Many outlets’ stock photos for their version of this story are of much, much heftier towers than what was actually stolen. CNN’s story has what they attribute as a photo of the actual shack and the base of the tower. It’s still a pretty amazing story, nonetheless.
on the one hand, i’m really amazed the thieves were able to bring it down without attracting much attention, and were able to complete their work in somewhat short order.
on the other hand, i wonder how remote that station was from civilization.
Vest, hardhat, clipboard. You could roll up on the tower in a Little Tikes toy car but if you have those key pieces ready to go, all that scrap metal is as good as yours.
In this case, you also need caution tape and something that beeps like a truck backing up
It’s actually PPE and a clipboard, you do need a high vis vest and work boots too. And the more esoteric the activity, the more that strange safety measures will be accepted.
"I’m sorry sir, you can’t get close once that alarm stops beeping. And once we start, we can’t stop - if that tower isn’t in the designed drop off point by the end of the day, we’ll both be shut down for weeks while the feds investigate. Technically, this is classified as a strategic resource… Probably some hold over from the cold war, but they treat it like enriched uranium.
We’re taking it to an unmarked military drop off site, if we’re not pulling in at the right time with a description of our vehicle, they get real jumpy with the guns.
Look, between me and you, here’s what you do.
Here’s the number for Corporal Radnok - he’s got his head on his shoulders, and if you give him a heads up before you go through official channels he’ll help sort out this mess. He’s a real solution oriented guy - he’ll cuss and yell, then he’ll try to work it out quietly. Quietly is good - he’ll do damage control, he’ll pay to get this fixed before it runs up the chain, and that’s how we get you back online next week instead of next quarter.
Call him between 6-8pm, after he gets home and before he’s in bed. This is important - no phones on the base, and he’ll be much less accommodating if you wake him up. Then give him a day to chew out the right people, then go through the official channels and we’ll have you sorted the next day.
If you want to play it by the book, everyone is going to fight you every step of the way, and the blame game is going to go on for weeks, then eventually someone upstairs will hear about it, and it’ll become a whole thing. Maybe you get a few bucks, but it’ll only be a few and it’ll be painful.
All the same to me though - we get paid either way. But if you’re going to go through Radnok I can leave my schedule open"
Rattle off something like that, and you can steal it with the owners watching. No one knows what the laws are, literally no one.
true: a couple of weeks back, heard a guy telling somebody on CB that he and his friend found an antenna tower section on the side of the road and took it home on a mustang.
Many outlets’ stock photos for their version of this story are of much, much heftier towers than what was actually stolen. CNN’s story has what they attribute as a photo of the actual shack and the base of the tower. It’s still a pretty amazing story, nonetheless.
This is the photo to save a click
Aha! So this is the famous RadioShack!
Well done friend, we’ll done.
We’ll see what you did there.
You have to give them your phone number before you can steal it.
Not all heroes wear capes. Other save you from ad-ridden websites
on the one hand, i’m really amazed the thieves were able to bring it down without attracting much attention, and were able to complete their work in somewhat short order.
on the other hand, i wonder how remote that station was from civilization.
I mean, it is Alabama. The nearest civilization is Atlanta.
Vest, hardhat, clipboard. You could roll up on the tower in a Little Tikes toy car but if you have those key pieces ready to go, all that scrap metal is as good as yours.
In this case, you also need caution tape and something that beeps like a truck backing up
It’s actually PPE and a clipboard, you do need a high vis vest and work boots too. And the more esoteric the activity, the more that strange safety measures will be accepted.
"I’m sorry sir, you can’t get close once that alarm stops beeping. And once we start, we can’t stop - if that tower isn’t in the designed drop off point by the end of the day, we’ll both be shut down for weeks while the feds investigate. Technically, this is classified as a strategic resource… Probably some hold over from the cold war, but they treat it like enriched uranium.
We’re taking it to an unmarked military drop off site, if we’re not pulling in at the right time with a description of our vehicle, they get real jumpy with the guns.
Look, between me and you, here’s what you do.
Here’s the number for Corporal Radnok - he’s got his head on his shoulders, and if you give him a heads up before you go through official channels he’ll help sort out this mess. He’s a real solution oriented guy - he’ll cuss and yell, then he’ll try to work it out quietly. Quietly is good - he’ll do damage control, he’ll pay to get this fixed before it runs up the chain, and that’s how we get you back online next week instead of next quarter.
Call him between 6-8pm, after he gets home and before he’s in bed. This is important - no phones on the base, and he’ll be much less accommodating if you wake him up. Then give him a day to chew out the right people, then go through the official channels and we’ll have you sorted the next day.
If you want to play it by the book, everyone is going to fight you every step of the way, and the blame game is going to go on for weeks, then eventually someone upstairs will hear about it, and it’ll become a whole thing. Maybe you get a few bucks, but it’ll only be a few and it’ll be painful.
All the same to me though - we get paid either way. But if you’re going to go through Radnok I can leave my schedule open"
Rattle off something like that, and you can steal it with the owners watching. No one knows what the laws are, literally no one.
But if you don’t have enough PPE, you’re fucked
I do love me a good Bavarian Fire Drill.
Yeah, I mean, 200 feet of anything just doesn’t fit in the back of a pickup truck.
you clearly are not a redneck.
true: a couple of weeks back, heard a guy telling somebody on CB that he and his friend found an antenna tower section on the side of the road and took it home on a mustang.
I can easily fit a few 61 meters yarns in my backpack
Either it is a construction with bolts you can remove to turn it into smaller segments, or you cut it into smaller pieces with an angle grinder.
From the photo it is clear that they weren’t getting the mast there with a special transporter. that would be way to expensive.