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AT&T Long Lines "Oak Hill Tower", San Jose, CA, 2021.

All the pixels, none of the RF exposure, at flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51

Captured with the Rodenstock 50mm/4.0 HR Digaron-W lens (@ f/4.5) on a Cambo WRS-1600 camera (with about 15mm of vertical shift to preserve the geometry), the Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50) in dual exposure mode (which preserves a couple stops of additional dynamic range into the shadows).

The tower's shape is irregular; it tapers slightly.

The wide angle and panoramic orientation give a bit of context, alone on a hill (which is being rapidly encroached by adjacent residential development).

For much of the 20th century, the backbone of the AT&T "Long Lines" long distance telephone network consisted primarily of terrestrial microwave links (rather than copper or fiber cables). Towers with distinctive KS-15676 "horn" antennas could be seen on hilltops and atop switching center buildings across the US; they were simply part of the American landscape.

Most of the relay towers were simple steel structures. This brutalist concrete platform in San Jose was, I believe, of a unique design.

John Francis 🦫🇨🇦🍁💪⬆️

@mattblaze there is still a tower with those horn antennas off highway 11 in northern Ontario. There used to be a set where I grew up, but now it's just a massive tower with a few tiny cell antennas on it. Fiber went through in 1990 and we all got touch tone.