Pictures of Cable Company Dish Farm

[WSInternational]

I got a phone call from a very old friend of mine that I have not seen in a long while. He is a pilot and flies for Continental. Flying is his true hobby. He said he was going to be in town and asked me if I wanted to go rent a plane and go fly around Atlanta with him. Considering I had never done it, I jumped on the opportunity.

As it was getting time to start the plane and start our adventure, I was starting to get a bit nervous. After all, I had never been in a non-commercial single engine airplane (Cessna 172) before. I was speaking with the airport manager and to put me a bit at ease he reassured me that they have never left a plane up there and that all the planes that have taken off have eventually always come back down.

After fully inspecting the plane, we started the engine and got on the run-way. We were cleared for take-off and so we did. We flew around the Atlanta area and got a beautiful view of the Atlanta skyline, The Georgia Dome, and Turner Field. On our way to Stone Mountain (a very popular site to see when in Atlanta), I noticed what seemed to be one of the local cable companies. So in between trying to think how good of an idea it would have been if I had worn a parachute while flying in this clumsy light weight plane and trying to keep my facial muscles under control to avoid looking nervous, I got the courage to bend over and pick up my Cannon camera to snap a picture of the dish farm behind the cable company.

About 20 minutes into the flight, I started loosening up a little bit and held on tight to my seatbelt only using one hand. This gave me full use of my right hand to take some more photos of the scenery. To my surprise, we came across a couple of more dish farms, so I snapped a few more pictures.

Some of the pictures are attached. I thought it would be interesting to share.

To finish the story, the airport manager was right. We did eventually come down, and landed safely in 1 piece. I like the satellite hobby much better. At least I can stay on the ground.

 

[skysurfer]

I was speaking with the airport manager and to put me a bit at ease he reassured me that they have never left a plane up there and that all the planes that have taken off have eventually always come back down.

I''m sure they all say that! They just don't tell you if you'll come down intact or as part of a debris field when you fly in one of those doctor killers.

btw, great pics!

 

[FTABman0]

Some of the pictures are attached. I thought it would be interesting to share.

WW!

Those are great pictures Robby! I was never one to hop onto a plane! You are a brave soul! Very nice pictures though! What kind of camera did you use for those shots?

I might go up in a plane again, only did it once when I was younger, there is a small air field out here that is private, when I was still in school my brother and I rode our bikes over to watch them land. They invited us to go up in a Cessna 150 and we did! It was fun but I am not much one for heights now.

Great pictures though! Big Dishes in some of those pictures! :up

K E V I N

 

[ghia]

very cool pictures!

 

[LordKaT]

Those prop planes are a blast to ride in

Nice pics, too. I haven't seen a "proper" satellite farm in a while out here. The teleport around me has switched to this "all encompassing" satellite dish. Damn thing looks like it can receive every bird in the arc without many problems.

 

[turbosat]

Nice pics Robby, looks like a dish convention. Seems like most of those are slightly larger than mine ,haha. That must've been scary, small plane, never been in one. The one chance I had to go up in a helicopter, though, was thrilling and I didn't blink once for fear of missing something cool! Why that didn't scare me, like a small plane prob would, I do not know.

 

[emuman100]

Those are some beautiful pictures. I know you all will think I'm crazy, but this is my goal to have a smaller scale dish farm like in the pictures, because I am in the process of building my own cable system in my home. I plan on getting a few 3.7m dishes with dual satellite feeds to at least get the "cable neighborhood" satellites like AMC10 and 11. I love seeing things like this. I probably would have parachuted out and landed in the dish farm just to see it.

 

[Tron]

Nice pictures, Robby! Looks like there are some nice dish farms around the Atlanta area. I've only recently taken my first flight EVER (a couple of years ago, on a commercial Jet Blue flight to NYC). I've taken a second trip up there since, but I'm still somewhat of a novice when it comes to flying. I still spend the entire time of my flight shooting video of everything out of the window while the other passengers either sleep, read, or watch TV I've seen New Orleans from about 8,000 feet as we approached the city for landing and left after takeoff, but I've never seen it from very high altitudes, where you can see the entire city like a spider web. The Superdome, Mississippi River, and Lake Pontchartrain (crossed by the world's longest bridge, the Causeway) are the key landmarks from the air. One of these days, I'll fly in a prop plane with my Canon HG-20 and shoot some HD footage of the city...

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Nice pics!

A number of those Dishes look like transmit dishes. Might be some kind of Teleport there as well.

 

[c_perrone]

Robby,

Great pics!. I remember my first flight a couple of years ago in a small plane. I was scared to death, but managed a few pics of my property. Your right...the plane finally came down and I'm still here...

 

[WSInternational]

WW!

Those are great pictures Robby! I was never one to hop onto a plane! You are a brave soul! Very nice pictures though! What kind of camera did you use for those shots?

I might go up in a plane again, only did it once when I was younger, there is a small air field out here that is private, when I was still in school my brother and I rode our bikes over to watch them land. They invited us to go up in a Cessna 150 and we did! It was fun but I am not much one for heights now.

Great pictures though! Big Dishes in some of those pictures! :up

K E V I N

The camera I used was a PowerShot A710 IS. I've had it for a few years and seems to be working alright. I took this landing video with it same day: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hGpg2fsTDc]YouTube - PDK LANDING[/ame]

Those prop planes are a blast to ride in

It's a blast once you get over your initial fear. You can really feel the wind and turbulence in the plane, so once you realize that it won't fall out of the sky, it's very enjoyable.

 

[c_perrone]

Robby,

Wow..that video certainly brings back the memory of my first (and last) time up. I remember my friend, who was the pilot said during the landing that he needed to "crab" into the crosswind...I remember thinking..holy crap...were going to land sideways! Your video just reminded me of that...

Clint

 

[Babadem]

Those pictures are absolutely awesome!!

 

[GreatFTA]

Iceberg, can you top that? LOL

 

[ParaclipseCKu]

Certainly an uplink facility. Most headends don't have monster like those out in the yard just for receive.

 

[eurosport]

I think I would soil myself. (But those are great pictures!)

 

[Mr Tony]

Iceberg, can you top that? LOL

no because I dont fly

 

[FTABman0]

The camera I used was a PowerShot A710 IS.

It's a blast once you get over your initial fear. You can really feel the wind and turbulence in the plane, so once you realize that it won't fall out of the sky, it's very enjoyable.

Takes outstanding pictures for sure! Taking the kids back to Disney World this year for the 5th time, need to get a good camera that has great zoom in pictures. The reason for asking, that one took great pictures for the distance!

I am not a fly person myself! That one time I went up in a plane was my first time and last! When I make the trip to Disney this year, it will be by four wheels only! The distance from here to there is one way 1,800 miles! I drive it straight through going and coming home.

I like to be in control! I figure if GOD wanted me to fly, I would have born with wings!

Thanks Robby for sharing the pictures and the camera Information! :up

K E V I N

 

[LordKaT]

It's a blast once you get over your initial fear....

Man, I remember taking a commercial prop plane from Midwest airlines. The flight landing we had was REALLY rough - nasty crosswinds and hail. You could *feel* the pilot jerk the controls back and forth as the plane got knocked around in the wind.

It was one heck of a wild ride, but fun as all hell.

 

[burgranger]

Are those dishes behind the Turner Building or Comcast?