Jim McCartan replied to a recent post on our group facebook about increasing the height of the CDC Tower
Yes, the tower was extended to almost double the height and Vodaphone paid for it all as well as a lease payment. So, a win, win for Istel.
What the report doesn't say is in addition to possibly connecting to the microwave network, the tower needed to be at 80 metres for Mercury to be able to access our site. They needed a line-of-sight communications link from Alpha tower in Birmingham to be able to provide CDC with an alternative supplier and route.
How did they determine the tower height needed to be at 80 metres I hear you ask? Well, it was a very technical operation to determine this. There was a guy on top of Alpha tower with a pair of binoculars and a guy at CDC with a balloon on a string. When the balloon got to 80 metres, calculation done. Very technical indeed.
Another little binocular story only Security Dave and I know about. When it came to planning the tower increase, I needed to understand how the cable connected to the wave guide and dish. Now never having planned any microwave before I thought I had better climb the tower and have a look. This was a big thing for me as I am terrified of heights. So, Dave kitted me up in my harness and I plucked up all my courage and up I went. I was doing OK until about half way up and the tower started moving. Nobody told me these things moved in the wind. I thought they were rigid, not at all. Well, that was it down I came and off up town I went and purchased a pair of binoculars so I could see what was going up top.
The tower has been a landmark whenever I visit Redditch and I was a little sad to see the photos of it coming down. Jim
What the report doesn't say is in addition to possibly connecting to the microwave network, the tower needed to be at 80 metres for Mercury to be able to access our site. They needed a line-of-sight communications link from Alpha tower in Birmingham to be able to provide CDC with an alternative supplier and route.
How did they determine the tower height needed to be at 80 metres I hear you ask? Well, it was a very technical operation to determine this. There was a guy on top of Alpha tower with a pair of binoculars and a guy at CDC with a balloon on a string. When the balloon got to 80 metres, calculation done. Very technical indeed.
Another little binocular story only Security Dave and I know about. When it came to planning the tower increase, I needed to understand how the cable connected to the wave guide and dish. Now never having planned any microwave before I thought I had better climb the tower and have a look. This was a big thing for me as I am terrified of heights. So, Dave kitted me up in my harness and I plucked up all my courage and up I went. I was doing OK until about half way up and the tower started moving. Nobody told me these things moved in the wind. I thought they were rigid, not at all. Well, that was it down I came and off up town I went and purchased a pair of binoculars so I could see what was going up top.
The tower has been a landmark whenever I visit Redditch and I was a little sad to see the photos of it coming down. Jim
I Was There - Jim McCartan and the Tower Challenge
