What is this thing?
May 30, 2013 12:16 AM Subscribe
We noticed this strange device on our roof at work. It's not connected to any power source and we're at a loss for what it is. Any ideas?
It think it's a type of microwave antenna. For example, if you used a fixed wireless internet service like Clear, you'd have an antenna like that.
posted by Dansaman at 12:30 AM on May 30, 2013
posted by Dansaman at 12:30 AM on May 30, 2013
That black angled box looks similar to a cellular booster antenna I just bought (that one looks like the directional antenna I could get). So....some type of antenna/booster/repeater perhaps? Mine connects the antenna by coax cable and runs inside to a power source.
Similar to this.
posted by MultiFaceted at 12:32 AM on May 30, 2013 [58 favorites]
Similar to this.
posted by MultiFaceted at 12:32 AM on May 30, 2013 [58 favorites]
Yeah, the black angled box partway up the mast is clearly a directional microwave antenna (cellular, wifi, something else in that general neighborhood; it's probably a small yagi-uda inside the plastic housing). You can see the coäx cable coming out and the N connector which is standard on such things.
There's some writing I can't make out on the spade thing at the top of the mast. What does it say? Maybe the mast is just a lightning rod or maybe it has some other function (there could be cable we can't see going up the inside of the tube perhaps).
Is there no writing on the big box that might give a hint as to its purpose?
posted by hattifattener at 12:37 AM on May 30, 2013
There's some writing I can't make out on the spade thing at the top of the mast. What does it say? Maybe the mast is just a lightning rod or maybe it has some other function (there could be cable we can't see going up the inside of the tube perhaps).
Is there no writing on the big box that might give a hint as to its purpose?
posted by hattifattener at 12:37 AM on May 30, 2013
HOLY HELL I LINKED TO A CAT PICTURE. *facepalm*
I meant that the antenna looks like this.
A cat might work too, but they require a bit more maintenance.
posted by MultiFaceted at 12:39 AM on May 30, 2013 [58 favorites]
I meant that the antenna looks like this.
A cat might work too, but they require a bit more maintenance.
posted by MultiFaceted at 12:39 AM on May 30, 2013 [58 favorites]
It would appear to be an air quality monitoring station.
posted by three blind mice at 1:27 AM on May 30, 2013
posted by three blind mice at 1:27 AM on May 30, 2013
Well on the bright side at least we all know MultiFaceted has a cool looking cat. My guess was lightning rod out of the gate, then changed to cell tower/repeater or catnip dispensing device based on the photo evidence.
posted by efalk at 1:46 AM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by efalk at 1:46 AM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
three blind mice, I don't think so -- all the online pictures of those show something the size of a small trailer, usually freestanding and fenced.
I really feel this is some sort of microwave or super wi-fi-like private network equipment, with the tip and the angled thing being separate sending and receiving components.
posted by dhartung at 2:51 AM on May 30, 2013
I really feel this is some sort of microwave or super wi-fi-like private network equipment, with the tip and the angled thing being separate sending and receiving components.
posted by dhartung at 2:51 AM on May 30, 2013
1) I'm not sure I believe there isn't a power connection. Check very thoroughly.
2) Take better photos of the box, particularly any writing or numbers. Also better photos of the black tip on the pole. Are there wires going from the box up the inside of the pole?
3) What's the black antenna pointing at? It will be pointing at the receiving station, although not with laser-like precision.
posted by ryanrs at 3:42 AM on May 30, 2013
2) Take better photos of the box, particularly any writing or numbers. Also better photos of the black tip on the pole. Are there wires going from the box up the inside of the pole?
3) What's the black antenna pointing at? It will be pointing at the receiving station, although not with laser-like precision.
posted by ryanrs at 3:42 AM on May 30, 2013
I don't know what the thing is, but I'm compelled to point out (for those outside Seattle) that your picture contains a nice shot of Big Bertha's cutting head (the huge tunnel boring machine that's going to dig the new waterfront tunnel). It's the green thing in the middle right of the picture.
posted by Gorgik at 4:26 AM on May 30, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by Gorgik at 4:26 AM on May 30, 2013 [4 favorites]
Looks like a long-term environmental noise monitoring station. The bit at the top is a microphone with an anti-bird spike. It's probably a Brüel & Kjær, because the case is their corporate colour, a distinctive light turquoise.
Please do not mess with it. It was put there by someone who knows what they are doing.
posted by scruss at 4:45 AM on May 30, 2013 [12 favorites]
Please do not mess with it. It was put there by someone who knows what they are doing.
posted by scruss at 4:45 AM on May 30, 2013 [12 favorites]
Given its proximity to a construction site, I think scruss nailed it. Probably a station for this subscription service, or a competitor's equivalent.
posted by graftole at 4:53 AM on May 30, 2013
posted by graftole at 4:53 AM on May 30, 2013
To be more specific, it's a B&K 3639 with a Type 4952 microphone. Nice piece of kit. Somebody, somewhere, is doing the right thing about an environmental noise issue.
Are you on the flight path for Sea-Tac, then? Could also, as graftole said, be for monitoring construction noise.
posted by scruss at 4:55 AM on May 30, 2013 [13 favorites]
Are you on the flight path for Sea-Tac, then? Could also, as graftole said, be for monitoring construction noise.
posted by scruss at 4:55 AM on May 30, 2013 [13 favorites]
The black thing in the middle of the pole is definitely a directional antenna. The rest I cannot decipher. But the sound monitoring station idea is plausible, given that there is construction going on and the installation of the device seems to be temporary. If there is no power, I'd guess there is a battery inside the case at the bottom, and it just reports wirelessely to home base once an hour or so.
posted by gjc at 4:55 AM on May 30, 2013
posted by gjc at 4:55 AM on May 30, 2013
The black thing is a directional antenna, specifically a type of log periodic or yagi antenna.
The antenna looks like this inside. The weatherproof enclosure at the bottom could hold just about anything, a Mikrotik router with some wireless interface, a data logging device, etc. It's highly likely that it does have power and you are just missing a single outdoor cat5e/cat6 cable which is powering it by power-over-ethernet.
posted by thewalrus at 5:36 AM on May 30, 2013
The antenna looks like this inside. The weatherproof enclosure at the bottom could hold just about anything, a Mikrotik router with some wireless interface, a data logging device, etc. It's highly likely that it does have power and you are just missing a single outdoor cat5e/cat6 cable which is powering it by power-over-ethernet.
posted by thewalrus at 5:36 AM on May 30, 2013
MultiFaceted: Yow! Now we know why the cat was out on a ledge - it was checking out cat-antenna placement!
posted by rmd1023 at 6:37 AM on May 30, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by rmd1023 at 6:37 AM on May 30, 2013 [6 favorites]
I live down the street and it makes sense that this would be for noise monitoring (scruss seems to have nailed it) as the Seattle waterfront is at the start of a few years of massive construction including the boring of the downtown tunnel, the installation of a new seawall (further north), and various street rerouting and preparation for the eventual demolition of the viaduct (the double-decker freeway that runs along the waterfront and is unsafe).
Bonus: an ode to the demise of the viaduct
posted by donovan at 7:48 AM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
Bonus: an ode to the demise of the viaduct
posted by donovan at 7:48 AM on May 30, 2013 [1 favorite]
This morning on my way to work I just assumed that you were one of the two people standing next to it and thought, "Oh look, there's a MeFite on the roof" as I drove up the ramp onto the viaduct.
I think it has to be there to monitor the dig site. It could not be more perfectly situated for that.
posted by Balonious Assault at 4:44 PM on May 31, 2013
I think it has to be there to monitor the dig site. It could not be more perfectly situated for that.
posted by Balonious Assault at 4:44 PM on May 31, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by empath at 12:24 AM on May 30, 2013