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I really hope I'm posting this in the right section.

I was strolling down the street and looked up at this massive barrel object mounted to a utility pole. It's hard to tell from the pic, but it definitely has the brand Siemens stuck to its side. Being Siemens, I figured the electrical engineering section deemed worthy. Everything else was illegible due to its height above the sidewalk. There's what looks like a huge RF antenna poking out of the bottom of it.

I'm hoping that someone who does line work or know RF or something might know what this is?

What the heck is this thing??

AfroJoe
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    The barrel looks like a very large capacitor about to explode. – Olin Lathrop Nov 21 '17 at 18:26
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    Did you happen to notice your mobile phone signal strength while you were near it? – Andrew Morton Nov 21 '17 at 18:32
  • It's the gov'n'ment reading your thoughts! Better wear a tinfoil hat! ;) – DerStrom8 Nov 21 '17 at 18:38
  • Knowing the country where you saw it may give people some more hints for its identification. To me it seems (wild guess) like some kind of pollutants detection/measuring system with remote wireless connection to a central control station. The box on the left may be its transformer/power supply unit. – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike Nov 21 '17 at 18:43
  • Or a barrel for measuring rain level with a transmitter :) – Eugene Sh. Nov 21 '17 at 18:58
  • If there are connections to a HV line then I could make a guess. But for now. No idea. – Decapod Nov 21 '17 at 19:12
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    It's a bit bucket. It collects all those extra internet requests that get lost when IE hangs. – Trevor_G Nov 21 '17 at 19:43
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    the box is unlocked, so just turn it off and see what kind of truck comes out to turn it back on. – dandavis Nov 21 '17 at 21:04
  • The white "stick" underneath must be explained by any hypothesis, I think. It appears to have an opening intended to avoid rain or falling particulates but to allow access to the air. A sensor probe of some kind. Pitot stasis tube came first to mind, but now I'm wondering about radiation detection. It's normal to have a certain well-specified rate of air flow through a filter that is periodically removed and analyzed for particulates. And Seimens would have experience in this area. Being next to a power line would not interfere and might just be a convenience. In Europe, may make sense. – jonk Nov 21 '17 at 22:13
  • >LorenzoDonati It's in Toronto, Canada. >Decapod I don't think it's connected to the HV line, its probably stepped down to 230V >dandavis hahah, good one. @jonk Probably the best explanation. I even went as far as to check Siemens website and could not find any product that matches the looks of this one. Shall remain a mystery I suppose? – AfroJoe Nov 22 '17 at 15:09
  • Do you have "Broadband Over Power Lines" there? That is my guess. –  Nov 23 '17 at 14:21
  • @nocomprende no we don't – AfroJoe Nov 27 '17 at 18:43
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    It could as easily be a smart meter hub. – lakeweb Jan 30 '18 at 02:23

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