Would you know a base station if you saw one?

El Reg compo to identify those in the know

Posted in Mobile, 28th November 2008 10:22 GMT

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What with the SiteFinder database still not getting updated, it's time to see if you notice now when the lamp post next to you is suspiciously pregnant, or if cellular base stations have become so much a part of our landscape that they no longer merit our attention.

Some of the following photographs are transmitter towers used by network operators to keep you connected, while others are just random street furniture and at least one is a real tree - unlikely to be familiar to city-dwellers. Your task is to work out which will provide you with decent network connectivity, and which is limited to providing a shady spot for picnics.

These days city centres are awash with micro cells which are small enough to hide in shop signs, where they're frequently found, but we thought that would be cheating. So every transmitter in the following pictures is visible, though some are more obvious than others.

Just make your educated guesses and supply an email address and the reader drawn from a virtual hat will be the proud recipient of an El Reg Goodie Bag, stuffed with whatever merchandise we can find lying around the office - draw will take place in about a week, or as soon as the office gets needs a tidy.

So, on your marks, get set, and start squinting at the next page.