Anyone know about the light on cellphone towers?

[Jason Roehl]

I don't know where you get your info from But the FAA has total control over airspace . City's Have no say at all as to airspace restrictions. They can write up what ever laws they want but there basicly unenforceable. And the guy who shot a RC aircraft could be locked up for years and thousands of dollars in fines for shooting down an aircraft. Totally against Federal Law to shoot an aircraft out of the sky.

If someone's drone is hovering window-level over my property, you can bet it's coming down.

[Frederick Skelly]

If someone's drone is hovering window-level over my property, you can bet it's coming down.

Yup. At my home too. Or if that drone/model is chasing my livestock like happened to that farmer.

If your model airplane is just flying over my home, I understand the law protects that against trespass and agree. If the drone is obviously snooping or playing pranks like chasing the dog relentlessly - that's my definition of trespass and I'll let the judge sort it out and take my lumps if I'm wrong. Without getting political, I believe very strongly in the old saying "Your rights stop at the end of my nose."

Sorry for going off topic, OP. The post about that model airplane club harrassing that farmer really stirred me up.

[Curt Harms]

Back on topic () we have a cell phone tower less than a mile from our bedroom windows. Red flashing at night, white strobe during the way. About as unobtrusive as i can imagine. Blue lights at airports are taxiway lighting, they're on any time runway lights are on. There may be exceptions but i don't know about them.

[Larry Edgerton]

The courthouse where I am the maintenance tech is 212' tall

Whoa! Must be a "High crime area"

[Myk Rian]

I went round with this extensively many years back. Have a large piece of property that is high on a ridge and there is a line-of-sight tower about a mile away that had a string of issues with the white/white strobe not cycling down to low/medium intensity at night. The day light high intensity strobe from that distance would illuminate the inside of the house (remote so no shades/curtains) like it was daytime. If you were outside it would light up the surroundings as bright as auto high beams that shined everywhere.

Similar to a tower on M59 in Howell, Mi . It got fixed. I don't doubt it interfered with the airport nearby.
That was one bright light.

[Wade Lippman]

Back on topic () we have a cell phone tower less than a mile from our bedroom windows. Red flashing at night, white strobe during the way. About as unobtrusive as i can imagine. Blue lights at airports are taxiway lighting, they're on any time runway lights are on. There may be exceptions but i don't know about them.

I can't see a light during the day, but it is either red or white all night long.

[Jason Roehl]

Whoa! Must be a "High crime area"

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4182...7i13312!8i6656

It's busy--10 courtrooms. County population is just shy of 200,000, but we're on I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis, so there's that.

[Scott T Smith]

I have googled this and found absolutely nothing.
There is a tower about 2 miles away from me. Once or twice a month the light on top is red; the rest of the time it is white.
Why?

Wade, I have subject matter expertise in this area (albeit it is a bit dated...).

Per the FAA, ALL towers in excess of 200' must be marked and lit. Daytime markings are alternating bands of orange and white, with night time red lights.

As an alternative, towers may utilize either medium intensity or high intensity strobe lighting day and night. The use of daytime strobe lighting eliminates the need for painting, which saves the tower owner considerable expense.

Towers over a certain height (700' range as I recall) must use high intensity strobe lighting; shorter towers may use medium intensity.

All strobe lighting systems have daytime and nighttime modes, with nighttime being about 1/10 the intensity of daytime.

In certain areas, the FAA may require that a tower use strobe lighting during the day, and red lighting at night so as to minimize distraction to local neighborhoods.

When a high intensity strobe lit tower is stuck on day mode at night, you can see it from MILES away.

Some modern strobe systems include both red and light strobe lights (strobe lights last much longer than the older style incandescent lights), with the low intensity red strobes being operational at night.

In some instances, the FAA may requires towers less than 200' to be marked/lit if they are within an aviation corridor and near an airport.

In some instances, towers grouped together in a field may have shorter towers exempt from lighting if they are in the "shadow" of a taller tower.

This is a photo that I took 1800' up a 2000' tower in White Lake, NC back in 1990. I was replacing parts of the lighting system that had been damaged by falling ice.

1800 feet up condensed.jpg

[Jim Koepke]

In my younger days climbing my brothers antenna freaked my mother the first time she saw me do it out the kitchen window.

It was only natural for me to become a 'telephone man.'

Now climbing up a short ladder seems to induce a mild vertigo.

jtk

[Ole Anderson]

Once had a project to give alternative lighting to a 100' cell tower/flagpole with a red light on top of it. Located on top of a hill next to a 6,000,000 gallon water storage reservoir. Township supervisor was receiving complaints from a friend, who wasn't even in the township, that the red light was too bright and bothering him (what??). Why he caved, I don't know. Long story short, the tower was close to the local airport so FAA had jurisdiction. I came up with an alternative which was approved which simply lighted the tower and flag from the ground with white floods and provided a certain minimum level of lighting, don't remember the number.

[Wade Lippman]

It was red last night for the first time in at least a month. Valentine's Day?

[Curt Harms]

Once had a project to give alternative lighting to a 100' cell tower/flagpole with a red light on top of it. Located on top of a hill next to a 6,000,000 gallon water storage reservoir. Township supervisor was receiving complaints from a friend, who wasn't even in the township, that the red light was too bright and bothering him (what??). Why he caved, I don't know. Long story short, the tower was close to the local airport so FAA had jurisdiction. I came up with an alternative which was approved which simply lighted the tower and flag from the ground with white floods and provided a certain minimum level of lighting, don't remember the number.

The neighbor could have taken a more direct approach like a guy near an eastern Kentucky airport, don't remember which one. The rotating beacon (green/white rotating light) illuminated his bedroom. Not being one for beating around the bush, he took the most expeditious course of action - he shot it out. Beacon was repaired and he shot it out again. They finally decided it was cheaper to NOTAM the beacon out of service.