Long Lines Techs at work

Frank at work in the Hollywood cable station. He writes "the techs in Hollywood set up a special inauguration call of the system before it went into service, I'm just posing with their solution."

Frank Schmid, a long-time Long Lines technician, now working as Senior Member Technical Staff, AT&T/Concert Labs, out of Denver, writes and encloses these pictures of the KS horns, removed from the Hollywood, Florida tower, and sitting on the ground, which he notes as "End of an Era, removing the Horns from the tower at Hollywood, FL."

Frank writes: "I am responsible for turning up the Undersea Cables for Customer service. I am kinda centrally located here in Denver, I work all the oceans, regions, and countries where we have a percentage of service on a new ocean cable."

" I was a Long Lines technician in Indianapolis, Indiana Facilities from 1971 to 1984, then went to HQ. I was with AT&T until 1999, when I went over to Concert (the ATT/BT Venture)."

He says, "My function is to provide technical support on all the new undersea cable technologies. I still get to do some hands-on work."

Hollywood, Florida, where these pictures were taken, is now a Cable Station. "We've turned up 3 new Fiber Optic undersea cables there recently," Frank writes.


The once-proud microwave tower, newly naked after a half-century of use.


Workers prepare to dismantle the KS horns, taken from the tower. These shots show two different styles of horns. I'm not quite sure why some are painted pink...Perhaps to match the flamingos.

When on the towers, the true size of the massive horns is never quite realized.

All photographs courtesy Frank Schmid, former AT&T Long Lines, now with Concert.

. As AT&T's network is cut over to all fiber, and the microwave network is idled,
the towers are re-used for PCS or cellular use.

In some rare cases, the towers have been removed.

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