[TowerTalk] Do you have copper?

[Mike DeChristopher]

A few years ago, a person in NC was stealing coax from cell towers. He
is relatively well-known in online tower groups for his belief that he
is allowed to do so. If you want to go down *that* rabbit hole, here
is an article: https://www.wbtv.com/2021/09/13/man-accused-stealing-cable-phone-tower-invokes-names-ben-franklin-john-hancock-attempt-avoid-arrest/

Mike, N1TA

On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 1:29 PM Jim Lux <jim at luxfamily.com> wrote:
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> yeah, these guys are actually stealing wire out of live streetlight circuits.  And of course, they don't realize that optical cables have no copper, so there have been cases of them cutting phone cables up.
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> I don't know that coax would be a 'target of opportunity" for them.
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> they're more in the "steal welding cables off the back of a truck" or "spools of wire" mode of operation.
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> On Thu, 23 Oct 2025 09:38:16 -0500, Rob Atkinson <ranchorobbo at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Here's a story on the high amount of copper theft in one area (Los
> Angeles) but copper theft can take place anywhere. The value of
> copper has increased dramatically to over 50% from where it was a few
> years ago. If you are in a vulnerable location with visible copper
> you might consider doing something to make it less visible.
>
> https://moneywise.com/news/copper-wire-thieves-target-atts-underground-vault-in-la-1502-incidents-leave-streets-in-dark-folks-without-service-why-does-it-keep-happening
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> 73
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> Rob
> K5UJ
>
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