Rebanding ant the towers

[jpm]

When this rebanding stuff starts what procedures will the radio technicians have to do.
I have a grasp that the portables are reprogrammed but what about the towers what must be done to them. With the obvious of converting them to a lower frequency within them. Is it the same as the portables just a matter of reprogramming them too.
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[greenthumb]

There are tons of variables when it comes to rebanding the sites - here are some things that I can think of that would need some evaluation:

*Repeaters - change frequencies (some models may not be able to make the trip down that far and will need to be replaced)
*Combiners - re-tune for new frequencies (some models may not be able to tune properly down that far and will need to be replaced)
*Isolators/Circulators - possibly re-tune for new frequencies (some models may not be able to tune properly down that far and will need to be replaced)
*Antennas - probably nothing (some models may not be resonant down that far and will need to be replaced)
*Tower-top amplifiers - hopefully nothing (some models may not have a pass band large enough to go down that far and will need to be re-tuned or replaced)
*Receiver multicouplers - hopefully nothing (some models may not be capable of the proper amplification down that far and will need to be replaced)

There will also need to be complete intermodulation studies done on the site to check for any new intermodulation products that may be present with the new frequencies that will be used.

 

[jpm]

How would they go about doing this procedure? Would the system have to be down?

 

[greenthumb]

That depends a lot on the site configuration. An example would be, say, if there is only one combiner at the site. It is possible that there will be some down time for the site so that they can:

a) remove the existing combiner and put in place a new combiner that is pre-tuned for the new frequencies

-or-

b) tune the existing combiner down to the new frequencies

There are lots of other variables that go into whether a system will see any down time or not - too many to name. The licensee can also negotiate with NEXTEL to put up a temporary site should any down time be required. Obviously, the engineers will work their hardest to keep from having any down time - or to minimize down time if it is necessary.

 

[richardc63]

Hi,

The process is entirely manageable & to some extent would be driven by the customers wishes and willingness to pay.

The cheapest way is to accept the downtime... probably looking at a day to change over antennas & do the commissioning.

Most Emergency Services wouldn't accept that.

Assuming that the new frequencies are outside the bandwidth of the existing antennas, the simplest way would be to mount a temporary antenna (even just a dipole) and feeder. First commission your new equipment including new multicoupler/diplexers etc and connect to the temporary antenna while the main antenna is being swapped over.

Down time should be able to be kept to a minimum.

Regards,


Richard

 

[n4voxgill]

in addition to hardware, Nextel must also pay for engineering, consultants and attorneys fees. Any system that knows what it is doing will contract with an consultants to design and manage the changeover, without any interuption. Then do acceptance testing.

I have no dobut that Nextel will have loaner base station equipment to facilitate the rebanding, even providing some frequencies on a temporary basis to keep the systems fully operational.

The good system managers have already got their transition team under contract, finished their detailed inventory and are ready to arbitrate. You can be sure Nextel will bring in a top rated team to represent them.

 

[N_Jay]

. . . Any system that knows what it is doing will contract with an consultants to design and manage the changeover, . . . .