| Most viewed - Non-Camouflaged Sites |
"We Come In Peace!"497 viewsWater tank cell and microwave site south of Sacramento, California along I-5
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The Tower Works LTD480 viewsThis structurally attractive tower is in Mangonia Park just north of West Palm Beach. The tower is just over 500 feet tall. I had a delightful chat with Marlin of TTW about her tower. She shared some great stories - and frustrations - about this and other towers she's been involved with.
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Cell site in parking lot465 viewsNotice the addition of the lot lights.
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Microcell mounted in traffic signal light standard461 viewsThe cell antennas are pointed to cover short street segments on Ventura Blvd east and west of Laurel Canyon Blvd. San Fernando Valley, California.
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Pole-mounted Microcell446 viewsThis wireless microcell provides uninterrupted coverage on a busy major highway in a steep winding canyon on the Southern California coast.
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Cell site, microwave mounted on wood pole434 viewsWe don't need no stinking steel tower!
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Hot zone? What hot zone?414 viewsThis roof-top site (now removed) used cheezy plastic safety cones with pasted-on warning signs to alleged mark the edge of the general population/uncontrolled RF zone. Note the two cones at rear-right that have blown over. A very effective warning technique, eh?
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Sprint microcell - Two Sectors411 viewsPole mounted Sprint microcell in Brentwood, California (Parkyns St.). The panel antennas should have been painted brown or green to afford some measure of camouflage. This site is near OJ's former home on Rockingham in Brentwood, California. It's a much nicer area than were he now lives in Nevada.
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Co locate site for multiple cell structures408 viewsThis multi-tower site is along next to Interstate 405 in Irvine, California.
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Wireless sites on power transmission towers394 viewsA new trend to install wireless antenna arrays on high voltage power transmission towers. These new co-location sites are gaining popularity due their preexisting right of ways and available height.
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Strand-mounted cell site (Sprint)376 viewsThis is a Sprint cell site using the cable TV system to connect users to the MTSO. Irvine, CA.
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Nextel antenna structure on top of an industrial building370 viewsOpen antenna structures have little impact in industrial areas.
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What's that wrapping around the antennas?366 viewsHere's an interesting site (close up in next photo). Notice that there are cars parked in the auto body shop lot directly below the antennas. Perhaps birds like to take aim and, er, hit the cars below. What a clever carrier solution! Put a net around the antennas to keep the birds off.
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Close-up of anti-Bird-bomb net over antennas362 viewsHere's a close-up photo of the net placed over the antennas to keep the birds off (and to keep them from bombing the cars below)!
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CEV Hatch with Bench360 viewsThe metal bench sits atop the hatch of a CEV (controlled environmental vault) used to house telecommunications equipment in a large, underground room. How large is large, you ask? CEV's are common, but bench tops aren't.
CEVs come in many sizes, but its common for the size of the room below ground to be measured in hundreds of square feet.
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Cell site on a Call Box347 viewsThis cell site uses a travelers call box as the antenna support. The equipment is located just beyond the railing in the underground enclosure. Near Pt. Mugu, California.
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Cell site on power transmission pole346 viewsThis site in located in British Columbia, Canada.
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Multipurpose monopole327 viewsThis tall monopole belonging to a Southern California radio station is occupied at several levels by various communications services.
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Awful AT&T Antennas316 viewsThis rather awful antenna site, from AT&T wireless, is located at 10239 1/2 Vassar in Canoga Park, California. The dual band antennas use tower mounted amplifiers to enhance weak signal reception.
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Freeway wireless site316 viewsThis double wireless array is situated on a building located immediately adjacent to the I-5 Freeway in Los Angeles.
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Surface mounted antennas sometimes just require matching paint313 viewsThis surface mount wireless site is less visible due to the use of matching paint on the antenna radomes. Less visible, but not a true camouflage site.
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Cell Call Box311 viewsWhere there's nothing else vertical, some carriers will build cell sites on call boxes. This call box (now replaced) was installed on the Pacific Coast Highway near Point Mugu, California. The base station equipment was located in the flush vault in the foreground.
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Guess which puts out more power?310 viewsThis is a massive power transmission tower that supports two different carriers. Yeah, the tower's REALLY that big.
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Antenna arrays mounted on transmission towers307 viewsClose-up view of an antenna array mounted on a power transmission tower.
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Chester, PA Cell Site304 viewsAttention KMART shoppers! Now you can show for sundries and signal at the same time!
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Palms guarding cell site - circa 2004302 viewsThis is a cell site 'guarded' by live palm trees. Its the same site I photographed in late 2001 (see that photo in this gallery). Notice how the live palms have grown, and so have the houses around the site!
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Das da ticket!300 viewsA close up of the AT&T Wireless DAS antennas. Note several things:
First, the RF warning sign is on the rear of the antenna, where is cannot be seen by someone approaching the antenna. This is not consistent with the FCC RF safety requirements.
Second, these are dual band antennas. In the far antenna, the cellular band antenna feed is on the right; the PCS band feed is on the left.
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Cell site crowning a power transmission tower297 viewsThis cell site, in Walnut Creek, California, is atop a PG&E power transmission tower.
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Semi-camo tower294 viewsThe Santa Monica Mountains frame this cell site, located along Interstate 405 near the Getty Center in Los Angeles.
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NextG RF Safety Advisory Notice293 viewsThis is NextG's RF safety advisory below the DAS node. It clearly spells out the RF safety facts and compliance for this site as it pertains to the general population walking by the site.
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Omni-directional Microcell on Sign290 viewsThis AT&T Wireless site, at Fairfax and Pico in Los Angeles, is an example of placing a microcell site atop an existing, small sign.
If you enlarge the photo, don't miss checking out the lid of the vault in front of the pole. The lid is a piece of plywood, apparently to replace the original concrete!
Nope, I don't want to drive my car over that lid, either!
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Pad-mounted Base Station289 viewsThis is a concrete-pad mounted cell site base station. The powering is to the right, and the GPS antenna is seen in the top-background attached to the ice-bridge. The ice-bridge protects the coaxial cables, mounted below the bridge, from falling ice.
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GPS and LMU antennas287 viewsThe GPS antenna (the pointed white dome) is used to receive satellite-delivered timing signals used to sync a large-area wireless network.
The LMU (Location Measuring Unit) antenna, which in this photograph is mounted on a bracket to the left of the GPS antenna) is used to help a wireless carrier locate its users as required by the FCC for wireless E-911.
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Equipment Cabinets, GPS and LMU antennas281 viewsCingular's equipment cabinets are mounted in the hardscape area between the curb and sidewalk.
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Great Scott! (Some more)280 viewsThis close-up view shows a very stylish use of an iron sculpture to provide an interesting surround to a cell site BTS.
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Pad-mounted Base Station280 viewsThis is a concrete-mounted cell site equipment and power package. Note the use of the ice-bridge (left-rear of the equipment) to protect the cables. The commercial powering package is to the right of the radio equipment package.
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Nextel's Interesting Lattice Tower280 viewsA Nextel site using an interesting lattice tower to support its antennas and microwave antennas.
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Cell site on power transmission pole280 viewsThis site in located in British Columbia, Canada.
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Close-up of Cell Antennas and GPS Antenna on Traffic Signal/Light Standard279 viewsThis is a close-up of the antennas mounted on the traffic signal. Note the two coax cables into the bottom of each panel antenna. One is for transmitting and the other is for receiving.
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Building top multi-sector cell site277 viewsYet another roof-top cell site. This is a macrosite adjacent to a major freeway in Los Angeles.
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Great Scott!273 viewsScottsdale has some very interesting pole mounted sites. This long view of several carriers' sites shows an interesting deployment scheme to cover subdivisions along Shea Road.
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Sprint Conducts a Drive Test272 viewsWhen a wireless carrier selects a candidate cell site it will usually conduct a 'drive test' to determine actual coverage. The drive test consists of elevating an antenna to a predetermined height. Inside the truck is a portable PCS transmitter powering the antenna. In a separate vehicle (call it a 'rover') the carrier will drive the streets around the test site out to a predetermined distance from the site. The received signal level and GPS location information are stored in a portable computer inside the rover.
After the test is concluded, the received signal strength and location information are plotted on a street map. That map then serves to guide the RF engineer to select a final candidate site, and to design the antenna system to cover the desired area without causing unreasonable interference to other cell sites on the same network.
Attached to the left of the antenna (and blowing in the breeze) is a measuring tape used to determine the height of the antenna.
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Rover's Roof270 viewsOn the roof of the drive test 'rover' is a GPS antenna (the square antenna in the center of the roof), plus two PCS omnidirectional antennas for signal measurement and communications purposes.
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NextG Distributed Antenna System Node268 viewsNextG's DAS node located in Encinitas, California. The carrier supported by this node is Cricket Wireless. The DAS equipment manufacturer is Andrew Corporation. This DAS node is a member of Andrew's ION ("Intelligent Optical Network") line of products. The cover at the top of the DAS housing covers a cooling fan.
Under SDG&E rules, this site does not consume enough power to require a power meter; merely a breaker box (located to the right of the DAS node).
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Two on a Stick266 viewsSprint's BTS equipment is located in the large flush-to-grade vault. It's flush vents bracket the BTS vault.
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Das da ticket!266 viewsAT&T uses a distributed antenna system (DAS) to light this site on Valley Circle in the San Fernando Valley (Los Angeles County). The DAS node, manufactured by Andrew Corporation, is the small box affixed to the larger power meter pedestal cabinet.
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Two levels? No problem!266 viewsThis cell site, located on Yerba Buena Island in the San Francisco Bay serves both levels of the Bay Bridge.
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Sprint microcell - Base Station, Backhaul, and Powering263 viewsThe base station is the large box. Below it is the interface box that extracts power from the coaxial cable backhaul system. At the bottom, in the small box, is the power regulation transformer. Note that this installation, in California, does not comply with CPUC General Order 95 as it has cables below 8 feet above ground that are not in conduit.
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Awful AT&T Antennas262 viewsThis rather awful antenna site, from AT&T wireless, is located at 10239 1/2 Vassar in Canoga Park, California. The dual band antennas use tower mounted amplifiers to enhance weak signal reception.
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Galt High School Doesn't Lack for Signal258 viewsThree out of four light standards at the Galt (California) High School Warrior Stadium are cell sites. Well, that still leaves 25% growth potential!
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Spectrasite co-location site257 viewsThis Spectrasite cell/microwave site is located in Carson, California. The tower is registered to what is now Verizon Wireless. Note how the microwave antennas are identified by code to permit identification of specific microwave antennas from ground level. It's located in an "Enterprise" zone (sorry...inside joke).
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Got Desert?257 viewsThis little Verizon 3-sector site sites atop a wood pole in Victorville, California. The BTS equipment is in the fenced area to the left, and the telco and power panels are to the right.
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Parking lot cell site255 viewsHere's another, wider view of a cell site mounted on a parking lot light standard in San Francisco.
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City Hall Clock Tower254 viewsIrvine, California's civic center is a sight to behold. The clock tower above the site supports public safety radio antennas, and an omni-direction antenna cell site.
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Cell site and Microwave Relay252 viewsThis site is not a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO). Rather, its an aggregation point for microwave backhaul from other wireless sites. Verizon and Nextel are co-located here.
Why red and white? This site is located adjacent to the Ontario, California airport.
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Sprint's Drive Test Rover252 viewsThis is a Sprint vehicle used to receive the test signal emitted from the temporary transmitter van. This van drives a predetermined area collecting signal strength data for later mapping.
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NextG Distributed Antenna System Node252 viewsNextG is a wireless carrier's carrier. They provide fiber links between the BTS and the antenna site using a technology referred to as Distributed Antenna System (DAS). This is a NextG DAS node located in Encinitas, California. The carrier supported by this node is Cricket Wireless. NextG's Cricket network in San Diego County is thought to be the largest deployment of DAS in the U.S.
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Multi-carrier cell site and TVRO downlink251 viewsThe multiple carrier tower isn't connected with the TVRO satellite antennas in front, but it makes for a nice picture. This site is located in northern San Antonio, Texas at a very large church facility. An interesting note: The antenna structure registration number shown on the site is, per the FCC's database, cancelled. Interesting!
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Sprint Conducts a Drive Test249 viewsThe tech mounts the omnidirectional antenna to the telescoping mast. Once the antenna is mounted, he'll connect the coax that runs back to the portable PCS transmitter sitting inside the van. Then the tech will elevate the antenna to the desired height, and set the proper output power of the transmitter. With all this done, another tech will drive the streets in the area recording signal strength, latitude, and longitude for later mapping.
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Major Macrocell Site (multiple carriers)249 viewsThis is an example of a traditional multiple carrier macrocell site. Note the large microwave antennas facing to the right: They are used to provide high-reliability connection of this site to the MTSO some 25 miles away.
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