Jump to content

Network Vision/LTE - Central Iowa Market (Des Moines and surrounding areas)


sweyers

Recommended Posts

Sorry about that I wasn't really trying to bitch, I was more making conversation since this forum is at a standstill due to network vision stalling out in Des Moines. :)

Justin...I have seen you comment on my site and our Facebook page for nearly three years. Bitching seems to be your standard communication style. Sometimes I have more patience for it than other times.

 

Robert from Note 2 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Softbank and Clearwire purchases got approved by the FCC but there are other threads discussing that stuff. Good news none the less. I keep checking for Des Moines news, I'm sure things will be heating up soon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i've been on vacation for the past 2 weeks, going to try and go out today or tomorrow and hit some towers to see if there is anything new going on. The few I have seen since being back don't show any signs of work yet so i'm not optimistic. i did check on permits for the month of June and there were 9 more issued for des moines and 1 more for ankeny. that brings the total number of permits issued to about 30 that i've seen.

 

One weird thing was most of the permits i've seen so far list something like "adding 3 new antennas to existing tower" but 2 of the permits for june said they were adding 5 new antennas and one said 6. i confirmed there were all sprint tower locations and they were from optima network services which most of the other permits for sprint sites have been from. anyone have any guesses on what the additional antennas could be for?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

anyone have any guesses on what the additional antennas could be for?

 

Possibly a high capacity site? There are a couple photos in the "How to Spot Samsung Antennas" thread with 2 antennas per sector, the additional one for more PCS capacity. One of the permits that references 6 antennas is in downtown Des Moines (at 1440 Walnut St.) which seems like it could be a high capacity site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where do you go to check "permits" and how do you confirm that they are sprint towers?

The permits list the address of the site on them. So I put that in Google maps. The sponsor section has a map of all sprint towers so then I zoom in on the same area and see if there is a pin in the same spot as the address I entered. Sponsor section also has a map of all upgrades that have been completed so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest mbrinson

Ahh I see but is there another site that you look up permits that have been pulled for each tower location? Or do you get all info off this site?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh I see but is there another site that you look up permits that have been pulled for each tower location? Or do you get all info off this site?

 

just go to each cities website and look at their monthly permit reports. I've saved a list of the ones i use i'll paste here if you want to take a look yourself. 

 

 

 

sometimes they are obviously for sprint, other times the only way i know its for sprint is by confirming there is a sprint tower in the same location using the sponsor map here. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see in Ankeny's permits the following: 2/28/2013 $20,000  1525 SW Tradition Dr  Applicant name = SMJ International - Sprint and Contractor Name = Optima Network.

 

Another in Ankeny's permits they approved one for 202 NW Ash (Must be Water Tower next to Fire Station)  6/17  $20,000 Applicant Name = SMJ International - Sprint  Contractor Name = Optima Network.   Both show Addition/Alteration as the type of permit under Commercial.

 

Also I saw a large crane at the mono pole on NE Delaware behind Valley Bank and behind Burger King doing something. Was after work hours so they had all left.  I tried looking in the open privacy fence gate without getting out of the car the next day when the crane was gone but couldn't get any good pic to post.  As much as I've read and looked on this site I can't seem to notice what equipment is what company or such to know if it's sprint.  Also never seen maps that tell for sure who owns what site. 

 

I thought at one time Sprint had the tower on SW State South of Oralabor but not sure on that one either.  If someone lists out some info on where towers are around Ankeny I'll try to keep an eye on them for activity.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see in Ankeny's permits the following: 2/28/2013 $20,000  1525 SW Tradition Dr  Applicant name = SMJ International - Sprint and Contractor Name = Optima Network.

 

Another in Ankeny's permits they approved one for 202 NW Ash (Must be Water Tower next to Fire Station)  6/17  $20,000 Applicant Name = SMJ International - Sprint  Contractor Name = Optima Network.   Both show Addition/Alteration as the type of permit under Commercial.

 

Also I saw a large crane at the mono pole on NE Delaware behind Valley Bank and behind Burger King doing something. Was after work hours so they had all left.  I tried looking in the open privacy fence gate without getting out of the car the next day when the crane was gone but couldn't get any good pic to post.  As much as I've read and looked on this site I can't seem to notice what equipment is what company or such to know if it's sprint.  Also never seen maps that tell for sure who owns what site. 

 

I thought at one time Sprint had the tower on SW State South of Oralabor but not sure on that one either.  If someone lists out some info on where towers are around Ankeny I'll try to keep an eye on them for activity.

 

there are 4 towers in ankeny, i've seen permits issued for 3 of the 4 so far. the first one you list there on tradition dr is the one off state street south of oralabor. the other carrier on that tower is t-mobile, which is the top set of antennas, sprint is the bottom set. kind of depressing it was issued back in february :(

 

there is another tower right behind the corporate sprint store on Delaware next to walmart, that's a sprint only tower. it had a permit issued in march or may. then the other one you list there is the water tower off first street next to the fire station, as far as i could tell from base cabinets there is only sprint on that one too.

 

then the last tower is the "flag/mono pole" one behind burger king, i haven't seen a permit for that one yet. i did stop by that one and it looked like there were 2 carriers on it based on base cabinets, so its possible the crane you saw was for someone else depending on who the other carrier is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They are it's a Sprint only tower. Unless the equipment has already been delivered I don't know what they are doing. Looks like they are leaving now anyway.

 

i know its a sprint only tower, but would be nice to hear from someone that may know whats going on. Unless equipment was delivered today there isn't any there, i just went to that tower yesterday and there was nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so over the past 2 days i've driven or stopped by 17 towers, out of those 17 towers i didn't see any new equipment and only saw work being done on 1.

 

the one tower that did have work being done to it was the clive water tower, which has multiple carriers on it. i'm assuming it is not for sprint since none of the other towers i visited had any signs of work. i drove by it a few weeks ago and there were people there setting up scaffolding and stuff and the equipment on the ground made me think that they were getting ready to repaint the water tower.

 

however when i drove by today i was surprised to see that a, presumably, temporary tower had been erected (it was not a COW as it was fixed into a concrete base on the ground).

 

IMAG0293.jpg[/url]

 

IMAG0294.jpg

 

so i'm not sure whats going on there, 3 possibilities i can think of are

 

1) its another carrier upgrading and they setup a temp tower while work was being done.

2) water tower is being painted and they are moving everything to the temp tower until painting is done

3) it is sprint work being done and they setup a temp tower for the time being.

 

if anyone has any ideas on what panels could be on the temp tower let me know! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

there are 4 towers in ankeny, i've seen permits issued for 3 of the 4 so far. the first one you list there on tradition dr is the one off state street south of oralabor. the other carrier on that tower is t-mobile, which is the top set of antennas, sprint is the bottom set. kind of depressing it was issued back in february :(

 

there is another tower right behind the corporate sprint store on Delaware next to walmart, that's a sprint only tower. it had a permit issued in march or may. then the other one you list there is the water tower off first street next to the fire station, as far as i could tell from base cabinets there is only sprint on that one too.

 

then the last tower is the "flag/mono pole" one behind burger king, i haven't seen a permit for that one yet. i did stop by that one and it looked like there were 2 carriers on it based on base cabinets, so its possible the crane you saw was for someone else depending on who the other carrier is.

 

Thanks for that add'l information.  I can certainly try and watch some sites and get pictures if there is anything to take pics of.  I have found this site pretty fun and informative especially related to our Central Iowa Market.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm hearing Sprint is trying to have things ready for our state fair (biggest one in the country). I'm not so sure that will happen at the rate they are going.

 

the sales people told my mother in law that when she was in looking at phone upgrades last week, that 4G would be here by the fair. not that sales people are purposefully dishonest or trying to mislead but they are usually the last ones to know anything. I'm sure there will be some 4G live by then but i doubt they will be done. especially since i have seen zero tower work yet, and i've checked a lot of towers, and the fair is 2 months away.....

 

 

 

well we are about 4 weeks out from the start of the fair, if they are wanting to have some 4G live by then they better get their rears in gear as i have still seen 0 activity..... i haven't checked any towers by the fair grounds but i can't imagine they would focus on those first as that hasn't been their MO in any other market.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...