.
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Disguised as part of the brickwork946 viewsThis antenna array is cleverly painted to match the color and texture of the building. Downtown LA intersection, yet barely noticeable.
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Two very different camo cell palm trees909 viewsNotice the striking design differences between the two cell palms One uses a light round trunk; the other a darker square trunk with a diamond cross-hatch design. Also notice the difference in palm coverage. The Time Warner Palm Desert headend self-supporting tower can been seen in the background of the enlarged photograph.
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Disguise site to look like a chimney896 viewsThis antenna site in Los Angeles is designed to look like a chimney. Note the panel covers.
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Fake Cell Pine Diseased Tree896 viewsThis has got to be one of my favorite cell trees...perhaps the worlds worst cell pine design. Yes, Nextel is to be commended on this design, not found in nature, spotted in West Los Angeles, California. Compare this to Nextel's truly good design for a cell pine.
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Cell Pine (multiple carrirers)890 viewsCell pine tree (multi carriers) with more antennas mounted on the building in the background.
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Close-up of antenna disguise fascia887 viewsHere is a close-up photo of the false wall or fascia hiding these antennas. A better design would have completely hidden the antennas.
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Roof fascia.885 viewsHidden by a false fascia, the antennas on top of this building are barely noticeable.
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Verizon MTSO cell and microwave tower880 viewsThis is an interesting 63-ish foot communications tower in Schertz, Texas. It's owned by Verizon Wireless.
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Welcome to Town!860 viewsHere's a clever way of hidding a cell site inside a City sign.
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Cell Pine with Antenna Panel Covers855 viewsHere's a Nextel site at the intersection of the CA SR91 and I110. It's a good design, and uses what I lovingly call "pine needle slip covers" on the panel antennas.
Good branch coverage down the trunk. Good texturing on the trunk, too.
Nice job, Nextel!
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Not much water, but lots of signal841 viewsLocated in at a shopping center in Oxnard, California, the cell antennas are located below the faux water tank.
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Short Flag Pole835 viewsUS/Mexican Relations.
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Close-up of antennas on pine tree stealth site825 viewsHere is a close-up of the antenna mounting pattern on the pine tree stealth site.
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On top of a roof access.821 viewsFalse cupola constructed around the top of a roof access doorway. Conceals antennas.
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Wireless Adobe811 viewsLooking at the west and south sides of Cingular's wireless adobe site. It's on a bluff above California Highway 62 southeast of Yucca Valley, California. It appears to be 'just another house on a hill' until you get up close and personal. The site is owned by InterConnect Towers LLC (FCC ASR 1050520).
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Cingular underground cell site equipment810 viewsThe BTS equipment vault, in the foreground, serves a Cingular's light standard microcell. The green pedestal houses the power company meter, and is subject to removal if the power company allows unmetered or remotely metered service sometime in the future.
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Mono Cypress807 viewsCricket Wireless has constructed this attractive mono cypress in San Marcos, California. The BTS equipment is located against the wall of the building.
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Cellular Pine Tree806 viewsIn the Sepulveda Pass between West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley (California).
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Now you see it; now you shouldn't.801 viewsAs an example of how to ALMOST construct a camouflaged site, look at this photograph. Nextel's camo box fails to extend the flashing around the top of its enclosure. As a result, from ground level you can see the coaxial cables running over the top parapet to the camo box. I've created a photo simulation to illustrate how little it would have taken to complete the camouflage for this site, and the benefits of that little effort. Planners, think about these things...they will make a great difference in the result of your work.
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Another Big Mac Site787 viewsThe carrier has its equipment in an underground vault in the grass area of this McDonald's in Huntington Beach, California. Notice the two green vents in the background.
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Spectrum from the Spectrum785 viewsThis camo cell site is at the Irvine (California) Spectrum shopping center.
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Mismatched Bricks779 viewsHere is an example of a faux building extension with a poorly matched 'brick' facing. There's no doubt that this design does not effectively hide the antennas behind the faux brick facing. Notice that no effort was made to match the brick patter of the underlying building thereby highlighting the 'out of place' nature of the extension.
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Pt. Sur (Ca.) Lighthouse Water Tank776 viewsAT&T Wireless rebuilt this tank in Big Sur to house a cell site (thanks to Neal McLain for this photo). Check out Neal's site www.antennastructures.blogspot.com.
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A Blessed Signal769 viewsSpreading the word from the tower of a church.
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Waving the Flag and the Signal748 viewsThis camo flag is adjacent to a major freeway. Note that under federal law the flag must be illuminated at night (it's not).
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What time is it? It's Cingular Time!742 viewsHere's an attractive Cingular Wireless clock tower cell site in Buena Park, California. The BTS equipment is located at ground level behind the block wall.
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The many colors of Red, White, and Blue731 viewsFlag maintenance (and federally required lighting) should be a condition of approval of flag cell sites like the one above. Note that some of the red color stripes have faded to orange.
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Peeking Inside a Wireless Rock729 viewsThis is what an antenna looks like mounted inside a cellular rock. The two coaxial cables indicate that the antenna is actually two antennas inside one radome: one for transmit, and one for receive. Another panel antenna can easily be added on the mounting pole in the foreground.
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What's that below the fans?718 viewsTake one poorly configured camouflaged cell palm tree and then abandon any desire to keep it camouflaged. How? Just add non-camo antennas bolted onto the 'trunk' below the fans as seen in this photograph. To see what this cell palm looked like before the addition of the bolt-on antennas, see "...before the mast" in this section!
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Is that an AIRCRAFT warning light on the tree?711 viewsThis site is on USMC property in San Diego County. The red light on the trop of the cell pine tree warns off low flying helicopters. Notice how the bark cladding stops at the level of the lowest branches. Also notice how much reflective the trunk is without the cladding. The bark cladding should have been extended all the way up the tree trunk.
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Monopine - Lake Elsinore, California697 viewsThis monopine has some of the hallmarks of a good design, including very good branch coverage and the use of camouflage antenna panel covers.
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Close enough to Camo696 viewsThis is a close-up of the 2300 Chestnut St. site in San Francisco. Note that this photo was taken in 2001. Do you see the antennas?
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Oh, say can you see!!691 viewsAn example of a flag pole cell site.
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Sprint Camo Cell Pine690 viewsThis Sprint site, under construction as photographed, features a tree designed and installed by Radian Communications Services Corp. The branch coverage is excellent, and the panel antennas are virtually invisible due to branch coverage and camo covers. So, who says it can't be done right? Quite nice!
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Camo-ish on-building cell site681 viewsThis is an example of how surface mounted antennas can be detailed to blend, if not disappear, into the background of the structure.
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Cell Palm head680 viewsThis is a close-up of a cell palm. Note the GPS antenna stuck on to right-side of the frame for the panel antennas.
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Sign of the times (2 of 2)661 viewsNotice how the base station equipment is mounted on the advertising sign pole mount.
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Time for a new Flag and some paint661 viewsThe flag flying at this Cingular site, located at a Post Office in San Marcos, California is ready to be replaced. Disposal is subject to the U.S. Flag Code. Also, a wee-bit of paint is about due, here, too!
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Camouflaged Antenna, Exposed BTS Cabinets654 viewsNotice the BTS cabinets of the two carriers installed on the roof of this shopping center adjacent to the tower camouflaging the antennas. This photo take from an adjacent commercial site parking lot.
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652 views
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Days'd and Confused641 viewsNextel need only extend the flashing to and across the top of its antenna enclosure to make this a very good site.
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