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Fixed Wireless Business

What a Week That Was

Just file it under the "no, we didn't expect our equipment to get hit by lightning and then our replacement equipment to be stolen" category of unanticipated business events.

[August 31, 2004]

On the ISP-Wireless list in August, PJ posted a complaint that many sympathized with:

Heck of a week! We took a lightning blast last Wednesday. Took out 4 radios in about a half a second. We finally got all that going again and still had trouble with a remote site not working. Check all cables here, software, etc. I drove out today and someone STOLE our stuff. Gotta love this stuff. Just venting a little and knew you guys would understand. Going tomorrow to get a better locked box. Is it illegal to hook a direct electic line to the box to fry anyone who touches it ;-)

KP had an entertaining suggestion:

May I suggest you have a label printed up to put on the outside of your NEMA enclosures that say:

DANGER
High Inductance

Alternately, you could also use:

DANGER
EXTREMELY
HIGH RESISTANCE

Make sure the label also has the universal radiation sign and several lightning bolts on it. Anyone in the know won't worry about it (in fact, they'll probably get a good laugh out of it) and the idiots will be afraid they'll become sterile if they come too close.

[TI agreed] "Good idea. Just paint it like a hazardous materials disposal box."

[RW related] "I know what that week is like. We have had stuff stolen from our towers twice. The first time from an ex-partner that in his small mind figured it was his right. Later on we had an entire tower stolen... short of the tower itself. We were on a rental tower with many many other vendors and we got our entire cabinet stolen from the locked radio shed as well as all of the equipment from the tower itself stolen. Someone was after us. We are fairly sure that we ended up buying the equipment back in one of our buyouts of our competitors and have a fairly good idea who stole it. Thank god for insurance."

Others quickly pointed out that nobody should ever make their installations hazardous.

[MC warned] "Unfortunately, it is a felony to use lethal traps, but nothing stops you from putting in a digital camera with motion sensor and remotely logging video."

[DJ added] "Yes, store owners have been sued and convicted in Florida for doing such things."

PJ reiterated that it was all a joke, but accepted MC's advice:

"I was actually kidding about the voltage thing. Just a little dream :) I am going to put in the IP camera."

—End