Multiple unauthorized solar powered antennas found in Salt Lake City mountains (article + video)

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"The trouble with our Liberal friends...is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan, 1964
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"Arguing with some people is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesn't matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon will just take a shit on the board, strut around knocking over all the pieces and act like it won.. and in some cases it will insult you at the same time." DevlDogs55, 2014

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January 11, 2023, 03:44 PM

Skins2881

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Drop zone markers for the Soviet paratroopers.

"Wolverines!"

Bring it!

January 11, 2023, 03:51 PM

thumperfbc

I think helium miners too…

But my first thought, before watching the video, was a small comms device. For the life of me I can’t remember what they are called but it’s a very small device that creates a direct comm network so you can send messages via apps like signal without any cell or WiFi of any sort. Put one on a mountain like that and you’ll have real impressive ability to communicate without any infrastructure in the area below.

Wish I could remember the name.

But those devices were much bigger than it would need to be for what I initially thought they were.

January 11, 2023, 08:26 PM

Black92LX

quote:
Originally posted by trapper189:
The cryptocurrency theory may not be as improbable as I first thought:

One of the leading theories is that the antennas are part of a cryptocurrency mining scheme.

Rather than relying on computational power, the Helium network mines crypto via a decentralized wireless network.

Proof-of-coverage (PoC) gives a high value to elevation and distance covered, so setting up on a mountain would make sense. They also get paid more if they have neighboring systems they can communicate with, which would explain the number of systems deployed.

However, the price of the Helium currency has fallen by more than 20 times since its late 2021 highs. At the same time, an increase in the number of miners has reduced the payout per system.

It is unlikely that the Utah deployments, should they be for Helium, were able to make a profit.

With the deployments not having caused any damage, formal charges are equally unlikely. “As long as it’s not dangerous, we really don’t care,” Fonarow told Motherboard. “We just want people to stop doing it so we can get back to taking care of our lands… if someone wanted to put an antenna in the exact same location for scientific purposes, we’d probably allow it.”

Link
The article also mentions the antenna are LoRa, which is Greek to me, but seems to be 915MHz. Another article mentions a nearby University. I’m guessing college students trying to make a quick buck.

This was my first thought as well. I know nothing about cryptocurrency other than somehow they use these antennas to catch cryptocurrency that apparently is just floating through the air.
I learned this because I was working and this fella had something similar on the top of his shed. He said they are antennas that collect helium cryptocurrency.
He said him and his buddy have hundreds around town.
Made zero sense to me but this dude was completely serious.

January 11, 2023, 08:41 PM

AKSuperDually

quote:
Originally posted by thumperfbc:

Wish I could remember the name.

Field repeater station

Can be as small as an ammo can.

Easy and inexpensive to make, or of course, you can spend a lot and do it better.

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January 12, 2023, 11:02 AM

PatAz

Has to be Bigfoot using more advanced communication.

January 12, 2023, 11:30 AM

Modern Day Savage

quote:
Originally posted by sigfreund:
A common frequency “counter” placed nearby would show if it’s transmitting and on what frequency. I believe. Plus, it’s hard to imagine what purpose they could serve if they were receiving only. Based on my somewhat stale knowledge of being linked together (i.e., repeaters), it’s also hard to imagine how that could be accomplished with such a small installation, but I admit to being ignorant of what could be possible.

Someone should be talking to the FCC about this, and not (only) the DHS. If it’s a licensed transmitter, they would have the information about the owner, etc. (Unlikely, I’m guessing, but possible.)

Good thoughts, as always. As far as the receive-only aspect, I was thinking perhaps there may be some sort of data recording device involved collecting received signal metrics, although the description doesn't mention one.

I know virtually nothing about crypto mining, so I'll defer to those who know more.

Admittedly I'm grasping at straws here, and none of these possible reasons explain why the users don't seek legal authorization but, just to shotgun a few ideas:

-Some sort of snow condition/ accumulations/ avalanche tracking or prediction network?

- Some sort of seismology or geographic tracking? Surveying use?

- Some sort of DME network?

- Some sort of private comm network?

- I wonder if there are any resorts (ski resorts?) in the area that may have a use for this type of set-up?

Based only on what the article mentions, I'll admit there is more likely a non-nefarious reason for the installations but, until an investigation determines their purpose, I'd like to see these treated as a potential national security threat.

January 12, 2023, 11:36 AM

radioman

^^^ I wondered if it was something like this: https://www.retevis.com/rt97-p...r-mobile-repeater-us

but first not enough info to know, and second, they found many of these which would seem strange for someone just wanting wider GMRS coverage.

I also thought about animal tracking, but no, that's just the result of me watching too much "Wild Kingdom" as a kid.

Then I wondered if it was something that would extend data coverage. i.e. on the top of the hill you would likely have cell coverage, but perhaps not below the hill. So I was thinking maybe some type of extender for that. maybe for Zello coverage or something.

I can't speak to crypto. I know wireless, but not crypto.

January 12, 2023, 11:39 AM

We use to sell GE repeater stations for fire control.
A solar panel and 12 volt battery supplied power to a 5 watt UHF repeater. These were placed in the fire towers during the summer fire season in the mid 70's.

January 12, 2023, 11:43 AM

radioman

quote:
Originally posted by 41:
We use to sell GE repeater stations for fire control.
A solar panel and 12 volt battery supplied power to a 5 watt UHF repeater. These were placed in the fire towers during the summer fire season in the mid 70's.

yup, which is part of the reason why I stated earlier that it's unwise to just remove them before they know what the heck they are for.

January 12, 2023, 11:49 AM

cas

How did the news know they hiked up there? Did they tell them?

In which case, why didn't they just fly them up there in exchange to the "scoop"? The state doesn't have choppers of it's own? ANG doesn't need training flights? (they fly in circles damn near every day here)
How come I'm not in charge!?

January 12, 2023, 11:50 AM

bettysnephew

One would think if they were placed by a .gov entity for non nefarious monitoring (avalanche etc.) there would be a tag or sign regarding their purpose. Just about anything by .gov has a sign on or near it.

January 12, 2023, 12:06 PM

Voshterkoff

Looks like a LoRa mesh. Should have camouflaged them with a fake tree.

January 12, 2023, 12:10 PM

radioman

quote:
Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Looks like a LoRa mesh.

Good point, but why? What data would they be moving around? Short messages from hikers is all I can come up with.

January 12, 2023, 12:12 PM

Voshterkoff

Either the reported coin mining or off grid communications. Look up a few videos of ATAK software, it can be ran over LoRa.

January 12, 2023, 01:21 PM

flashguy

quote:
Originally posted by radioman:
quote:
Originally posted by 41:
We use to sell GE repeater stations for fire control.
A solar panel and 12 volt battery supplied power to a 5 watt UHF repeater. These were placed in the fire towers during the summer fire season in the mid 70's.

yup, which is part of the reason why I stated earlier that it's unwise to just remove them before they know what the heck they are for.

I agree with you, and said so earlier. (Great minds think alike . . .)

flashguy

January 12, 2023, 01:58 PM

AKSuperDually

quote:
Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Either the reported coin mining or off grid communications. Look up a few videos of ATAK software, it can be ran over LoRa.

I went down that rabbit hole about a year ago. Figuring out how to emp shield the whole thing is where I'm at now.

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January 12, 2023, 05:04 PM

thumperfbc

quote:
Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Looks like a LoRa mesh. Should have camouflaged them with a fake tree.

LORA, that's the term I couldn't remember earlier.

A buddy has one at his house as he has been playing with them. It is just one of the little tiny units with compact antenna. He mounted the device on a pole affixed to his house that was maybe 15 feet in the air. The distance he can successfully transmit is double digit miles. It is really impressive. If it was mounted on a mountainside with clear view I can only imagine it would work at much greater distances.