Are cell towers suppose to switch over to red at night? Or stick with the white stobe?

There is a tower near me, and I don't recall it being this freaking bright. A little reading online says maybe they are suppose to go red at night, not the bright white that's currently lighting up my bedroom at night.

Anyone familiar with cell towers?

Tikka ...They built one about 15 years ago south of our ranch. It had a red light in it for about 5 years then was changed to bright white strobe. Very annoying. Especially on nights that the clouds were low or foggy. Damn whole sky would seem to light up.
My neighbor made a bunch of calls and ended up talking to the FAA office in San Antonio about it.
They told him if it is within so many miles of an ARSA it had to be a white strobe.
I don't know if that was actually accurate but that's what they told him then.

ETA: ARSA is a Airport Radar Service Area it extends so many miles from some airports.

It probably has a red strobe at night that is burned out. The white strobe is a backup. That's why you are just noticing it. Call the tower owner and complain. You should find a phone number posted at the gate. Tell them your next phone call will be to FAA if they don't fix it pronto.

I suppose they are supposed to turn red at night. That would be annoying for anyone.

Thanks.

Best way to locate owner? Tower is on private property. Best I can tell, no public access from public right of way.

The tower is about a mile from you, how bright can it actually be? It isn't a light house.

TikkaShooter said:

---

Thanks.

Best way to locate owner? Tower is on private property. Best I can tell, no public access from public right of way.

---

I'm pretty sure that by law there has to be a sign but maybe the sign only needs to be on the compound fence. Look at it in google earth and trace the access road to the public road and look there. Otherwise you can find the owner on the FCC tower database which is available to the public on the FCC website.

schmellba99 said:

---

The tower is about a mile from you, how bright can it actually be? It isn't a light house.

---

daylight strobes are damn bright and annoying at night. Tower owner can be fined by FAA if it's not corrected.

HumpitPuryear said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

The tower is about a mile from you, how bright can it actually be? It isn't a light house.

---

daylight strobes are damn bright and annoying at night. Tower owner can be fined by FAA if it's not corrected.

---

Guess I've never seen one then. We have towers all over the place here, from cell to some of the tallest radio towers you can imagine and either I'm just oblivious (highly possible) or they are well maintained.

It isn't hard. I found the owner of that tower in maybe 5 minutes.

Awesome! I appreciate the help. Could you share info? Id like to try and contact the owner and see if this is a perm change in operation or a malfunction/out of service red flasher that's caused the change.

Username at the yahoo

Much appreciated

Bump for James. Having a hard time finding the reference info for the specific tower. If you found it, could you please share?

Thanks. Could post it here as well, if you'd like.

Gunny456 said:

---

Tikka ...They built one about 15 years ago south of our ranch. It had a red light in it for about 5 years then was changed to bright white strobe. Very annoying. Especially on nights that the clouds were low or foggy. Damn whole sky would seem to light up.
My neighbor made a bunch of calls and ended up talking to the FAA office in San Antonio about it.
They told him if it is within so many miles of an ARSA it had to be a white strobe.
I don't know if that was actually accurate but that's what they told him then.

ETA: ARSA is a Airport Radar Service Area it extends so many miles from some airports.

---

Wife is in the telecom industry specifically with tower work and this is correct she said. Depends on your location and the height of the tower.

They got it fixed. Back to red last night. MUCH easier on the eyes.

For those who've never seen the daylight strobes at night...it was incredibly bright.

Appreciate all the input from Gunny and Rak. Learned something new. Thank you both.

schmellba99 said:

---

The tower is about a mile from you, how bright can it actually be? It isn't a light house.

---

Believe me, it's VERY annoying when set on brightest setting. Our neighborhood complained about one a few years ago and they dimmed it, much better now.