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Prairie Home, Missouri, AT&T Long Lines site

Coordinates: 38°48'21.33"N, 92°38'45.77"W (38.805925 N, 92.646047 W)

Antenna Structure Registration (ASR): 1010171

Height (overall): 100.3 meters (329 feet)

Current owner: Cooper County, Missouri

Currently in use? Yes, land mobile radio repeater site

Horn antennas? No, removed June 2024

Original hops: Slater, Holts Summit, Columbia (TV only)

Later hops: Barnett

In the mid-1950s, an unmanned remote microwave repeater site was constructed by AT&T near Prairie Home, Missouri, for its Kansas City-St. Louis microwave relay route in the Long Lines system. The site features a 329-foot, self-supported tower and the route's usual white concrete block base station for housing its equipment.

The site originally had three microwave links: Telephone/television relay northwest to Slater, and southeast to Holts Summit. A television-only relay spur was also routed to the Columbia station. The Columbia hop was online as late as 2014, as Maprad.io showed the hop as being registered Oct. 21, 2014, and canceled prior to the Feb. 1, 2020, expiration.

Sometime later, AT&T added a fourth hop, this time southward to the Barnett site.

Although appearing non-functional, the Cooper County government owns the former Long Lines site and uses it as a land mobile (two-way) radio repeater station. Multiple dipole array antennas are located on the tower.

In June 2024, 13 antennas used by AT&T were removed to make space for additional dipole array antennas. I counted five KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas (mostly made by Goodyear Aircraft, although one was made by Rohn Corporation Antenna Division), seven newer "cornucopia"/Gabriel horn-reflector antennas, and a single shrouded parabolic drum antenna that was used on the Slater hop, as being removed. The newer Gabriel horns were used on the Barnett, Columbia and Holts Summit hops (with Holts Summit also using KS-15676 horns), while Slater mainly used the horn antennas at the very top with a parabolic antenna for spatial diversity. These antennas were all "crushed down" for transport to a recycling center. Before that, however, I managed to save the tags identifying the antennas' manufacturer.

On Sept. 30, 2024, I was lucky enough to get a rare glimpse inside the concrete block base building as crews with ALT (Antennas, Lines and Towers) Inc., of Oak Grove, Missouri, prepared the site for the installation of new dipole array antennas.

Prairie Home, MO, tower in AT&T Focus magazine

When the county took ownership of the site, they dismantled the equipment abandoned by AT&T. The county's emergency management director recalled being stunned at the technology, such as seeing a cutaway section of coaxial cable. He said each KS-15676 antenna removed weighed around 3,500 pounds (1,588 kilograms) and were each 21 feet tall, complicating removal and disposal. Later, while removing the antenna tags with my uncle, I approached a neighbor who recounted when the site was still in service by AT&T.

The EMA director said the site's original General Motors diesel backup generator was donated to the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association in nearby Overton. A much more compact Cummins generator was installed outside the facility for backup power.

Focus

Tim Souder, a former AT&T Long Lines technician, shared photos of a October 1988 issue of the company's internal publication, "Focus," on the Long Lines Facebook Group. The cover shows him in telephone company gear, and the article starts out with him and other members of his crew working on the Prairie Home site. Click here to view the story.

Photos

Sept. 30, 2024

I took these photos (with my second generation iPhone SE) as crews with ALT, Inc., of Oak Grove, Missouri, prepared the tower for the installation of new dipole arrays for the county's land mobile radio repeater. The door to the white concrete block building was wide open, allowing me a glimpse inside the facility. I watched a technician spool rope as they ran new coaxial cable up the 329-foot tower, and we briefly chatted about the Oak Grove site.

Click on an image to view the high-resolution version in a new browser tab.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

Base station with door open.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

Inside the main entrance is a smaller room, built by the county, that houses its radio repeater equipment.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

Labels found on the main door to the facility. The top is a U.S. Department of Energy "Emergency Building Temperature Restrictions Certificate of Building Compliance" certificate, dated Sept. 28, 1979. A sign in the middle reminds technicians to turn off the lights, lower the thermostat to 55 degrees and reduce their speed after leaving the site. The bottom label warns technicians and others entering the site of the potential of asbestos inside — such as likely in the floor tiles. Care must be taken to not disturb the asbestos.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

A U.S. Department of Energy "Emergency Building Temperature Restrictions Certificate of Building Compliance" certificate, dated Sept. 28, 1979.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

Looking left from the main entrance inside the base station. This part of the facility would've likely housed telephone switches or the TD-2 radios themselves with ancillary equipment. The door along the right edge of the photo leads into a new room, partitioned off with drywall, housing the county's radio equipment. Note the original floor tiles, which may contain asbestos.

Prairie Home, MO, Long Lines site

Looking right from the main entrance inside the base station. This part of the facility likely contained the power supply for the facility — such as switchgear, batteries and a generator cutover system that automatically ran the site's General Motors diesel generator in case power failed. Speaking of which, the generator room is located beyond the door on the left. The GM generator was donated to the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association, and replaced with a new Cummins generator outside the building ready to power it if the site lost AC power from the utility company. The control panel for the Cummins generator is seen in the corner, left of the exhaust vent.

Old Honeywell thermostats

Old Honeywell "Airswitch" thermostats mounted in a suboptimal spot — right inside the main entrance, next to the door. Despite the name (which sort of implies it being a pneumatic thermostat), it is electronically operated. The facility has an exhaust fan mounted on its roof.

Phone book

A February 1986 phone book published by GTE for area code 314. However, many of the cities listed (e.g. Boonville, New Franklin, Fayette, Armstrong, Glasgow, etc.) would have been in area code 816 at the time. Those cities are now in area code 660, with the former 314 communities (Fulton, Mexico, Moberly) becoming served under area code 573. Odd to find an independent telephone book in a Bell (Southwestern Bell or AT&T) facility.

Former Prairie Home, Missouri, AT&T Long Lines tower

Looking up at the 100.3-meter (or 329-foot) tall tower. It looks sadly empty without the horn antennas, which were removed this summer.

Spooling rope

In this photo, a technician with ALT, Inc. (Antennas, Lines and Towers, Inc.), of Oak Grove, Missouri, watches rope spool as new coaxial cable is ran up the 329-foot tower. It was interesting to watch. Note the new Cummins backup generator (teal box) near the center bottom edge of the photo.

Spooling rope

In the bottom right quadrant of the photo you can see the long rope used to pull new coaxial cable up the tower.

June 2, 2024

One June day I decided to ride my then-new motorcycle by the Prairie Home site.

I'm glad I did, as the tower definitely looked different than it had in the past. From a distance, I could tell the antennas had been removed. The 13 antennas on the tower were all removed, laying beside the base station. Hail/ice guards, remaining waveguides and other old equipment on the tower was also removed for disposal. Later that month, the county had a local excavating company "crush down" the antennas so they'd fit in a container for transport to the recycling center.

Before the antennas were destroyed, I salvaged the data tags off three of the iconic, large KS-15676 horn antennas. It took two trips, as the work required the help of my uncle (armed with a portable angle grinder, and me using a hammer and chisel) to pry them off. The "pieces of communication history" have since been proudly displayed.

Antenna-less Prairie Home site from a distance

Looking at the antenna-less tower from approximately half a mile away on a county road.

Antennas

The various KS-15676 horn-reflector antennas and newer "cornucopia" or Gabriel horns laying on the ground beside the base station.

Antennas

Four "cornucopia"/Gabriel horn-reflector antennas and a single Western Electric KS-15676 horn-reflector antenna on the right. The KS-15676 in this photo was the only one manufactured by Rohr I could find at this site; all the others I looked at were made by Goodyear.

Antennas

The only KS-15676 antenna manufactured by Rohr Corporation Antenna Division, of Chula Vista, California, for Western Electric I found at the Prairie Home site. The others were made by Goodyear Aircraft of Akron, Ohio.

Antenna data tag

Data tag for the Rohr KS-15676 horn-reflector antenna, which I later removed.

Antennas

Dirt shoved into the feed horn of the Rohr KS-15676 antenna.

Antennas

The front of the Gabriel "cornucopia" horn-reflector antennas.

Antennas

Rear of a Gabriel "cornucopia" horn-reflector, along with other antennas and a hail guard.

Antennas

Close up of the torn lens on a KS-15676 horn-reflector antenna manufactured by Goodyear Aircraft, of Akron, Ohio. I believe this antenna was one of the top-most antennas directed at Slater.

Antennas

Data tag for the Goodyear KS-15676 horn-reflector antenna. I removed two others like it, though serial numbers 2498 and 2499.

Antennas

Hail guard and another angle of removed antennas, including the only (shrouded) parabolic antenna this tower had.

Antennas

The only shrouded parabolic antenna this tower had, which was directed at Slater for spatial diversity.

Base station

The base station, with some guards used to shield coupler networks used to separate or combine the polarized microwave signals barely visible at lower right.

Base station

Salvaged tags

From left: Rohr Corporation Antenna Division Horn Reflector Antenna 6457 (serial 501R), Goodyear Aircraft (serial 2498), and Goodyear Aircraft (serial 2499). Goodyear Aircraft Corporation, of Akron, Ohio, and Rohr Corporation, of Chula Vista, California, were the two manufacturers who made the antennas for Western Electric, the manufacturing arm of the Bell System.

Rohr Corporation Antenna Division tag Goodyear Aircraft Corporation tag Goodyear Aircraft Corporation tag

August 8, 2022

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines site from the north

Looking at the site from the north at the Route U intersection.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines base station

The white concrete base station.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

The 329-foot tower with all 13 antennas still installed — along with some waveguide. Dipole array antennas can be spotted throughout the tower.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines base station

Southern side of the base station.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines site outhouse

Site outhouse.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines site warning

A warning sign on the site from the AT&T days.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

Main entrance to the base building.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

A zoomed view of the top section of the 329-foot tower. The KS-15676 antennas on the top-most platform are directed to the Slater site, while the opposing antennas on the very top (obstructed by the Gabriel horns mounted just slightly below the platform) are aimed toward Holts Summit. The Gabriel horn-reflectors slightly below the top plaform facing right were used for a later route hopping to Barnett, which was online as late as the 2010s. The lowest horn facing left on the outrigger supported a television-only spur route to Columbia, and the lowest horn on the right outrigger was used for spatial diversity to Holts Summit.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

Another view of the top

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower base and waveguide racks

A view of the tower base, and racks used to carry waveguides between the tower base and base station.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines waveguide rack

Waveguide rack. Writing from the tower's time in service is still legible on the racks, including "Prairie Home".

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines base building

Look at the rear (northeastern) corner of the base station.

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

Looking up the tower.

Aug. 9, 2018

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

Look at the site from the north along Route J.

May 30, 2018

Prairie Home, MO, AT&T Long Lines tower

Distant but zoomed view of the tower from a county road southwest of the site.

Map


Missouri AT&T Long Lines sites

AullvilleBarnettBrinktownCole CampDaytonDoverGray SummitHalifaxHermannHillsboroHoldenHolts SummitJefferson City (CO)Kansas City (CO)LawrencetonOak GrovePrairie HomeRichwoodsRosatiSlaterWindsor


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