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Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

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Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#31

Post by [deleted] »

Kon-Peki wrote: post #20
InitialLastName wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tweet says "a tower site" which implies they have others. It's entirely possible/likely that they have multiple towers for better coverage; if one went down they would lose some coverage area but not all of it. It's an AM station, so they may also shut down overnight (as many small stations do to avoid over-propagation). Off topic: I could have guessed that guy was a radio station manager without any context. The…

The tweet said that they took a crew with a bush hog ([1]) to "do early cleanup of the property before we do more work down there". So this was almost certainly a long-abandoned radio tower that they acquired and were planning to bring into service. The grass needs to be severely overgrown before you need a bush hog. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_hog

[deleted]

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#32

Post by sonicanatidae »

zdragnar wrote: post #18
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #13

Wow. My feeling is that metal theft is getting out of control. If the news reporting on it is to be trusted, cases are in fact rising. Thieves have probably always hit junkyards and stolen wire, but now there seems to be more and more infrastructure hit as well. The oddest aspect of this is that scrap steel isn't even worth that much. How many tons could that be? Let's say it's 400 tons, that's maybe $100k. And it se…

Our local metro area has had a problem with copper thieves for a few years now, cutting open and stealing the wiring from street lights. People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

Humans will always be the problem, because there is one immutable fact about humans that history has proven too many times to list.

There. Is. Always. An. Asshole.

Always.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#33

Post by throwanem »

zdragnar wrote: post #18
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #13

Wow. My feeling is that metal theft is getting out of control. If the news reporting on it is to be trusted, cases are in fact rising. Thieves have probably always hit junkyards and stolen wire, but now there seems to be more and more infrastructure hit as well. The oddest aspect of this is that scrap steel isn't even worth that much. How many tons could that be? Let's say it's 400 tons, that's maybe $100k. And it se…

Our local metro area has had a problem with copper thieves for a few years now, cutting open and stealing the wiring from street lights. People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

'People' is a remarkable way to misspell 'poverty'.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#34

Post by trompetenaccoun »

azornathogron wrote: post #27
delichon wrote: post #2

I need to check my homeowner's insurance to see if I'm covered if the house is stolen.

Not as implausible as it sounds... The guy in Luton whose house was stolen did get it back, but it took two years. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-67356...

In this case the squatter was able to legally sell the house in his name:

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/squatter-...

>He applied to the courts for permanent possession of the home and won following an appeal, despite the judge accepting that he had committed criminal trespass. According to new reports, Mr Best has now sold the home for a huge profit.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#35

Post by randomdata »

Kon-Peki wrote: post #20
InitialLastName wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tweet says "a tower site" which implies they have others. It's entirely possible/likely that they have multiple towers for better coverage; if one went down they would lose some coverage area but not all of it. It's an AM station, so they may also shut down overnight (as many small stations do to avoid over-propagation). Off topic: I could have guessed that guy was a radio station manager without any context. The…

The tweet said that they took a crew with a bush hog ([1]) to "do early cleanup of the property before we do more work down there". So this was almost certainly a long-abandoned radio tower that they acquired and were planning to bring into service. The grass needs to be severely overgrown before you need a bush hog. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brush_hog

> The grass needs to be severely overgrown before you need a bush hog.

Use of a bush hug does not imply the need for a bush hog, though. Even for routine maintenance of the grass you're apt to choose the bush hog out of convenience and practicality. It's not like you're going to waste time puttering around with the push mower you cut your grass at home with for a tower site out in the middle of nowhere.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#36

Post by Xirgil »

trompetenaccoun wrote: post #13

Wow. My feeling is that metal theft is getting out of control. If the news reporting on it is to be trusted, cases are in fact rising. Thieves have probably always hit junkyards and stolen wire, but now there seems to be more and more infrastructure hit as well. The oddest aspect of this is that scrap steel isn't even worth that much. How many tons could that be? Let's say it's 400 tons, that's maybe $100k. And it se…

Criminals don't make sense to you because you're trying to explain their behavior with your own thought process. You're likely much smarter than they are, with a better understanding of risk vs reward and lower impulsivity. Also you can't explain criminal behavior with purely financial motivations. Car thieves are not making $33k per car. A lot of them don't even sell them, just steal what's inside and use them for a joy ride (ask me how I know). Lots of petty criminals and drug dealers are not making very much money, especially for the level of risk. But compared to a traditional job it's much less restrictive, fun and exciting, lets you hang out with your friends most of the time, and has a lot more social clout with their peers than traditional employment.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#37

Post by [deleted] »

sokoloff wrote: post #26
hiddencost wrote: post #10

Steel scraps at $225 a ton.. That's about what a large pickup truck can haul. Copper is worth 20x more. I dunno, if you're willing to work that hard you could probably just become a contractor.

I think the issue is that some people are willing to work quite hard, but only intermittently. (Though that doesn't necessarily disqualify them from being a contractor either, I suppose.)

[deleted]

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#38

Post by toomuchtodo »

zdragnar wrote: post #18
trompetenaccoun wrote: post #13

Wow. My feeling is that metal theft is getting out of control. If the news reporting on it is to be trusted, cases are in fact rising. Thieves have probably always hit junkyards and stolen wire, but now there seems to be more and more infrastructure hit as well. The oddest aspect of this is that scrap steel isn't even worth that much. How many tons could that be? Let's say it's 400 tons, that's maybe $100k. And it se…

Our local metro area has had a problem with copper thieves for a few years now, cutting open and stealing the wiring from street lights. People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

> People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

Always has been. With that said, this is incredibly impressive from a logistics perspective. Hire these folks for demolition and salvage work.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#39

Post by mcphage »

throwanem wrote: post #33
zdragnar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our local metro area has had a problem with copper thieves for a few years now, cutting open and stealing the wiring from street lights. People are why we can't have nice things, apparently.

'People' is a remarkable way to misspell 'poverty'.

In the broad I agree, but in this specific case, I don't think poor people can dismantle a 200' steel radio tower without anyone noticing. I'm guessing that would require some heavy, expensive equipment.

Re: Someone stole a Jasper radio station’s 200-foot tower, owner says

#40

Post by alistairSH »

huytersd wrote: post #16
imglorp wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few guys with plasma cutters and a winch could have that pieced and loaded on a flatbed in no time.

Not easily. Those metal tension cables are dangerous to cut and it’s going to have to fall like a tree in some direction.

These towers often have several sets of tension cables at various heights, so you could cut the outermost/tallest set, drop the top-third of the tower, and work your way down. Still dangerous, but it's not always "bring all 500' down at once".
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