- Location
- Atlanta, GA
Bell South Antenna\'s left in trees
A Bell South antenna is in my clients tree in Marietta, GA. It is an abandoned antenna, since the technology is now outdated. Down here in the south, they decided it was a good idea to install 10' tall poles with small DSL size dishes on them several years back as a method of signal capture. This particular antenna is in a 80' tall red oak. I mentioned in my walk-thru that the antenna and the 80' of cable hanging below it needs to be removed due to its lightning rod qualities. She indicated that yes, it had already acted as such. She pointed to two holes in the ground that had been filled in. These holes were entry holes from the lighting bolt. The lighting came down the tree after hitting the antenna, then down through the cable. The cable only went to 3' above the base of the tree. The lightning then arked down to the ground and contacted the electrical cable going underground. It then blew out every major circuit in the house, and proceeded to enter the neighbors home through some conduction between the two homes. The neighbors home was also damaged.
I suggest offering a service to home owners with antennas and old lighting installed in trees. They are liabilities just waiting for the right event to cause massive ammounts of damage. Time is of the essence.
To make matters worse for the red oak, the tree had been pruned last year by some climbers using spurs. They hacked up through the mid section, stripped all the lower bowels out and left a top heavy sad looking oak with the antenna in the top. It's a joke what some people offer for a fee, and what home owners will pay for without realizing that quality service is available close by in most cases.
Bell South should be responsible for removing all this hardware. It is truly an environmental abuse. Does anyone see this in other areas?
A Bell South antenna is in my clients tree in Marietta, GA. It is an abandoned antenna, since the technology is now outdated. Down here in the south, they decided it was a good idea to install 10' tall poles with small DSL size dishes on them several years back as a method of signal capture. This particular antenna is in a 80' tall red oak. I mentioned in my walk-thru that the antenna and the 80' of cable hanging below it needs to be removed due to its lightning rod qualities. She indicated that yes, it had already acted as such. She pointed to two holes in the ground that had been filled in. These holes were entry holes from the lighting bolt. The lighting came down the tree after hitting the antenna, then down through the cable. The cable only went to 3' above the base of the tree. The lightning then arked down to the ground and contacted the electrical cable going underground. It then blew out every major circuit in the house, and proceeded to enter the neighbors home through some conduction between the two homes. The neighbors home was also damaged.
I suggest offering a service to home owners with antennas and old lighting installed in trees. They are liabilities just waiting for the right event to cause massive ammounts of damage. Time is of the essence.
To make matters worse for the red oak, the tree had been pruned last year by some climbers using spurs. They hacked up through the mid section, stripped all the lower bowels out and left a top heavy sad looking oak with the antenna in the top. It's a joke what some people offer for a fee, and what home owners will pay for without realizing that quality service is available close by in most cases.
Bell South should be responsible for removing all this hardware. It is truly an environmental abuse. Does anyone see this in other areas?
