News from AGL Magazine

AGL Bulletin

News for the Siting Industry

Vol. 2, Issue 23

December 19, 2008

Suffering from slow or inaccurate surveys? Painful FCC fines caused by missing or out of date EME signage? Prospective tenants agonizing over structural analysis woes? Let us show you the cure.

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In the News

FBI Sounds Warning Over Epidemic of Copper Thefts
The federal government has recognized something that tower companies have known for quite a while. Copper theft is posing a significant threat to this nation's critical infrastructure. And with it comes a risk to both public safety and national security, according to "Copper Thefts Threaten US Critical Infrastructure," a report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. MORE

Macquarie: Amount of Debt Load Key to
Fiscal Strength of Tower Companies in 2009
Macquarie Research analyst Ben Stretch released a report on Wednesday that compares the businesses of SBA Communications, Crown Castle International and American Tower. The report, "US Wireless Towers: Shining a Light Into the Leverage Closet," concludes that the exposure each company has to the sluggish U.S. gross domestic product environment is minimal. MORE

Major Tower Company Receives Vote of Confidence from Banks
At a time when all eyes are nervously watching the credit markets, Crown Castle International has announced that it successfully extended its revolving credit facility for the coming year for a total of $175 million. The facility as extended was led by the Royal Bank of Scotland, as agent. MORE

Municipality Open to Tower Ownership to Speed Cell Site Development
Whenever you see a headline like "Town Looks to Hasten Cell Tower Construction," you stop and give it a read. Such was the headline in the Hyde Park Townsman after the town board of Hyde Park, N.Y. met in the first week of December, the idea of speeding up cell tower development by becoming the lead agent was on the table, according to the Hyde Park Townsman. MORE

OSHA Extends Comment Period for Tower Crane Rule Making
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has extended the written comment period for its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) [Docket ID-OSHA-2007-0066] titled, "Cranes and Derricks in Construction" until Jan. 22, 2009. MORE

Fuel Cells Move Forward in Cell Tower Backup Market
Even as the FCC rescinds its backup power mandate, carriers continue to harden their coastal cell sites. A nationwide wireless concern has ordered 35 fuel cells from IdaTech, according to a statement from the company. The order follows successful field trials of IdaTech's ElectraGen XTi backup power systems within the network over the last six months, the statement said. The systems, which will be deployed in Florida, are intended to provide reliable, extended-duration backup power in the storm-prone state. MORE

Caterpillar's Extended Oil-drain Intervals
Make Standby Gensets More Eco-friendly

Caterpillar and participating Cat dealers are offering customers enrolled in customer support agreements the option to extend oil drain intervals on diesel 3500 series standby generator sets. The maintenance schedule change could reduce waste oil annually by up to 2.6 million gallons, a statement from the company reads. MORE

Photovoltaic Raw Materials to Drop in Price in New Year
Global supply of polysilicon is expected to double in 2009 leading to lower pricing for polysilicon used to create photovoltaic (PV) cells, according to iSuppli, an industry analyst. MORE

Contact Waterford Consultants for value-priced, unsurpassed, professionally engineered compliance services. Knowing whether a site requires actions to comply with the FCC rules for protecting AM broadcast station patterns is an important factor in planning your wireless buildout. Register and receive FREE screenings for all your sites.

Products

Analyzer
The S412D LMR Master from Anritsu is an instrument for land mobile radio and public safety system technicians and engineers who test the RF performance of P25 and iDEN radios in the VHF/UHF, 400 MHz, 700 MHz, and 800 MHz bands. The S412D can be configured to be equipped with a cable and antenna analyzer, spectrum analyzer, interference analyzer, channel scanner, received signal strength indicator, AM/FM demodulation, RF power meter, GPS receiver, and P25 Tx signal analyzer P25 RF measurements, P25 talk-out coverage measurements, and iDEN signal analyzer. www.anritsu.com

Tower Lighting
The OL1(BH) LED FAA Type L-810 is a low-intensity, red, incandescent tower lighting unit available from TWR Lighting. It features very low power consumption, which reduces power needs by 96 percent compared with other obstruction lights. The lighting system features 360 degrees of horizontal coverage, LED lamps, a 10-degree minimum vertical beam, 32.5 minimum effective candelas at night and a Fresnel acrylic flashhead lens. The flashhead height is 7.5 inches and the diameter is 4.875 inches, and the unit weighs 3 pounds. It has a lamp current of 0.06 amps and a power consumption of 7.2 watts. It meets FAA compliance guidelines and has a 5-year warranty. www.twrlighting.com

Scanning Receiver
Andrew has added a digital scanning receiver - called i.Scan - to its Invex.NxG wireless drive-test system, formerly called Invex3G. The solution supports current and future wireless protocols, allowing for seamless updates to future wireless standards. The scanning receiver features access to reliable, high-speed measurement of wireless networks across multiple bands and technologies. Wireless operators may view their own and their competitors' wireless voice and data services from the perspective of the subscriber by providing critical quality-of-service measurements of CDMA, GSM, WCDMA and HSDPA technologies. EV-DO, WiMAX and LTE capability is planned for the future. www.commscope.com

Andrew, a CommScope Company's steel products can assist with all your wireless needs. These 4 in Ladder Tray, Straight Sections are Coaxial Cable Support Components. Visit www.HOL4G.com for this product line and more.