cell tower construction

[MrWizard]

we have members from all walks of life

so here is the question

once a cell tower starts construction
typically how long until its operational

i saw one today looks almost complete
wondering how long equipment install, testing and going into operation takes ?

days ? weeks ?

it in an area where i could use improved 4g and i hope its a verizon tower ? but won't know until IF and when signal improves

[christopherglen]

AT&T put in a new tower 1/4 mile from here, it was about 30 days from hanging antennas to me having lte inside the house. before it went up, I had to be in the roof for lte.

[SCVJeff]

Im not sure when it was you retired, but its not at all uncommon for the site to be linked via microwave to either a central node or as part of a trunk off an adjacent site running modulations of 256QAM+. I see coordination notices by the hundreds at the office anywhere any of the carriers are constructing and there is a chance their microwave operations could affect mine. Same goes for the building.. It is completely finished inside and out: HVAC, cable trays power distriubution, lights, even a common ground buss with attachment stud outside. As i said, just add power and radios. I know, I've bought two for our own use as repeater sites.

You are correct that a week is silly and there is no reason. But if all the engineering is done, the links figured out, coordinated, licensed, and equipment purchased and on the trucks, there is no reason that it couldnt be done in 2-3 weeks. Trenching in fiber is obviously another story.

(Edit: iPhone spelling)

[Kart-Racer]

In the 32 years I worked for GTE/Verizon as a network engineer I have never seen a cell site go online in a week or less. When a new pre built cell site building arrives and is placed it is no where near ready for turn up. The Telco circuits don't just magically appear. We can not even design the circuits until the building is placed and signed off by the city. It then takes a minimum of three crews before we turn up our circuits (crew to place the cable, crew to mount the and terminate the cable, then our crew to program, test and turn up).

A prebuilt cell site building is only sparsely equipped when it arrives at the site.

[wintersun]

Most towers are built and the space is then leased to the various carriers, be it Verizon or Sprint or AT&T. The tower nearest to our house and the only one from which we can get a connection established has only a Verizon transmitter. Most towers have multiple transmitters for multiple carriers but if it is not the one with which you have a service plan it does you no good.

[SCVJeff]

MrWizard wrote:
this one is no more than 50-60ft
and the the three "horns"/elements are mounted and its being dressed as a tree
its going in between existing commercial bldgs one of which is a restaurant
i'm in the area several times a month..just spotted this today
usually over night for business, also have friends in the area
it will be nice IF it turns out to be verizon
my 4g sucks in that area
hope its online, next time in the area

towers are typically manfactured in 20' sections unless you need something custom. An errector-set can take several days to put together, even that size. If the sections come in assembled, then its a morning job for the crane.

RF Lingo: the pickup within the dish is called a feed horn or feed. When microwave folk refer to a horn, its usually a Cornicoupia (sp) that is really big and really expensive, or a very basic literal horn that you can hold to track interfearence. If there are any old telco infrastructure guys here, they would recognize them because ATT was about the only company that could afford them.

Ive looked at these cell tower finder apps before and find them to be a joke, at least in this area. Being under 300', the tower doesnt have to be registered with the FAA, otherwise you could look at the ASR posted on the tower and find it and its owner (which often is not the carrier). And as far as site license, they are never shown on the FCC ULS. It looks like they have a blanket authorization for a given area. At least new installs.

[dan-nickie]

MrWizard wrote:
Believe me it's a cell tower, since cell antenna are vertical bars, they are not constructed the same way as "wire"/rod antennas
The frequencies used are in the lower end of the microwave spectrum
And MW antenna are some times called horns, depending on the application
Must people think a television Sat dish is a MW antenna
It's not..The antenna is tiny, it's in the end of the horn sticking out from the dish...The dish is just a reflector to catch signal and focus it on the end of the horn..where the antenna is hidden

Thanks for that explanation.
I worked in the wireless business for about 16 years as a network manager charged with development and implementation of the fixed and switched wireless network.
I just never heard anyone in the business refer to the antennas as 'horns' or 'elements' in that time. It has been a while though.

[MrWizard]

Believe me it's a cell tower, since cell antenna are vertical bars, they are not constructed the same way as "wire"/rod antennas
The frequencies used are in the lower end of the microwave spectrum
And MW antenna are some times called horns, depending on the application
Must people think a television Sat dish is a MW antenna
It's not..The antenna is tiny, it's in the end of the horn sticking out from the dish...The dish is just a reflector to catch signal and focus it on the end of the horn..where the antenna is hidden

[dan-nickie]

What are these 'horns/elements' ?
Doesn't sound like cell tower antenna.

[wa8yxm]

How long from ground breaking to operation... This is a mixed question it can be as little as a few days to a year or more.. here is why.

For the Few Days" they haul a "Dog house" (As the shack at the base is called) in on a truck and set it down.. Hook up power and such, Attach the antennas to the tower hook them up do their testing and go live.. Total can be done in a week or less if you have a big enough crew on the tower.

However some companies prefer to "Stick build" (it is a block house though so its Masons, not carpenters) the dog house.. Then some companies may not have all the needed permits and licenses yet when they start construction.. Some are still paying bribes (long story) and all this takes time.

So, it varies.

[FlatBroke]

Delete

[nomad297]

poncho62 wrote:

MrWizard wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:
Guess someone is going to have to tell me why we are still building towers when we have satellites.

they are "cell phones"

NOT "satellite" phones

price "S-phone" and you understand real fast

besides that was NOT the question..you answer does not help

Hey Mr Wizard (sounds like a TV show...lol)....I do have a question regarding this that has bugged me. I understand that there are cell phones ans satellite phones and that satellite phones are a lot more expensive. Just want to ask, whats the deal with GPSs then?....Seems to me they connect with satellites, updating every few feet while moving. Plus, they are quite cheap....Why then are phones so much more expensive? Just wondering, thanks

With GPS, all you are doing is receiving a radio signal from a few satellites that were put in the sky by our government for defense purposes. They had to be there and they have to transmit all of the time, so our government allowed public use of these signals.

Satellite telephones require reception and transmission via privately owned satellites put into the sky for profit.

Bruce

[nomad297]

Double post

[poncho62]

MrWizard wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:
Guess someone is going to have to tell me why we are still building towers when we have satellites.

they are "cell phones"

NOT "satellite" phones

price "S-phone" and you understand real fast

besides that was NOT the question..you answer does not help

Hey Mr Wizard (sounds like a TV show...lol)....I do have a question regarding this that has bugged me. I understand that there are cell phones ans satellite phones and that satellite phones are a lot more expensive. Just want to ask, whats the deal with GPSs then?....Seems to me they connect with satellites, updating every few feet while moving. Plus, they are quite cheap....Why then are phones so much more expensive? Just wondering, thanks

[nomad297]

Near to where I live, Sprint constructed a tower within an existing church steeple. From the time they craned the steeple off of the church to begin construction to the time the steeple was back in place and the tower was in service was two weeks.

Bruce