Jump to content

Recommended Posts

I retract my earlier post, driving home from work and saw a tower being upgraded. NV panels are freaking huge.

 

Talked to a worker, said two other crews were working on Lansing towers and they had done six in Grand Rapids.

 

ForumRunner_20130114_165617.png

 

 

 

[ATTACH]1770[/ATTACH]

 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Forum Runner

 

 

That is good news, you didn't happen to get any more detailed info on where in GR did you? I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled even more now. It seems like it took forever for these crews to get here, but I think is going to be like getting the proverbial snowball rolling, it's just gonna keep getting bigger and better!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is good news, you didn't happen to get any more detailed info on where in GR did you? I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled even more now. It seems like it took forever for these crews to get here, but I think is going to be like getting the proverbial snowball rolling, it's just gonna keep getting bigger and better!

 

I tried to get some more locations out of the guy I talked to, but he wasn't giving anything up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried to get some more locations out of the guy I talked to, but he wasn't giving anything up.

 

Oh well, you tried. If they build it, I will come, I will just have to be looking harder, and fortunately there seems to be a few others that will be doing the same. I think by the end of the Summer, we will all just be taking this LTE thing for granted. (or at least I hope so).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on the towers in the Lansing area, the new NV panels stick out like a sore thumb. Those suckers are HUGE compared to the legacy panels. It should be easy to spot them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So which panels exactly am I looking for on these towers? Can someone point out legacy vs NV panels in a photo for me please?

 

Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2

 

This might help you: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/2902-how-to-spot-sprint-panels-and-rrus-ericsson-style/

 

The RRUs will look slightly different in your area, but the panels will be essentially the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So which panels exactly am I looking for on these towers? Can someone point out legacy vs NV panels in a photo for me please? Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2

 

That tutorial from digiblur is a very good reference, and just in case you want to see it applied to the tower you have already looked at / may want to go look at again, here are 2 of my shots from the Byron Center tower with highlights added.

 

This first one is the zoomed image, the legacy equipment is circled in GREEN, and the NV equipment is circled in BLUE.

 

https://dl.dropbox.c...ed%20hilite.jpg

 

and here is a long shot where I cloned the tower (if only it was that easy for real towers) and highlighted one of the towers the same colors as above.

 

https://dl.dropbox.c...er%20hilite.jpg

 

I hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That tutorial from digiblur is a very good reference, and just in case you want to see it applied to the tower you have already looked at / may want to go look at again, here are 2 of my shots from the Byron Center tower with highlights added.

 

This first one is the zoomed image, the legacy equipment is circled in GREEN, and the NV equipment is circled in BLUE.

 

https://dl.dropbox.c...ed%20hilite.jpg

 

and here is a long shot where I cloned the tower (if only it was that easy for real towers) and highlighted one of the towers the same colors as above.

 

https://dl.dropbox.c...er%20hilite.jpg

 

I hope this helps.

 

You have an awesome camera lens, I can almost read the site ID off the panel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You have an awesome camera lens, I can almost read the site ID off the panel.

 

Thanks. It really isn't anything all that special, it's an old Canon Powershot S5-IS, that I picked up at Circuit City about 5 years ago for about $300. The trick for getting good close ups like that is having a camera with a 10x OPTICAL zoom or better and also take the picture in the higher resolution range. I emphasized the word OPTICAL for a reason, "digital zoom" on most cameras is a fluff feature, it doesn't do much good. You need that big lens in front. My camera is a 12x zoom that takes 8 megapixel images. I have been thinking about buying one that Best Buy has on sale right now. It is a Canon Powershot SX500, that camera has 30x OPTICAL zoom and takes 16 megapixel images. Only $249.99. That unit would get some awesome tower close ups, for those sites in hard to reach places!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to your pictures. When you have circled legacy and NV, I thought sprint put out new LTE panels and also the other panels. So I thought the lower 1 was the old sprint equipment. Did I miss something?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to your pictures. When you have circled legacy and NV, I thought sprint put out new LTE panels and also the other panels. So I thought the lower 1 was the old sprint equipment. Did I miss something?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

What other panels? NV Panels broadcast both 3G and 4G on 1900 and 1x on 800. No need for other panels right now. The legacy panels will be coming down at some point this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to your pictures. When you have circled legacy and NV, I thought sprint put out new LTE panels and also the other panels. So I thought the lower 1 was the old sprint equipment. Did I miss something?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

What other panels? NV Panels broadcast both 3G and 4G on 1900 and 1x on 800. No need for other panels right now. The legacy panels will be coming down at some point this year.

 

Like that. Or in other words, the panels circled in green have always been there, the panel circled in blue is the new panel and remote radios for NV on all Sprint bands. Soon the panels circled in green will be removed.

 

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I'm thinking something different. I thought it was all new equipment.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

It is all new equipment. But they have to leave the legacy equipment in place while the transition goes on. Sites that have NV upgrades get new base stations, backhaul and panels. However, only one panel is needed for all types of signal Sprint uses. Therefore, one panel per sector. (except in the case of high capacity sites that may need two).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, let me try again. They are adding NEW equipment next to OLD equipment.

 

Prior to "Network Vision" Sprint offered mobile phone service, they needed panel antennas and radios to provide that service.

 

They are upgrading their equipment to bring the new LTE service, along with other service improvements.

 

When they are satisfied that the new equipment will function properly they will take down the old stuff.

 

There are 2 reasons I have old and new equipment in my pictures. 1. It would not be easy to get a pic of just the new stuff on a tower, because it is too close to the old stuff,

 

2. Also, I point out what each looks like to make it easier for people to spot what they are looking for, since these panels will all be right next to each other.

 

I hope that helps :). If not maybe I don't understand your question. Please let me know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, let me try again. They are adding NEW equipment next to OLD equipment.

 

Prior to "Network Vision" Sprint offered mobile phone service, they needed panel antennas and radios to provide that service.

 

They are upgrading their equipment to bring the new LTE service, along with other service improvements.

 

When they are satisfied that the new equipment will function properly they will take down the old stuff.

 

There are 2 reasons I have old and new equipment in my pictures. 1. It would not be easy to get a pic of just the new stuff on a tower, because it is too close to the old stuff,

 

2. Also, I point out what each looks like to make it easier for people to spot what they are looking for, since these panels will all be right next to each other.

 

I hope that helps :). If not maybe I don't understand your question. Please let me know.

. The small panels look like they get plugged in to the bigger ones. But you're saying the smaller ones run down to the base station? The pictures look like the small ones connect to the new LT E that's why I thought it was new equipment.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back to your pictures. When you have circled legacy and NV, I thought sprint put out new LTE panels and also the other panels. So I thought the lower 1 was the old sprint equipment. Did I miss something?

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

OK, I think I might have missed a word that would have helped me understand what you meant. Each one of those horizontal triangle shaped racks is equipment from other vendors (edited for bad word choice) MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS . I don't know which ones for sure, but say the levels above and below might be ATT or Verizon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. The small panels look like they get plugged in to the bigger ones. But you're saying the smaller ones run down to the base station? The pictures look like the small ones connect to the new LT E that's why I thought it was new equipment.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

Yes, the smaller legacy panels have a coax cable running to the cabinet. The new NV panels have RRUs that receive the signal and process it right there to reduce signal loss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. The small panels look like they get plugged in to the bigger ones. But you're saying the smaller ones run down to the base station? The pictures look like the small ones connect to the new LT E that's why I thought it was new equipment.

 

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

OK, now I think I really see what you are talking about, circled in blue is the new NV Antenna panel, (the tall thing), the shorter things on the side, still in the blue circle with wires going to them are the Radios or RRU's.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I retract my earlier post, driving home from work and saw a tower being upgraded. NV panels are freaking huge.

 

Talked to a worker, said two other crews were working on Lansing towers and they had done six in Grand Rapids.

 

ForumRunner_20130114_165617.png

 

 

 

[ATTACH]1770[/ATTACH]

 

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Forum Runner

 

I swung back by this site yesterday and they were working again. I need to get my camera over there, but this site appears to have two NV panels per sector. Is this normal?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

I swung back by this site yesterday and they were working again. I need to get my camera over there, but this site appears to have two NV panels per sector. Is this normal?

It's it a high traffic area?

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's it a high traffic area?

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

It's Lansing, not the biggest population and there are other towers around it. Back in the day I would say yes to high traffic due to the old GM plants, but those got tore down years ago. It is fairly close to the freeway that bisects town. I'm going to try and get some pics with my DSLR in the next few days.

 

The techs were installing RRUs yesterday.

  • Like 1
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.


  • large.unreadcontent.png.6ef00db54e758d06

  • gallery_1_23_9202.png

  • Posts

    • In the conference call they had two question on additional spectrum. One was the 800 spectrum. They are not certain what will happen, thus have not really put it into their plans either way (sale or no sale). The do have a reserve level. It is seen as great for new technologies which I presume is IOT or 5g slices.  They did not bite on use of their c-band or DOD.  mmWave rapidly approaching deadlines not mentioned at all. FWA brushes on this as it deals with underutilized spectrum on a sector by sector basis.  They are willing to take more money to allow FWA to be mobile (think RV or camping). Unsure if this represents a higher priority, for example, RVs in Walmart parking lots where mobile needs all the capacity. In terms of FWA capacity, their offload strategy is fiber through joint ventures where T-Mobile does the marketing, sales, and customer support while the fiber company does the network planning and installation.  50%-50% financial split not being consolidated into their books. I think discussion of other spectrum would have diluted the fiber joint venture discussion. They do have a fund which one use is to purchase new spectrum. Sale of the 800Mhz would go into this. It should be noted that they continue to buy 2.5Ghz spectrum from schools etc to replace leases. They will have a conference this fall  to update their overall strategies. Other notes from the call are 75% of the phones on the network are 5g. About 85% of their sites have n41, n25, and n71. 93% of traffic is on midband.  SA is also adding to their performance advantage, which they figure is still ahead of other carriers by two years. It took two weeks to put the auction 108 spectrum to use at their existing sites. Mention was also made that their site spacing was designed for midrange thus no gaps in n41 coverage, while competitors was designed for lowband thus toggles back and forth for n77.  
    • The manual network selection sounds like it isn't always scanning NR, hence Dish not showing up. Your easiest way to force Dish is going to be forcing the phone into NR-only mode (*#*#4636#*#* menu?), since rainbow sims don't support SA on T-Mobile.
    • "The company’s unique multi-layer approach to 5G, with dedicated standalone 5G deployed nationwide across 600MHz, 1.9GHz, and 2.5GHz delivers customers a consistently strong experience, with 85% of 5G traffic on sites with all three spectrum bands deployed." Meanwhile they are very close to a construction deadline in June for 850Mhz of mmWave in most of Ohio iirc. No reported sightings.
    • T-Mobile Delivers Industry-Leading Customer, Service Revenue and Profitability Growth in Q1 2024, and Raises 2024 Guidance https://www.t-mobile.com/news/business/t-mobile-q1-2024-earnings — — — — — I find it funny that when they talk about their spectrum layers they're saying n71, n25, and n41. They're completely avoiding talking about mmWave.
    • Was true in my market. Likely means a higher percentage of 5g phones in your market.
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...