RRU Who? [solved]

[digiblur]

So in my daily passings of this site from work I saw some hoist ropes and guys up on the platform.  There's two short towers on top of the building and last month they were working on the south one, Sprint is on the North one on the building.  Had to be Sprint this time right?  So I double back and this is what I found.  Some weird looking triple band antennas with odd RRUs.  I rolled by the site and saw someone out by the gate so I stopped and asked him.  He said he thinks it was Verizon but he really doesn't know as they do all companies.  Has anyone seen these before?  It kind of looks like the have a fourth one laying down on the platform tied to another antenna.

 

[lilotimz]

T-mobile Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi RRUs & Antennas. 

[leerage]

Can you get your camera and zoom in on the connections?

 

[digiblur]

T-mobile Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi RRUs & Antennas. 

 

Hmm... I've seen those before on another site around here that had what looked like 3 of them stacked together and they had a grey front. 

 

They looked like this except they had 3 of them and I found they were the NSN Flexi RRUs..these look different.

 

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/sites/default/files/gallery_images/Flexi_Wall_product_80__copy_2.jpg

[lilotimz]

Hmm... I've seen those before on another site around here that had what looked like 3 of them stacked together and they had a grey front. 

 

They looked like this except they had 3 of them and I found they were the NSN Flexi RRUs..these look different.

 

http://www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com/sites/default/files/gallery_images/Flexi_Wall_product_80__copy_2.jpg

 

 

 

There are different RRU setup configurations that NSN can use (stacked or pole mounted) but those are definitely NSN Flexis and Antennas. The blue sticker with the NSN symbol gives it away. 

[digiblur]

Can you get your camera and zoom in on the connections?

 

 

 

That is my plan when I had better sunlight and more time   I had to shoot this pic from across the interstate to get the right vantage point and have the little bit of sun to my back.

[digiblur]

 

 

 

 

There are different RRU setup configurations that NSN can use (stacked or pole mounted) but those are definitely NSN Flexis and Antennas. The blue sticker with the NSN symbol gives it away. 

 

 

Where's the blue sticker?   on the antenna?  does NSN make the antenna too?

 

And interesting they are going with a 4 sectors and these tri-band antennas! 

[lilotimz]

Where's the blue sticker?   on the antenna?  does NSN make the antenna too?

 

And interesting they are going with a 4 sectors and these tri-band antennas! 

 

Yes. NSN makes their own antennas and Flexis. There is no way to mistake NSN gear as no one else in America uses them that is until Sprint starts deploying Flexis for TD-LTE (they were re-certified for usage for TD-LTE on 2500-2600mhz). 

[lilotimz]

You can see the user guide here... Your above image is indeed of NSN flexis in an stacked enclosure. The NSN Flexis above are in a pole mounted configuration. 

 

As  seen here.. https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=836565&fcc_id=VBNFZHE-01

[digiblur]

Yes. NSN makes their own antennas and Flexis. There is no way to mistake NSN gear as no one else in America uses them that is until Sprint starts deploying Flexis for TD-LTE (they were re-certified for usage for TD-LTE on 2500-2600mhz). 

 

Then TMobile it is... thanks for the confirmation.  I'll have to do a spectrum analysis and see if they are fired up in a few days.  I found it weird they were using tri-band antennas but maybe they are doing something like Sprint did since they have PCS and AWS licenses here.  And I'm 100% sure this isn't Sprint 2.6 as that's going to be a while in this area.

 

Sprint is still legacy on this site

[Destroyallcubes]

So its a pcs lte/hspa+ and aws lte rru im guessing?

[ryry4ya]

T-mobile Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi RRUs & Antennas.

I agree.. They have some of these done in Toledo Ohio

 

Sent from my Verizon Roaming Beast

 

 

[runagun]

With out looking at the responses its Tmobile.  

[WiWavelength]

Yeah, digiblur's pics look similar to the T-Mobile antenna pics that I have taken in my market.

 

 

 

But the size and shape of the short, flat antenna in digiblur's pics are decidedly different.

 

AJ

[EXLINE]

So in my daily passings of this site from work I saw some hoist ropes and guys up on the platform. There's two short towers on top of the building and last month they were working on the south one, Sprint is on the North one on the building. Had to be Sprint this time right? So I double back and this is what I found. Some weird looking triple band antennas with odd RRUs. I rolled by the site and saw someone out by the gate so I stopped and asked him. He said he thinks it was Verizon but he really doesn't know as they do all companies. Has anyone seen these before? It kind of looks like the have a fourth one laying down on the platform tied to another antenna.

 

I have a att tower behind my work that was updated with those small flat panels at the top rack. The lower rack was fitted with lte awhile back. They guys told me the top rack was for the1900 refarm which take with a grain of salt but they did replace very old yellowish panels that looked about 10 yrs old.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[Dfarley]

Much to my dismay I found to he exact same RRUs on the ground at the site that covers my house - I saw the crew up on the rack on my drive home so I circled back an hour later and although the crew was gone most of the equipment was still on the ground. I was optimistic that it would be NV gear, but the tower is shared with TMobile, there were Nokia Siemens logos and boxes all over, and the antenna IDs were similar to Sprint but did not match the Sprint site ID info. No Samsung gear anywhere to be found....I guess it just wasn't meant to be yet.

[The Dave]

I've seen new NSN antennas on towers in Jacksonville. Damn T-Mobile for getting our hopes up! I am pretty sure that the antennas are larger than what Sprint uses, too.

[COZisBack]

I found it weird they were using tri-band antennas but maybe .....

 

Maybe they're optimistic about the upcoming 600mhz auction?

[digiblur]

Maybe they're optimistic about the upcoming 600mhz auction?

 

Dunno... I believe they have 15x15 of PCS and 5x5 of AWS here.  I'll have to keep an eye out on their other sites, they only have a handful here and actually have less than Sprint.  I can pick up Sprint with a somewhat weak signal in my backyard(in city limits) but Tmobile is fat zero.

[milan03]

Yes. NSN makes their own antennas and Flexis. There is no way to mistake NSN gear as no one else in America uses them that is until Sprint starts deploying Flexis for TD-LTE (they were re-certified for usage for TD-LTE on 2500-2600mhz). 

In that case in NYC which is T-Mobile's Ericsson market they use NSN antenna as well? RRU is totally Ericsson RRU11.

[ac21365]

Yes. NSN makes their own antennas and Flexis. There is no way to mistake NSN gear as no one else in America uses them that is until Sprint starts deploying Flexis for TD-LTE (they were re-certified for usage for TD-LTE on 2500-2600mhz). 

 

Well, turns out they aren't specifically NSN Antennas.  Thanks Milan03 for poking me over on another message board, but I've discovered a site that looks like OP's picture here in CSprings.  

 

Most of the sites here look like 

 

but there's one near the house that looks like OP's picture:

 

 

So, the legacy panel is still mounted because as you can see, this site isn't completely up and running.  They threw this together at the last second just as LTE launched here Aug 1.  

 

So, a few things about T-Mobile panels, lilotimz.  Turns out, all the panels in the first picture and the middle panel in the second picture are made by a company called Andrew, which, to the best of my knowledge, isn't affiliated with NSN.  I found this out after waiting months for T-Mobile to equipment refresh a site in-county but outside of city limits (none of CSprings records of this type are online).  

 

http://adm.elpasoco.com/Development%20Services/Documents/Planning%20Commission/2013/Staff%20Reports/07%20July/CMRE%20VA-13-004%20Variance%20of%20Use.pdf

 

Page 23 has the make and model #'s of the panels they're using here in town.  I'm still unsure who makes the fat panel you see in the second picture, but it has the same purple triangle marking as all of the other NSN T-Mobile sites here.  I'm going to assume it is also an Andrew panel as the connectors and servo motors hanging from the bottom look the same.  As for milan03's panel amidst the sea of Ericsson, it looks an awful lot like the Andrew panels they use here, minus the bottom-connectors.  While the stickers on the panel are different colours, they appear to be in very similar positions on the similarly-shaped panel, so it could be a different Andrew model.  

Edited October 1, 2013 by ac21365

[ddimit]

Andrew, has been in the antenna business for years,  Long before cell phones even.

[ac21365]

So, I revisited the site I posted about earlier.  Apologies for the scatterbrainedness of the previous post, so here's a recap:

 

- Both panels on this site are new

- Turns out it was just unfinished in my earlier picture (see the Flexi Base Stations mounted now)

- The 'fat' panel appears to be an Andrew panel by the similar markings as the other panel (the other panel being widely used around town on all other NSN sites).