Equipment Falling Off Telephone Poles - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: wn1fju
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 02:05:15 pm
content: Over one month ago, I noticed a piece of equipment dangling from the telephone pole wires in my neighborhood. Looks to be some sort of fiber optic node. I can't imagine it is supposed to hang like that. We have both Comcast and Verizon services locally, so I first called Comcast to report it. The customer service representative didn't understand anything I was saying and I had to spell the address about 6 times - I still don't think she got it. But she said she would "report it to her supervisor." I waited a week, then called Verizon. Verizon actually sent someone out to look, but they called and said, "it isn't our equipment - try Comcast." I then sent a photo to our County's Office of Cable and Broadband Services. They sent out an inspector who I was told sent a repair order to Comcast.It has now been almost one month and the thing is still dangling right over a sidewalk in front of an elementary school. I guess we will have to wait until it falls down and hurts/kills someone.Nice to see that nobody really gives a damn.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 04:50:45 pm
content: Cut it and they will dispatch a tech right awayQuote from: wn1fju on November 20, 2020, 02:05:15 pm

author: richard.cs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 06:26:08 pm
content: Reach up and chop it off? Possibly with the aid of a small step of steps or a tree pruner. If it was doing anything important they'll come out and replace it, if not problem solved.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 07:06:08 pm
content: I've seen those things but never investigated too closely to determine what they are, I suspect it's a junction box for cable TV or copper phone lines. It looks like it's only got one cable going into it so it's entirely possible that it's abandoned and not doing anything. I wouldn't be too worried about it dropping off, I doubt it weighs a lot and it looks to be securely attached to the cable it's dangling from.I suppose you could use one of those extendable tree pruners to snip if off and then do a teardown to see exactly what it is.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 07:07:14 pm
content: Don't forget to upload pics to EEVBlog forum from your home IP address

author: SpecialK
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:13:16 pm
content: Call City Hall, or Town Hall. Report it as a sidewalk safety issue. Because it is. It's their job to keep the community safe.

author: Yansi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:19:23 pm
content: Funny stuff those American wires (even HT) on poles in residential areas...

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:39:26 pm
content: Quote from: Yansi on November 20, 2020, 08:19:23 pmFunny stuff those Europeans and others who don't mind paying 3-4 times as much per kWh for electricity as we do...Underground wiring is far more expensive to install or maintain, it's used in cities and most residential neighborhoods built in the past 40 years or so but there is still a lot of older infrastructure around and nobody wants to spend billions of dollars to replace stuff that works. I doubt most people even notice the wires, they've always been there and there are much higher priorities than replacing millions of kms of working wiring for purely cosmetic reasons.

author: Yansi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 08:44:21 pm
content: Can't argue about prices, but the price we pay is also for much higher reliability of our infrastructure.But I'd suggest not make this another US vs EU thread. I was just commenting, that it is funny, because US wiring is just a poorly maintained mess in our point of view. And I am not clearly complaining about the price we pay for energy, TV, internet, phone or what. Everything comes at a price.

author: Wolfram
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 20, 2020, 10:32:28 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on November 20, 2020, 08:39:26 pmIn Norway we have mostly underground regional HV distribution, and very low population density. I pay around 3 cents a kilowatt-hour for the infrastructure, 3 cents of taxes, and one cent for the actual electricity, for a total of around seven cents a kilowatt-hour. Infrastructure costs dominate here, but they still only account for three cents a kilowatt-hour.Electricity prices are significantly higher in other European countries, but this is not due to infrastructure costs.

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2020, 03:12:35 am
content: Put a sign directly under it, with a big arrow pointing up and text saying "LOOK OUT!"

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2020, 03:24:55 am
content: Quote from: wn1fju on November 20, 2020, 02:05:15 pmMight try the fire dept. Tell them you are concerned about public safety. They will come and inspect it, I assure you.

author: 0culus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2020, 04:05:19 am
content: Quote from: wn1fju on November 20, 2020, 02:05:15 pmWith comcast you *have* insist that the first level CSRs transfer you...then you will get someone who isn't ESL and might actually know what the hell they are doing.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2020, 07:29:59 am
content: Cut it and send it in to mailbag for a teardown.Actually I see those in my area too, and I don't believe they are the telco's but the cable company's so I'm guessing something to do with coax, but maybe fibre. They appear to have an antenna so I imagine they are some kind of active equipment that they can remote into from their truck. I don't know how it would be powered though. Sometimes telcos will have equipment on poles but they usually have a hydro meter and service going to it.Speaking of equipment falling off poles, I got a call for this once, I had to go check it out after my shift because the idea was pretty hilarious when they described it to me on the phone.

author: Ground_Loop
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 02:51:20 am
content: Quote from: magic on November 20, 2020, 04:50:45 pmI know this as a fact. I had a line hanging across my driveway at windshieldheight for over three months trying to convince Comcast to send their construction guys out to fix it. A tree fell on it and ripped the attachments off the pole. All they wanted to do was set up an appointment with me for service. Nothing I could say would convince them I did not need to home for them to look at it. . . Until I cut it. I guess it took out half the neighborhood. They were working on it two days later. No one asked but I was ready to claim it hung on my truck as I drove under it.Tell Comcast it is a safety hazzard and you have asked news media to come have a look.

author: cgroen
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 11:03:12 am
content: Its a "5G/Corona Weapon/Mind Control" device. It just recently stopped working, and that's why it suddenly has become visible. Its been there all the time, but when it was working, it manipulated everyone's mind to think it was not there.Seriously, call the fire department (or the local newspaper and tell them a disaster is waiting to happen).

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 01:03:25 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on November 20, 2020, 08:39:26 pmBalderdash.The average kWh price here in Switzerland is just over 20¢, vs just over 13¢ in USA. I think that's an eminently reasonable price in a country where low wage earners make three times as much money as in USA. It's certainly not the hyperbolic "3-4 times" you claim.And "cosmetic reasons" aren't why people prefer underground wiring. You claim it's far more expensive to install and maintain. But while the installation costs more, maintenance costs are lower, as the wiring is not subject to damage the way above-ground wiring is. Having lived on the east coast of the USA for many, many years, partly at the edge of hurricane alley, partly squarely within it, it boggles my mind that USA continues to use above-ground wiring in hurricane-prone areas, running along heavily-forested roads, inevitably resulting in power outages every damned summer, affecting hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses each time. (And in winter when ice brings down wires.) Doing emergency repairs isn't free, and the lost inventory and lost productivity isn't free, either.

author: wn1fju
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 02:32:38 pm
content: Thanks to all for the replies. The consensus seems to be for me to cut it down, although I am a bit too timid to try that (and it is in plain view from a dozen houses, so I might be caught!).The official word from our County officials was: "Our County Inspector was out there on Wednesday, October 28th to inspect the complaint. The violation was reported to Comcast on that same day. Comcast has 45 days to repair violations that the County reports to them, typically the work is completed within a 30 day window by Comcast. We will monitor the progress to make sure it gets completed."So I guess I really can't complain too much yet until the 45 day window has elapsed. Then it will be time to call the media, congress-person, fire, police, or what have you.

author: Yansi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 02:44:59 pm
content: Why are you so much afraid of that thing hanging there? It seems it is almost harmless, won't fall down any time soon and you act like some kind of justice warrior. So much anger, phone calls .. for just a piece of shit hanging down.Seriously a question - why are you so much bothered by that thing?

author: wn1fju
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 05:01:14 pm
content: To Yansi: You don't know it won't fall down any time soon and neither do I. Nor do you know whether the thing weighs one pound or fifty pounds. I would be happy to temper my "anger" if someone in an official capacity could offer an assurance that it is harmless.I thought it was my civic duty to report a potential safety problem. The world would be a better place if more people acted responsibly like that, rather than to insult me as being "some kind of justice warrior."

author: Yansi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2020, 06:04:33 pm
content: Okay, good you have the energy to fight then. I kind of resigned on some stuff in the world we live in.I think both you and me know well (or at least now you know), that nobody gives a damn about that hanging thing, unless it indeed makes a trouble somewhere. Either by injury, property damage or service dropout (that will cause a potential money loss).In an ideal world, a technician would be dispatched for a repair immediately.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 23, 2020, 04:21:03 am
content: Quote from: wn1fju on November 20, 2020, 02:05:15 pmDoes it really matter if it's not impacting you/anyone? Someone will come along eventually and fix it up.

author: SpecialK
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 23, 2020, 10:44:02 pm
content: Honestly, if you see something, say something. Why all the apathy? Isn't there some sort of "social contract", "sense of community", "it takes a village to raise a child", "civic obligation" or some sort notion.Just report it to "town hall". Whoever you pay your property taxes to. It's their responsibility for the sidewalk to be safe. If there's a tree branch in the way, they will trim it(if it's in their road allowance) or give the property owner a citation.warning. Same here, they will get the utility to comply and have this taken care of.

author: SilverSolder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 01:44:15 am
content: Quote from: tooki on November 22, 2020, 01:03:25 pmI think this happens when it is cheaper to pay the wages & materials to fix the damage than it is to bury the cables. Then there is the general inertia and "we've always done it this way" syndrome of large organisations (utilities, and governments).Times are changing, though - it is gradually getting more expensive to keep fixing the damage, and Americans are beginning to understand that the utilities have externalised the cost of power interruptions - on them! I know a local government official (that happens to have an engineering background) and he is constantly fighting for getting cables buried.It will happen, eventually, but it may take several decades.... but who knows, maybe there will be a big infrastructure investment programme in the USA (i.e. think about how China would do it) and all these things will be put right more quickly, along with brand new Internet infrastructure as well...

author: vk6zgo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 02:46:52 am
content: Quote from: Yansi on November 22, 2020, 06:04:33 pmThey don't have real technicians in Bizarro world where we live today.Next door had a bad lead in cable from the Telstra cable pit, interrupting their ADSL, which one of the family needed for work, so they "growled" a bit, expecting nothing."Lo & behold!", along came a couple of Telstra blokes who, with my permission, ran a cable out of the pit, over my roof, & down to the neighbour's house.Clever short term "workaround", thought I, but the thing ended up staying there for 18 months or more!One downside of running the cable in that manner was that the gardeners would clip the wire, thinking it was a vine stem.They had a couple of faults from that, but none of the "techs" thought it might be a good time to run another proper cable.

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 08:25:39 am
content: Quote from: Red Squirrel on November 21, 2020, 07:29:59 amI don't see shoes hanging on power lines anymore.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 09:17:57 am
content: Quote from: Yansi on November 20, 2020, 08:19:23 pmUK as well. Here's the power line in my village. Each house gets connected to the bottom plastic coated cable, plus one of the others.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 10:36:43 am
content: Quote from: Ed.Kloonk on November 24, 2020, 08:25:39 amKids these days are too busy with their Instagrams and TikToks to even notice there is a sky up there... let alone cables. Even if they did, I'm not sure many of them could put two and two together?

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 05:48:58 pm
content: Could it be something like this?https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2019/11/05/do-cable-companies-have-a-wireless-advantage/fiber-optic-termination-splice-point/Fiber-optic-termination-splice-point:This may be the Fiber Optic Splice Enclosure you see hanging down (Google it and you'll see tons of videos and images):

author: Mr. Scram
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 24, 2020, 07:02:47 pm
content: Quote from: Red Squirrel on November 21, 2020, 07:29:59 amThose cables are hard to spot at night.

author: wn1fju
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 25, 2020, 07:29:47 pm
content: The original issue has now been resolved.As of three days ago, the equipment was still hanging precariously from the telephone pole wires. Our county board of cable and broadband services told me that Comcast fixed the problem on November 30. I beg to differ.This Xmas morning, we had a Comcast outage in our general area which was fixed in a few hours. I then went past the telephone pole in question later in the day and no more hanging equipment !!!Coincidence? Did the Comcast repair people spot this when they were working in the area? Or was I right all along?

author: Ed.Kloonk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2020, 12:46:27 am
content: Santa's little elves.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2020, 03:34:25 am
content: May as well take double time and a half holiday pay if you're going to fix something, so they waited until today.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2020, 01:11:20 pm
content: Quote from: wn1fju on December 25, 2020, 07:29:47 pmYou were wrong. It's the cable company - the customer isalwayswrong.

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 26, 2020, 06:20:00 pm
content: Quote from: xrunner on December 26, 2020, 01:11:20 pmFor some reason that reminds me of this: