14.03.2025

Safety guide for climbing AM, FM, Cell, TV Towers and pylons

Disclaimer#

This guide is for educational purposes only. Climbing towers is dangerous and should only be attempted by trained professionals. The author does NOT recommend you try climbing towers.

Introduction#

There are five main types of towers that urban climbers are interested in. We will cover all of them in this blog post.

Let's start with some general tips that apply to all types of towers.

What you should always do#

1. Do not touch any wires#

If you see any wires, just don't touch them. It doesn't matter where they are or if they are insulated or not. Just keep your hands off them!

You can find them either on the tower, fence/gate, or on a nearby building. There can be an ID of the tower and other information that can help you identify the tower type, its status, strength, etc.

You can try finding the tower in one of the links mentioned in this Reddit post.

Site signs can also be found on the tower itself, as you can see in the photo below from France.

Photo by @miguel_kishi.s

3. Have the right equipment#

As for every urbex adventure, you should be appropriately prepared. For this, we have another blog post in which we cover the essential equipment.

Cellular#

Cellular towers transmit cellular signals, which are used for mobile phones and other devices.

Their transmitters are usually monodirectional, which means that the antenna is transmitting in only a single direction, and standing behind it should be safe.

This means you just have to avoid putting any parts of your body in front of the antenna.

They usually don't have any security, and if so, then it's the security of the place they are located in.

There is also usually a ladder or pegs to climb up because they need to be serviced from time to time.

Cellular antennas don't always have their own separate towers, you might find them mounted on the roofs of buildings, chimneys, or the top of other towers.

You can recognize them by their distinctive look. Note the rectangular and dish-like antennas:

FM#

FM (Frequency Modulation) towers are used for transmitting radio programs like music, news, etc., for short range but with higher quality.

Now, those are no longer monodirectional but omnidirectional, meaning they broadcast in every direction, requiring much higher power. There might also be more antennas on the tower, not just one.

Their power ranges from 1kW up to hundreds of kW. The strongest FM tower in the world has a power of approximately 320kW and is the WBCT in Michigan.

Probably the "best" time to climb those towers is during the night or before sunrise because there might not be heavy traffic on them. Though this isn't the case with every tower.

If you decide to climb a tower like this and start feeling dizzy or nauseous, overheated, or any other symptoms, stop climbing, hydrate yourself, and get down ASAP. It won't be any better up there.

When you stay around those for too long, they can give you RF burns and cause damage like a sunburn.

These towers don't cause the metallic taste. This RF radiation is non-ionizing, which doesn't have enough energy to create ozone from oxygen in the air.

You can recognize them by their weird-shaped antenna which is used to broadcast signals effectively and efficiently:

AM#

AM (Amplitude Modulation) towers are basically the same as FM towers, but they are used for long range and offer lower quality.

Though there are notable differences, like the fact that the entire tower is the transmitter!. That means it's isolated from the ground and electrified, so no matter what you do, DO NOT touch them.

The RF radiation from these is usually not as much of a concern, so being near one should be fine (for a while), but don't get extremely close, high voltage electricity can jump to your body.

As with FM towers, these can also turn to low-power mode during the night, but it might STILL NOT be safe because there might still be many kW or even MW running through the tower.

We highly recommend not climbing AM towers when they are on, wait until the tower is turned off instead, e.g., during maintenance.

You can recognize an AM tower quite easily by the following features:

Relatively cleared area
Insulators on the guy wires
- Guy wires themselves don't mean it's an AM tower
Insulator on the bottom of the tower
Humming electric sound when you get close

Note that if you don't hear the electricity humming, it doesn't mean it's off, it can just be in some low-power mode.

TV#

TV towers broadcast TV signals (audio and video) to a wide area and long range.

Like AM towers, these are the real deal... While the whole tower is usually not electrified, it still emits extremely high levels of RF radiation.

The towers usually have high level of security and are labeled by the TV station name. They are also the ones with the highest power out there, so stay away from them. You usually need a special suit to protect you from the RF radiation.

Pylons#

While pylons might look the most dangerous, the main concern isn't the structure itself but the extremely high voltage carried by the conductors (the wires) and the strong electric fields they generate.

The tower structure itself is very well-grounded. This means that if you are in contact with the tower, your body is also at ground potential, which prevents a dangerous build-up of static charge on you from the tower itself. The entire tower structure safely conducts any induced voltage from the surrounding electric fields to the ground. After all, they wouldn't just leave a massive, deadly tower standing in the middle of a field or town if simply touching it was lethal.

These lines carry such high voltages that electricity can arc (jump) through the air to you if you breach the minimum safe distance. This isn't about a slow charge build-up on your body that then discharges. It's a direct, powerful electrical arc from the line to you. It's important to know that any active transmission tower over 100kV can have electricity jump over 3 meters (around 10 feet), and this arcing distance can increase depending on weather conditions like humidity.

The minimum safe distance is generally considered to be around 3 to 5 meters (10 to 16 feet). When you enter a strong electric field zone by getting too close to the live conductors, not just by being on the tower, you might notice your hair standing on end, hear a loud humming sound, and even smell a metallic odor in the air. This odor is due to the ionization of the air caused by the strong electric field.

It's a misconception that a minor shock might just cause a "loss of concentration." With the voltages involved in transmission towers, any direct arc from a conductor is likely to be fatal. The only parts of the pylon system not at ground potential are the conductors and possibly the static line at the top.

Therefore maintain a safe distance from the conductors at all times. As long as you don't get closer to the wires than the metal structure is to you, you should avoid the risk of electric shock.

Conclusion#

We hope this gave you a quick overview of the types of communication towers, the risks associated with them, and how to identify them.

If you have any questions, feel free to slide into our Instagram DMs or check out our sources below for more information.

Remember to stay safe on your next climb!

Sources#

Reddit: Tower info
Reddit: Is this tower safe to climb? Guide
Reddit: Is this tower safe to climb?
Reddit: Choosing the right tower to climb
Reddit: My job is to climb cell phone towers, heres what you need to know
Reddit: Locate towers
BBC: Monster pylons

UK Air Comms
Eri Inc
Used Towers

back