What are these for?

dave3825 · Dec 3, 2014

Does anyone know exactly what this is used for? Its on Roslyn St in Islip Terrace

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.745...m4!1e1!3m2!1stYnMl7n7dD9iwawNgq3Z2w!2e0?hl=en

Then there's this. 2 boxes and a yagi on a pole. I have seen these on traffic lights but there are none around this and its in a residential neighborhood

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.745...m4!1e1!3m2!1scJRcNIbpghlrRM6WiGdCHg!2e0?hl=en

And these that are seen on the lie in nassau, and some of the interstates going in and out of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.788...m4!1e1!3m2!1sMFb3kXAap00sBElXW9MmOQ!2e0?hl=en

Darkstar350 · Dec 3, 2014

The first one looks to me like some kind of cellular antenna...

But the second one is interesting - I cant imagine what that would be used for so close to power lines like that as power lines are known for giving off loads of interference...

TampaTyron · Dec 3, 2014

First one is a low profile cellular site

Second one looks like UHF SCADA system to control/indicate remote switching

Third is a high gain RFID 900mhz panel antenna used to detect automated toll roll customer equipment for billing/tracking

TT

VE3RADIO · Dec 3, 2014

Water meters or smart electricity meters

15plus1 · Dec 3, 2014

The antenna in the 3rd pic is, I believe, part of EZ-Pass tracking. I see the same antennas hanging on traffic signal lines over some (many) intersections. I think that is how they provide the ETA's to certain routes that u see posted on overhead and side of the road electronic signs. It is a way to track the timing of cars.. Like the red plastic card they ask u to hold while waiting on line at Disney.

mmckenna · Dec 3, 2014

I concur.

1. This is a small "micro" cell site. We have similar units at work. Verizion uses them on one of the roads I drive on to/from work. They are often fed via fiber optic cable back to a central base station where they tie into the rest of the network. Simple and low profile solution to addressing areas with deficient coverage.

2. I agree, SCADA for the electrical distribution up on the pole.

3. We have similar boxes along our highways, and they are sensors to detect traffic movement. They are not toll roads in our areas.

dave3825 · Dec 3, 2014

TampaTyron said:
First one is a low profile cellular site

Who would be using this? Its in a neighborhood.

TampaTyron said:
Second one looks like UHF SCADA system to control/indicate remote switching

Switching of what? Would there be another one where the yagi is pointing?

TampaTyron said:
Third is a high gain RFID 900mhz panel antenna used to detect automated toll roll customer equipment for billing/trackingTT

Are these similar to the ones hanging on traffic lights in intersections? I wonder how one would work on a scanner listening to an 800 / 900 trunked system

kayn1n32008 · Dec 3, 2014

The first picture could also be a 2.4 or 5.8GHz WISP site. Although a low profile cell site is also possible.

The Yagi is likely SCADA. Possibly used to remotely monitor power load. Or even do remote switching. The other 'end' could be close or many miles away.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

mmckenna · Dec 3, 2014

dave3825 said:
Who would be using this? Its in a neighborhood.

Any of the cell phone carriers. These lower power sites, often 30 watts or less, are preferred to a full scale site. Cheaper, easier to install and easier to get approved.

KC4RAF · Dec 3, 2014

+1 with 'mmckenna'.

That area may have low cell reception/transmission signals. And the rest in his post makes sense too.

w2lie · Dec 4, 2014

Dave,
Since you also asked on my site, I'll copy/pasta my reply here as well:

Picture #1 is a Cellular O-DAS system. oDAS stands for Outdoor Distributed Antenna System. Think of it as a networked cell site that has low power transmitters on telephone poles instead of one big tower to cover the same area. These are popular in NIMBY areas.

Picture #3 looks like a RFID reader possibly for the EZ-Pass information to gather the time it takes to go from point A to point B.

Picture #2, I'm going to go out on a limb and say maybe it is part of a smart meter network?

What are these for?

dave3825

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Darkstar350

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TampaTyron

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VE3RADIO

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15plus1

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mmckenna

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dave3825

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mmckenna

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