A Tropo-Scatter Antenna in Labrador c1959 from the back
Toronto. Photo collectors often cherish outdoor photos and work photos. This image hits both topics, but may be a bit too new for the collecting fraternity. Shown here is a billboard size Tropospheric Scatter antenna from the late 1950s. Microwave frequencies were bounced off the troposphere (about six miles up) and scattered to be received by a similar antenna a few hundred miles away.
The tropo-technology when installed was already too late as within decades it was superseded by satellites, fibre optics, internet, digital technology, etc. Although this equipment photo may be ‘new’ by collecting standards, photographs of the technology deserve to be collected since so few systems were installed (and photographed).
NB: The post title is based on the Ogden Nash parody of Joyce Kilmer’s poem. Nash wrote (more or less), “I never saw a billboard as lovely as a tree, in fact unless the billboards fall, I’ll never see a tree at all…”
Whether you collect images or cameras, or research photo history, be sure to visit our events. See PHSC EVENTS to the right for time and place. Of course a post will be pinned at the top of this page close to each event date,
