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Canadian guy builds 60' tower to get ISP

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 4:27 pm
by Mr Kleen
http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=301
60 Feet to High Speed, by Kevin "GooD" Lavallée

Introduction: Why I Need a Tower
Have you ever faced a real challenge whose only solution most people would consider too crazy or difficult? In this article you will learn about one of the most challenging personal projects I’ve done, and it was all in the name of Internet access. The goal was simple: throw away 56k and upgrade to high-speed internet. Sound easy? Think again.

I live in a small town with a population under 2,000. I was stuck with a 56k modem for nine years because no other option is available in my town. However, I learned of a new service provider that could allow me to get between 250 and 320 k/s. It sounded great!

Well, the situation was more complicated. The provider informed me they put a transmitting tower in my town approximately one kilometre from my house, but there could be absolutely no interference between the transmitting tower and my house. Herein lay the problem: there was a very large church less than 30 meters from my house, and so the signal had no way to reach me. I should have forgotten about it at that point, but I’m not that kind of person. Not after 9 years of waiting, and not when everyone around me, just far enough away from the church, would have it.
after reading this article I realized that Canadians and Kentuckians have a lot in common. :mrgreen:

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2006 7:15 pm
by Sabre
I can't say I wouldn't do the same :)

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:07 pm
by BryanH
Its only a 60' tower....whats the big deal?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:19 pm
by sirwilliam
Yeah, my old blind neighbor (think he was a terrorist...JK) used to have a motorized 150+ft Ham radio tower in his backyard. He would talk to people all over the globe. The thing that pissed me off was that 4 out of the 5 phones in my house were wireless so when making a call, I would get serious interference of him talking to someone in Russia or Uzbekastan and it would sound like the teacher from "Peanuts" comic...wah,wah,wah,wah...I used to yell real loud in the phone hoping he would hear me and I would interupt his conversation.

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:57 pm
by Mr Kleen
too bad he didn't pay off his credit card, then HLS would stop by and investigate him... :roll:

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:06 pm
by sirwilliam
Mr Kleen wrote:too bad he didn't pay off his credit card, then HLS would stop by and investigate him... :roll:
Well, his wife divorced him and he moved into an apartment up the street. The tower is gone but not the huge concrete square base (which was perfect for putting a new workshed on for my new neighbor).