{"id":4235,"date":"2017-05-20T23:55:06","date_gmt":"2017-05-21T03:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/?p=4235"},"modified":"2017-05-21T20:53:25","modified_gmt":"2017-05-22T00:53:25","slug":"towerspotting-georgetown-ma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/","title":{"rendered":"Towerspotting: Georgetown, MA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Being a radio nerd who&#8217;s trying to spend more time outdoors, I&#8217;ve figured out a good way to kill two birds with one stone: hiking up hills with radio towers on them. Since the towers tend to be atop hills or mountains overlooking the surrounding community, they often have pretty scenic views.<\/p>\n<p>Today was an almost completely cloudless day, so I decided to cross <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ecga.org\/explore_our_properties\/view_property\/1068-baldpate_hill\">Baldpate Hill<\/a> in Georgetown, MA off my list. (Note that the cover image on that page is <em>not<\/em> from Baldpate! I was disappointed.) I never did find the &#8220;fire road&#8221; on Spofford Street; I&#8217;m pretty sure it does not exist. The only way I&#8217;m aware of to get where I went\u2014plainly the same place on the map as that site depicts\u2014is via an access road on Baldpate Street just before Baldpate Hospital.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1335.685270597814!2d-71.01376548452858!3d42.706721278859305!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x89e304b9c5a86813%3A0x7116891fce264d8a!2sBaldpate+Hill!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1495339108466\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>I expected a fairly scenic summit with panoramic views, but it was nothing of the sort. Baldpate has dense foliage, and lots of poison ivy that discourages you from venturing off-trail. (And by trail, I mean the dirt road.) Really all there is to see are a few towers and some plants.<\/p>\n<p>I did pass this guy walking up the trail:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4251\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/img_7670\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4251\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4251\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/IMG_7670-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" alt=\"\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4251\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figure> Backlit spider&#8217;s web<\/p><\/div>\n<p>This Jack in the Pulpit blends in well, emulating poison ivy&#8217;s distinctive leaves a lot more closely than I realized:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4249\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/img_7678\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4249\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4249\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/IMG_7678-e1495327505902-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"779\" alt=\"\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4249\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figure> Jack-in-the-Pulpit plant<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Walking up the access road, the first thing you come to is a grassy clearing with a couple large water towers:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4250\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/img_7677\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4250\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4250\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/IMG_7677-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"438\" alt=\"\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4250\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figure> Water towers atop Baldpate Hill<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At the top of the hill, you come to a fire tower:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4248\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/img_7672m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4248\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4248\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/IMG_7672m-768x1024.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"779\" alt=\"\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4248\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figure> A fire tower atop Baldpate Hill converted into a cell tower.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At least, it <em>was<\/em> a fire tower. It&#8217;s now fenced in and loaded up with cellular antennas. I should have grabbed a picture of the feedline; though I knew they used low-loss coax due to the high frequency and low-power handsets they&#8217;re trying to receive, I guess I never really appreciated multi-inch-thick coax until I saw it in person.<\/p>\n<p>Between the &#8220;fire tower&#8221; and the water towers lies the communications tower. It&#8217;s about 250&#8242; tall, and posted as <a href=\"http:\/\/wireless2.fcc.gov\/UlsApp\/AsrSearch\/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=109732\">ASR 1004094<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4247\" style=\"width: 594px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/img_7674m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4247\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4247\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/IMG_7674m-732x1024.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"817\" alt=\"\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4247\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/figure> ASR 1004094, an 80m tall tower atop Baldpate Hill in Georgetown.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The tower is listed as being owned by New Hampshire Public Broadcasting, which is odd because, as far as I can tell, they have no presence on the tower. It looks like it&#8217;s just cellular, land-mobile, and microwave.<\/p>\n<p>Some licenses near the top of the tower list a height above average terrain (HAAT) of about 450&#8242;, so the hilltop itself must be about 200&#8242; above average terrain. With the tree cover, though, there&#8217;s nothing really to see. I do wonder what the views from the fire tower would be like if it were open.<\/p>\n<p>Playing with the excellent <a href=\"http:\/\/cplus.org\/rmw\/rmonline.html\">Radio Mobile Online<\/a>, here are projected coverage maps from the site. There are, tragically, no ham repeaters up there to the best of my knowledge, but here&#8217;s what coverage would look like.<\/p>\n<p>Both maps are based on being almost at the top of the tower (80 meters), 30W out of the transmitter, 1.5 dB loss, and 6 dBi antenna gain, for about 85W ERP. Modeled for 70% reliability.<\/p>\n<p>446 MHz: <figure id=\"attachment_mmd_5\" class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/screen-shot-2017-05-20-at-11-36-20-pm\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4254\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-20-at-11.36.20-PM-1024x913.png\" width=\"584\" height=\"521\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>And here&#8217;s 146 MHz:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_mmd_6\" class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/screen-shot-2017-05-20-at-11-33-47-pm\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4255\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/05\/Screen-Shot-2017-05-20-at-11.33.47-PM-1024x802.png\" width=\"584\" height=\"457\" alt=\"\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>There are, in fact, no 2m of 70cm ham repeaters in Georgetown at all, according to the <a href=\"http:\/\/nerepeaters.com\/\">New England Repeater Directory<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the stuff actually on the tower appears to be T-band and 900 MHz SMR\/LMR, though a lot of it is licensed for 300W &#8211; 1kW ERP. Other tenants, according to the FCC database, include Georgetown and Boxford public safety, Northeast CMED, an ambulance provider, and a few others.<\/p>\n<p>BTW: I failed to bring my &#8220;real&#8221; camera along, but was pleasantly surprised by what the iPhone camera could do. I used Photoshop to lighten up the shadows on the tower photos, but otherwise these are straight out of a cameraphone.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Being a radio nerd who&#8217;s trying to spend more time outdoors, I&#8217;ve figured out a good way to kill two birds with one stone: hiking up hills with radio towers on them. Since the towers tend to be atop hills &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/2017\/05\/20\/towerspotting-georgetown-ma\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-photography"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.n1zyy.com\/n1zyy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}