Why America's Forgotten Microwave Skyway Network is still standing | Abandoned

on a lonely Ridge in Santa Monica California stands the Forgotten remains of an eerie microwave tower that once worked in conjunction with 107 other similar structures spread across the nation this Tower is how your grandparents made wireless phone calls all the way back in the 1950s the network was known as the microwave radio relay Skyway a 70 year old initiative that would inevitably change the world as we know it but why have these icons just been left to rot well the answer might shock you so stay tuned because today we discover America's forgotten microwave Towers I'm your host Ryan so cash and you're watching it's history [Music] the vision of long-distance communication has been around forever and for context it's essential to do a quick overview as to the relay concept which is fundamental throughout almost every duration starting with smoke signals which were used by various ancient civilizations such as Native Americans and the ancient Chinese to convey simple messages across long distances you see by creating distinctive patterns of smoke people could communicate essential information then we have the semaphore system which is somewhat dissimilar as it used various signals typically Flags or mechanical devices to convey messages over long distances the additional symbols allowed for more complex content to be transmitted operators would manipulate the position of the flags or mechanical arms to spell out messages these systems in some cases are still used in train networks today this method was widely used until the 18th and 19th centuries particularly for military communication that was until the telegraph arrived you see the telegraph was a significant development in long-distance communication invented by Samuel Morse in the 1830s it used electrical signals to transmit coded messages over long distances using Telegraph lines operators would input messages by tapping a telegraph key and the signals would be received and decoded at the other end the telegraph is what did away with the Pony Express a mail delivery system used in the United States during the mid-19th century Riders on Horseback carried mail across vast distances using relay stations along the route to ensure continuous delivery service we should also mention here that carrier pigeons were also a means of communication in ancient times and continued to be used until the early 20th century messages would be attached to the leg of trained pigeons which would then fly back to its home base carrying the message over long distances this system wasn't a relay and it was limited in content as the weight of the note was a limiting factor also messages could be lost or intercepted fast forward to 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone Not only would all that previous technology become redundant but wide reaching communication became available for the masses in a way that perhaps Society might not have been prepared for the old telephones did not use relays in the sense of electromagnetic relays they had a different mechanism to transmit and receive sound sound waves were converted into electrical signals using a microphone from there these electrical signals were sent through a wire to the receiving end which was then converted back into sound waves using a receiver however as the technology developed and the network became extensive relays were needed in telephone exchanges which acted as the central hubs for connecting calls and these exchanges operators manually connected calls by plugging and unplugging wires the use of relays in telephone exchanges helped automate and streamline the process of connecting calls to different destinations but the downside to wire phones were Apparent from the start and they were enormous the physical connections meant that range was limited leaving rural areas offline all locations were fixed and inflexible even the early Urban switching buildings would run over capacity leading to bizarre architectural Solutions of expanding the basement into tunnels and building the upper levels beyond what was initially imagined American cities found themselves in a mess of wires as the network grew with some rather unsettling imagery to support that fact fortunately the aesthetic didn't bother most of the public as they saw this service as a luxury and the wave of the future kind of how we might perceive topics like AI today the network was vulnerable however as a lightning strike storm or construction accident would be enough to knock people offline for weeks fixing the issue was also a hassle as it would require the customer to make an in-person visit to the phone company where they'd be met with a massive line they could report the issue using a friend's phone thing thanks to operator assistance but as you very well know phone service leaves a lot to be desired so in many cases they would submit a written complaint by mail or post their issue on a physical community bulletin board that was known to be checked by the phone company All the Same by the 20th century phones were up and running and although the service was widely embraced it had some ill effects on society the public was very concerned about the invasion of privacy as manually connected telephones meant that operators could potentially listen in on conversations telephone etiquette was not developed so people didn't answer their phones promptly introduce themselves or know how to end conversations politely even more disconcerting was that in some cases the wire LED to isolation and depression since face-to-face interactions were no longer required Community bonds they were weakened even so the benefits outweighed the downsides and by the early 20th century the concept method of Wireless transmission was already on the horizon even back then the great minds of the time knew Wireless would enable the type of technology that could for example allow you to download an app on your phone and learn something new I want to take a moment to thank you all for supporting the channel and to tell you about our sponsor blinkist whose service has proven to be a game changer I recently discovered The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonagall a blink witch has helped me master self-control and understand why it matters blinkist is a fantastic service offering 5 500 non-fiction titles in just 15 minutes I enjoy it as a constant opportunity to learn it doesn't replace books but it leads me to discover what it is that I want to read these bite-sized versions of the original work will both educate and entertain you which is why I prefer blinkist to other apps it's also a great way to expand your horizons with 27 categories like science society and culture productivity and Beyond you can also highlight and share what you've learned thanks to the new feature called blinkist spaces this feature allows you to create a space with friends or family where you can recommend titles to each other all members of all shared spaces can access all titles in the space with or without a blinkist premium subscription I'm telling you blinkist is more than just a book summary it's a way to constantly learn new things so get a seven day free trial and 25 off blinkist annual premium by clicking the link in the description one of the earliest versions of wireless communication can be traced back to the work of Nikola Tesla in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Tesla proposed and experimented with wireless energy and information transmission Tesla envisioned a Global Wireless communication system known as the world wireless system or Tesla's wireless system he believed that transmitting electrical power and messages through Earth's atmosphere was possible without wires Tesla's Vision included large transmitting Towers to generate electromagnet waves and could carry energy and information across long distances he conducted experiments and successfully demonstrated Wireless power transmission and the ability to wirelessly light bulbs and other powered devices Tesla's ideas and experiments laid the foundation for developing wireless communication well his specific implement temptation of a global wireless system did not come to fruition his work inspired subsequent inventors and researchers who further Advanced the field of wireless communication after Nikola Tesla wireless communication continued to evolve and eventually became a reality through the contributions of several inventors and scientists one of the key figures in this development was Marconi an Italian inventor who built upon Tesla's work and made significant advancements in Wireless communication in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Marconi successfully demonstrated the transmission and reception of radio waves over long distances he developed practical systems for wireless telegraphy which became the foundation for wireless communication he improved upon Tesla's Concepts utilizing electromagnetic radiation and resonance principles to achieve long-distance wireless communication in 1901 Marconi made history by 6 successfully transmitting the first transatlantic Wireless Telegraph signal establishing communication between Cornwall England and Newfoundland Canada this achievement showcased the practicality and potential of wireless communication over vast distances following Marconi's groundbreaking work wireless communication Technologies continued to advance rapidly the development of vacuum tubes which enabled the amplification and modulation of radio signals played a crucial role in the further Improvement of wireless communication systems America's first commercial Wireless communication network was the at T Wireless stations and the wired telephone companies took note by the mid 20th century they'd set out to push that notion to the next level the first operational microwave radio relay system in the United States was implemented by Bell labs in 1947 at T's research and development arm created the horn antenna which connected New York City to Philadelphia spanning about 100 miles this marked the beginning of a new era in long-distance communication as it offered higher capacity and faster transmission speeds than traditional wired systems this was a big deal hence microwave radio relay skyways rapidly expanded across the United States and other parts of the world these networks utilized a series of relay stations positioned at regular intervals along the transmission path typically miles apart very much in the spirit of those relays we discussed at the top of the video each station received the microwave signal from the previous station Amplified it and transmitted it to the next station effectively relaying the signal across the network the Skyway revolutionized communication by providing an alternative to costly and time-consuming wired systems Wireless also reduced the required extensive physical infrastructure of traditional long distance lines they were faster to deploy they had greater flexibility and the ability to bypass geographical obstacles the impeded laying traditional cables such as mountains or bodies of water and so it was a t launched their microwave radio relay Skyway on August the 17th 1951 this web of towers consisted of 107 structures and transmitted signals Nationwide and here's the part I find most intriguing from the 1950s on in many cases telephone calls were transmitted long distance wirelessly this is a fact we all tend to overlook as the connection we saw at home was why tired but what we didn't realize is that down the line that wire connected to a wireless Transmission in other words the introduction of microwave radio relay technology offered a more efficient and cost-effective solution for transmitting telephone signals over long distances this network established reliable and high quality voice communication channels for everyone using a similar Principle as the original telephone rather than transmitting electronic waves it transmitted microwaves between relays it allowed for the transmission of multiple telephone conversations simultaneously enabling the effective exchange of information between different locations the network was crucial for business and personal communication facilitating long-distance telephone calls telegraphy services and other data transmission needs it provided a much needed alternative to older communication methods like elevated lines or undersea cable which were slower more expensive to maintain and had a limited capacity basically at T's microwave radio relay network was pivotal in transforming long distance communication enabling faster and more reliable connectivity across the United States it helped meet the growing demand for telecommunications services and laid the groundwork for developing more advanced communication Technologies in the following decades and funny enough among other things a wire would be what destroyed the network the microwave relay network was not without its faults the costs and efficiency were always a challenge as there were many working parts to maintain these were enormous complicated and expansive structures bandwidth constantly challenged capacity and as other forms of microwave radio were developed Network crowding caused service dropouts by the late 1980s cell phone networks were already developing and it was clear that something needed to change initially everyone thought that satellites would be the solution to increasing bandwidth and although that sounds spectacular scientists had been developing fiber optic cables in the background since the 1960s with communication in mind in 1966 doctors Charles K cow a physicist and engineer published a groundbreaking paper outlining the potential of using glass fiber for optical communication he proposed using Pure Glass fibers to transmit light signals over long distances laying the foundation for developing Fiber Optic Cables further advancements in fiber optic technology came in the early 1970s when corn and Glassworks produced a low-loss glass fiber cable capable of transmitting light signals over long distances this development significantly improved the efficiency and reliability of fiber optic communication by the mid-1970s prac tactical fiber optic cables were being developed and tested in 1977 the first experimental fiber optic telephone link was established by Bell labs in the United States demonstrating the feasibility of using fiber optics for long distance communication the commercial development of fiber optic cables began in the late 1970s and early 1980s telecommunication companies started to invest in laying fiber optic infrastructure to replaced existing copper-based networks this marked the beginning of the widespread adoption of fiber optic technology for long-distance communication since then fiber optic technology has continued to evolve and improve with advancements in fiber manufacturing techniques signal amplification and wavelength division multiplexing that allow multiple signals to be transmitted simultaneously over a single fiber fiber optic cables are now the backbone of global telecommunications and networks providing high speeds reliability and long distance communication for various applications including internet connectivity telephone service television broadcast and data transmission it's how you're probably watching this video right now so with that in mind what became of the skyway after half a century of use at T sold off most of the network by 1999. many of their towers some over 100 feet tall were outright abandoned vandalized or recycled as scrap in Mount Oso a building at the base of one of these towers has been converted into a vacation residence in Red Bluff California a similar building has been converted into a doomsday fallout shelter otherwise these abandoned towers are everywhere from downtown LA to Oakland and Sacramento having a look at this 1960s era map of the network I'd go as far as to argue that it might almost be harder not to find one of these abandoned Towers once you know what to look for quite a few notable buildings have these towers built into their design such as the ATT building in LA or the quest building in Minneapolis but I do Wonder just how long these Antiquated pieces of Technology will stick around and that's where this story moves off but if you'd like to learn about another weird tower don't miss our episode about the Leaning Tower of Illinois by clicking right here and I hope you'll consider subscribing until next time I'm Ryan silkash signing off

Channel: IT'S HISTORY

Views: 466,489

Keywords: microwave, microwave tower, radio, parts of a microwave antenna, florida state amateur radio network, microwave dish, microwave relay station, microwaves, microwave tower hike, malibu microwave tower, secret microwave tower, radio wave propagation, deloading of microwave antenna, microwave antenna, microwave tower in malibu, miscrowave tower, microwave tower los angeles, los angeles microwave tower, ham radio, los angeles microwave towers, microwave tower in los angeles

Id: 03vGcUi3yiw

Length: 18min 9sec (1089 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 24 2023