the "Building of a New Tower" thread

[RJB]

So anymore updated pics this was fun to watch

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by RJB

So anymore updated pics this was fun to watch

im glad you asked i was thinking no one cared. ill take some more tommorow. since they are getting closer to being done it is going to get tougher for me to take pics. ill try my best.


i can at least update you now on what they are doing.

last i looked (today) they were in the process of hanging the antennas, they didnt have them all up but they had up quiet a few of them. ill have to see if they built the box or shelter or what have you yet.

thanks for the interest!!!!

[TelcomJunkie]

Originally Posted by Eric47

im glad you asked i was thinking no one cared. ill take some more tommorow. since they are getting closer to being done it is going to get tougher for me to take pics. ill try my best.

While I suggest you take pictures after the crew has left, if you're polite and stay out of the way I'm sure they won't tell you to take a hike.

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by TelcomJunkie

While I suggest you take pictures after the crew has left, if you're polite and stay out of the way I'm sure they won't tell you to take a hike.

cool thanks!~!

[RJB]

Yeah I have had a hige interest in this. BTW most techs from what I have seen are very nice. In fact if that were me I would go talk to them and ask many questions lol.

[Day5InJanuary]

cant wai to see these pics!

[larry]

Originally Posted by TelcomJunkie

While I suggest you take pictures after the crew has left, if you're polite and stay out of the way I'm sure they won't tell you to take a hike.

I've taken all kinds of picture with workers at the sites and have never been told to take a hike. They probably think I'm with the carrier and taking photos for the company.

[Eric47]

lol sorry guys ive been slacking because of school and work.

ill have photos by saturday, promise

[TelcomJunkie]

Originally Posted by larry

I've taken all kinds of picture with workers at the sites and have never been told to take a hike. They probably think I'm with the carrier and taking photos for the company.

Each crew is different and will have different boundaries that may or may not be crossed during your endeavors. Luckily, it sounds like you've only ran into some nice crews, just be forewarned that there are numerous people in this industry that unless they know who you are, or why you are there will tell you to beat it.

[Eric47]

welp guys. i think they are done. it is not active yet but i have a feeling it will be very soon. so heres the last set of pics.

[Quint101]

I wonder who will colocate on the tower now lol

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Quint101

I wonder who will colocate on the tower now lol

well, honestly i can see any of the carriers wanting a piece of this action as this is a FAST growing area, and very suburban (no real potential areas for future towers near by, as it is, this was built through a zoning loop hole many are familiar with where they get a church to allow them to build on their property)

but i would suspect to see either Sprint or possibly Cricket or Tmobile or Someone to co-locate there. there is a tower about 1 mile away that verizon and nextel and TMOB are on but TMOB is the lowest down on it and they have only 1900mhz so of course with the heavily wooded area and the antennas being lower than the tree level, that towers effective range is not good.


as for this tower, i doubt more than 1 will co-locate, but we will see. it is not very high above the tree line. id say the trees are in the 100-120 range and the tower is in the 150 range. leaving room for 1more above the tree line out of the 3 available spaces left.

[Quint101]

Hmmm... In my area, there is this huge monopole where 6 carriers had antennae... Over time, the carriers either merged (sprint/Nextel) or installed their towers nearby (T-Mobile has built 2 stealth tree sites less than a mile away)

[RJB]

Thanks for the pics again. Nice new shiney site you have there. I wish there were new things going in my area. I have a suspicion tmobile will be adding something here soon.

[Eric47]

i wanto tell you guys. i really enjoy being a part of this site. i enjoy the information that is provided and what i gain from it. this thread is all about me trying to give back. so thanks for everyones interest, it makes me feel like i have accomplished my goal.

[Day5InJanuary]

awsome pics eric. will be cool to see who colocates!

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Day5InJanuary

awsome pics eric. will be cool to see who colocates!

ill definetly keep you all posted. i dont expect to see any anytime soon, but you never know!

[RJB]

Originally Posted by Eric47

i wanto tell you guys. i really enjoy being a part of this site. i enjoy the information that is provided and what i gain from it. this thread is all about me trying to give back. so thanks for everyones interest, it makes me feel like i have accomplished my goal.

No thank you this kind of thread is very neat and unique enjoyed it very much.

[RadioFoneGuy]

Yah its nice to see interest in the industry and alot of common folk so to speak dont get to see how it all transpires.

I have personally helped build tons of new sites, the one thing the pictures dont show is the trial and tribulations of dealing with contractors. Something is always being held up at these.

Sometimes you get tower companies from 5 hours away from the site and their slow and getting it built. You also have electrical contractors, the power company and a big one is waiting on Telco to install the backhaul lines. Telco can take for ever if it goes thru mulitple phone companies areas.

I had a tower that came on air on generator and stayed on generator for almost 45 days. The electrical inspector for that area went of vacation. Ever 4 days I had to get the generator filled, it got old about the 3 time I had to do it.

[Eric47]

luckily this is Bellsouth ATT country. they still own the lines down here. so there was no waiting on the T1's as i understood from talking to some guys on site. espically with them deploying 3G. i think the main hold up on this site was building permits/rezoning/getting the builders in here like you stated.

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by Eric47

this was built through a zoning loop hole many are familiar with where they get a church to allow them to build on their property

Wow, its been my experience that getting on site on church property is more difficult than anywhere else, but that just goes to show everywhere in the world is different. I did some network planning in Tunesia, and theres alot of small villages spread out there with mainly only 1 story high houses. The higest structure was always the mosque, which would be an ideal place for an antenna, but they didnt take too kindly to my suggestions

Yea, good thread to show the tower building process. As a network engineer Ive planned hundreds (or thousands?) of sites, but I rarely see them get built

[Plokoon111]

Is there anyway to find out if there is any cell sites being built or being planned in my area? Is there any site that can show me any of that?

[sprintcellguyntx]

I live in Central Texas and I have seen a cell site built about .44 miles away from my house. I use sprint's EVDO Rev. A data card. Recently I have been experiencing a drop in service the dBm fluxing ALOT, dropping from 78 dBm all the way to 102 dBm... Ive worked with Sprint's Advanced technical support and they are supposed to be sending a tech out to the nearest cell site to check the orientation of the antennae... She said it seems like my card isnt locking on a specific site, but bouncing between sites. Has anyone else around here experienced these problems if so, any helpful tips of pointers? I am looking for some cell site maps for sprint in my area, does anyone know of any... I am also expecially interested in the actual equipment and how it works /specs as well. I do understand different carriers use different technologies and such. And I am sure there are some confidentiality issues there, but any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

[RadioRaiders]

Originally Posted by sprintcellguyntx

I live in Central Texas and I have seen a cell site built about .44 miles away from my house. I use sprint's EVDO Rev. A data card. Recently I have been experiencing a drop in service the dBm fluxing ALOT, dropping from 78 dBm all the way to 102 dBm... .

Could be a bad data card and/or software, but I doubt it. It's the network that directs your card as to which tower it should connect to. If they are building a new tower close to you, then that could obviously cause you some problems. Congestion on the cell closer to you could also force you to use a un-congested cell further away (resulting in a lower signal strength for you), so if you have some data-hungry neighbors also on Sprint, this could drive you to a further cell. Really Sprint should have some tools that they can look at their data records remotely with and analyze, not really needed to send a tech out. But I guess it depends on how much time and effort they want to spend trouble-shooting the problem. Probably just cheaper and easier to send a tech out.

[Xboxking]

Wow nice thread thanks for sharing. Did any other carriers Co locate?