I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

In article ,
lorentsonci wrote:

I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

If this is a homework/exam question... well, in that case, stop
reading and go hit your books, OK? You'll be better off in the long
run if you learn to figure such things out for yourself.



If the tower isn't too far away (too close to the visual horizon) then
you can probably treat the distance between you and the tower as a
flat, horizontal surface - that is, ignore the curvature of the earth.

If that's the case, then you can calculate the distance using
trig if you know the distance to the tower and the angular height of
the tower. You can measure the latter with a plastic protractor.

If the road you're on is straight, there's a relatively easy way to
figure out how far away the tower is from the road. Do the following:

- Drive along the road until the tower is directly off to one side -
the line from you to the tower is perpendicular to the road.

- Use a protractor to measure the number of vertical degrees that the
tower covers.

- Make a note of the odometer reading.

- Drive straight, on the road, until you have to look backwards at a
45 degree angle to see the base of the tower, and then stop. Use
the protractor to confirm the angle, so you know right where to stop.

- Take another look at the odometer.

- The difference between the two odometer readings - that is, the
distance you've driven from your starting point to your stopping
point - is identical to the distance from the starting point to the
tower.

- Multiply the distance you drive, by the tangent of the angle which
describes the tower's apparent height at the starting point. This
will be the height of the tower, plus/minus whatever errors crept
in to your measurements.

- Go through the geometry to truly understand why this works.

- Use a fluorite-lens transit and a properly charged flux capacitor to
confirm that there are no thermal or gravitational anomalies which
might have distorted the light or the distance.

If the road is curved, or the land is hilly, or the tower is far
enough away towards the horizon, then you'll need a more complex
approach... e.g. go measure it, or call the owner and ask, or do a
lookup in government records (FCC) to find the operating license
permits for the radios on the tower.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

there are lots of ways depending on how close you can get to the tower and
what is around it. one simple one, if you can see the base and a person or
building near it hold your arm out and use a finger or pencil or something
to measure the person or building then step that up the tower to see how
many times taller the tower is.


"lorentsonci" wrote in message
...
I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

On Sun, 28 May 2006 22:31:59 -0500, lorentsonci
wrote:

I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.


Short of using geometry, I can only think of one other way. research
all the cell tower manufacturing companies' catalogs and get to know
their model numbers and sizes. Then when you recognize a particular
model, you will know how tall it is.


--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

"lorentsonci" wrote:
I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

Here's a technique that I learned 60 years ago in Cub Scouts.
With your back to the tower, bend over and look at the tower between
your legs. Walk backwards toward the tower until you can't see the
top of the tower. The distance that you are from the tower is close to
the height of the tower.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp

"lorentsonci" wrote in message
...
I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

Hi cl

Is it OK to wait till you arent driving to measure it??

Jerry

The only other thing you missed Dave, is dropping and measuring a plumb
line from a hot air baloon while stationary above the tower. Of course
the FCC will want you to calculate RF exposure to those in the baloon,
but this is another low tec / low math approach! Make sure you bring a
sliderule since the RF might cook a calculator. Oh yes, you do need to
know how to use that sliderule as well. WB3HUH

Tried the Cub Scout method but keep coming up with a length of 6 inches!

hi hi hi hi hi hi

"lorentsonci" wrote in message
...
I think somone , smarter than me , will have a answer,,,, "you are
driving down the hiway and see a cell/antenna tower, it is off the
hiway but you don't know how far,,,, and you would like to know how
tall the tower is,,,????? Is there a simple (kiss) way to find out?
thanks in advance. cl.

Measure the length of the shadow, and record the time. Look up what the
height of the sun was at that pouint in time from tables, and use geometry.

Tam/WB2TT

Measure the length of the shadow, and record the time. Look up what
the height of the sun was at that pouint in time from tables, and use
geometry.


The original poster didn't indicate he could get to the tower, but if he
could, there's a better way than above that doesn't require "tables".
..... simply measure the length of the tower's shadow. Then with a
yardstick, or equivilent, measure the length of the vertical yardsitck's
shadow. You now know the height and shadow length of the yardstick. You
also know the shadow length of the tower. The two are proportional.

The height of the yardstick divided by the length of its shadow is equal
to the height of the tower divided by the length of its shadow. A simple
algebraic expression ... easy to solve for the height of the tower.


Ed K7AAT