I am not sure if you saw but OSHA issued some citations. Here is some information.
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S&S Communication Specialists, Inc has a serious citation for the way in which they removed the diagonals. This is all for the accident at the tower site that was at 9141 Murphy Rd, Clarksburg, WV. Proposed penalty #1 is $7,000 for not using temporary braces or supports. Citation #2 is another “Serious” citation for the attachment of personal fall arrest equipment not capable of supporting at least 5,000 lbs. Issued on July 23rd. Total of $14,000 for both citations. S&S has 15 days from July 23rd to respond.
If you remember back on Feb 1st that 2 workers and a firefighter died when 2 towers collapsed, Kyle Kirkpatrick, 32, from Hubert, Ok, and Terry Lee Richard, 27, of Bokoshe, Ok. May they rest in peace. Also, a firefighter that was called to the scene also died when a second tower collapsed during the rescue attempt. He was Michael Dale Garret, 28, if the Nutter Fort firefighter of Clarksburg, WV. May he rest in peace.
I am reading in one article, WBOY.com that they account for 9 deaths in 2014 attributed to tower work.
So what are you going to do? Make sure you can do the work if necessary!
What do you think of the citations? Let me know ASAP! Don’t tell me you can’t reach out to me!Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283
Remember that theHubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang! By the way, how much did you give today?
I am working on 2 new projects, a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283
Tower Climber Company websites – this seemed to be a standard resource. I think that most people go directly to the companies for work. I had about 12% here.
Tower job search sites – this is where most people would write in. Write in votes:
Wireless Estimator of http://www.wirelessestimator.com/helpwanted.cfm was the overwhelming choice here and all I can say I am sorry I didn’t add it as one of the choices. I should have had this as a choice! Sorry guys at Wireless Estimator, your site has so much on it that I forgot that you can also get a job there. If anyone wants to learn more about the industry it is a great place for news and updates and there are so many tools there for work. It’s a great resource.
#3 on the survey – LinkedIn – had a few more votes but not many, I know that many of you use this for job search and many companies put the information on LinkedIn. If you didn’t read it then take the time to look at http://wp.me/p3OC6A-dQ and build your resume and background on LinkedIn. It takes some time but it will be worth your while if you start job searching.
#2 on the survey – Facebook – this got 15% of the vote. Many of you look for work on Facebook, this was the #2 choice and I know that I see many job postings on there as well. Facebook is a huge resource for this kind of thing. If you’re not in one of the many tower groups then maybe you should start joining. There are so many tower climbing and tower climber groups. It is a good resource for tower workers.
# 1 on the survey! Word of mouth – this was #1 with over 20% of the vote. Apparently most people rely on word of mouth to get a job. I would be willing to bet that Facebook plays a part in this. In today’s world many people reach out to friends, but it’s not always a phone call, it could be on Facebook or LinkedIn or an email.
So I hope this helps, let me know what you think and tell me where you look for work!
Get a JOB!
Other information!
Remember that theHubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang!
I am working on 2 new projects, a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283
OK, so OSHA has sent out an update for communication tower workers, https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/index.html for the OSHA site. So what changed? Here is the PDF for the information, https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_02-01-056.pdf but let me tell you how I read it. First off, let me tell you that I am happy that OSHA is addressing this and I am happy that NATE and OSHA are working together to make the climbers life safer and easier. I appreciate the attention to the industry.
Apologies for the long post but I just couldn’t stop writing! It’s mostly my interpretation of the release, so make sure that you read it yourself, don’t take my word for it! Read it!
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From the bulletin DIRECTIVE NUMBER: CPL 02-01-056. It covers work using a hoist to lift personnel, (that would be you the climber), from their workstations, (assuming that would be from the ground to somewhere on the tower). The preferred way to access workstations on the tower is to climb a fixed ladder with attached climbing devices, (most tower have something today, but not all). So here is the news, if the climber will be working at one area and making multiple trips, then materials and the worker shall be hoisted to the work level. I am going to give my view here but I highly recommend that you read it, the link is above.
Listen, here is the reality I worked in, when I got on the tower I only got down for 2 reasons, 1) when the job was finished for the day or 2) if it was time to eat and we didn’t bring anything to the site to eat. I often spent 10 hours or more on the tower. There were days where I could spend 2 hours on a tower just to go to the next tower to do maintenance or repair. Time is money. Now, if I was on the tower for that long we would hoist up large items but smaller items we would often pull up by hand. This could address that particular part of the job. That does cause fatigue so why not have the winch do it. I am all for that.
If you are going to hoist employees, better know what winch to use and you had better know what you’re doing. Let’s review the definitions section. 1) Anti-Two block device, read this because this is a safety feature. 2) Maximum load, better know your limits! 3) Competent person on site, do we really have to stress this every time? YES! Because apparently this is still missing from many work sites! 4) Qualified person, again Mr. Obvious, YES! 5) Gin Pole, different rules apply to the Gin Pole and this should be a competent crew and something that is covered separately, 6) Engineered hoist systems, covers the complete hoisting system end to end, do you know and understand this system? Are you competent on the entire end to end system? Are you? Seriously, are you?
Hoisting personnel and training: there is that part again, training, have you been trained properly? No joke, have you been trained properly and do you feel confident using the hoist. I am not asking if you know all hoists or winches, just the one you are working on, that particular hoist. If you are making jokes right now, then maybe you should be looking for a new line of work.
I am not going to cover the equipment in-depth here, that’s your job! This section is very important and you should read it. First off make sure that a professional engineer approved your hoist system by stamping off on it. Check lines and slings. Load capacity should be at least twice what the load will be. Use a guide line to keep employees and loads off the tower. This is something that should not be taken lightly; tagging is critical and is something that a competent person should do if the load is a human. Use a foot block for people, obvious to me. Gin pole is on there, but if you are using a gin pole then your crew should be competent on a gin pole. Post the load capacity near the winch, this is something that is a great idea to keep everyone on the same page.
Trial lift and proof testing, this is something that should be part of the training and testing when you get the equipment. This should apply to more than your hoist or winch, this should apply to most of your equipment and safety gear. This section gives you a good outline of what you should be doing. It would be a good place to start for your testing.
Pre-Lift meeting: this is a great idea that you could add to your daily meetings and on every work site prior to doing the work.
I am not going to go over documentation, this should be obvious.
Hoisting employees to and from the workstation – this section you should read! I am not going to cover it because I feel this should be read direct and you should understand it. I don’t want you thinking that I can cover this at a high level and then you understand the requirements!
Communications between the operator and the hoisted employees. If you work together I would like to think you already have a system. I think it would be better if you had radios to communicate but if you rely on visual, make sure you worked it out ahead of time. I added a crane signals section in my Field Workers Aid book but I highly recommend that you all get on the same page in the Pre-Lift Meeting prior to any work. Also, don’t let the blind guy work the lift. I would also ask that if you have someone who is easily distracted, then maybe they shouldn’t be running the lift either.
OK, you should read the rest, this is long enough and I am sorry I droned on. I will have more in the podcast if you really want to hear more.
Remember this letter in February? https://www.osha.gov/doc/topics/communicationtower/Letter_CT_Employers.htmlthat OSHA sent out to companies. Apparently most companies didn’t listen. I guess not everyone follows NATE and OSHA like they should. I will tell you this, most of the climbers I talk to and I communicate with not only follow NATE and OSHA but they respect what they are trying to do. I am not saying they agree with everything, but they understand that this is a process and that we all want the same thing, 0 fatalities if at all possible. Especially 0 fatalities that involve stupidity or lack of experience. We need to educate each other with real world experience to make sure that this becomes reality. Even though we all compete for work we all need to work together and share experience to make sure we make this industry the safest it can be. In the USA we have so many rules and safety processes in place and yet this industry is so dangerous. I know I give the carriers a hard time but I guarantee you that all of the people there want the same thing we do, 0 accidents if at all possible, they have the same goal. We all have the same goal, so let’s start working at it. The best place to start is training and education. That means we have to start with all of the companies and make sure that they care about their employees as a human, a living person, someone with a family. Then we can start to make progress towards a safer industry. It takes responsibility, not just the company but for each of you to look out for your work mate. It seems most people who read this feel that way and yet you read about workers who can’t help each other or companies that send workers out by themselves. It is time for OSHA to seriously look at all of these accidents. Let’s take this discussion away from Facebook and start by talking to each other at the tower sites, face to face. Let’s talk to each other in the field, in a friendly way, to make the newer climbers understand that inexperience and carelessness kills in this business, literally. And with that said, if there is a loss, let us respect the families since we seem to never know what happened until months later.
Remember that theHubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang!
I am working on 2 new projects, a new book that outlines my different jobs in the industry and a library of reference material that you can access quickly to take to the site. I want to see you make the site safer with quick reference material. If you have any idea of what you need out there let me know. Show me you care, Facebook, wade4wireless@gmail.com or leave a comment or leave a message at 510-516-4283
Hey, this week I want to discuss something that has been on the minds of so many tower workers out there. Would you rescue a fellow climber in trouble? In recent news there have been several stories that someone was left hanging until the fire department arrived to perform the rescue. The good news is that they all are alive today, so all’s well that ends well. Getting home alive really matters when things go wrong. You may forget what matters until you are confronted with a terrible situation.
So back to the point, would you rescue a coworker? Could you rescue a coworker in trouble? I reached out to several groups, and everyone I with thinks that this should be the policy. I have to tell you, everyone I heard from, and talked too said yes. Not one person said they would wait for the rescue team unless absolutely necessary. However, the one comment I got on my blog when the guy was hanging over the edge of the platform on the monopole was that the guy went home alive and he felt the crew did the right thing. I didn’t forget that and that is why I said something in the beginning, they are all alive. That is so important so I am so happy the fire departments have high rescue, really, I thank GOD for that. They are alive. I don’t know why the coworkers didn’t make an attempt but they seemed to do the right thing. Their coworkers are alive.
I need to know, is there a policy out there that would have people not make the attempt? Most of the older tower climbers are well versed in rescue. Did that change? I even heard from a few people with the carriers, (who were not happy that I brought up the whole “carriers devalue climbing” issue) said that everyone on site should be able to do rescue.
I was on a forum of guys that do high tower work and all of them said overwhelmingly that they would attempt the rescue if they felt it was safe. Remember that you need to be prepared. Prepared? What does that mean? I will tell you, prepared in training, rope, safety, gear, and control. Control of your emotions and actions.
I have to tell you I was trained by Winton Wilcox of the old ComTrain. Regardless of what you think of ComTrain, Winton’s training and advice was invaluable to me. He went through so many scenarios of what could happen, especially if someone was irrational or not willing to let you help them. Remember that they could panic like someone drowning. I don’t know if any of you know much about being a lifeguard, but I took all of that training when I was you and they went through the same actions because people panic. People panic, people become irrational in terrible situations, people go crazy. No joke, not good, people panic. Are you prepared to deal with that? I was because Winton went through that as one of the scenarios.
Would you save someone who would rather fight you than help you rescue them? Could you be kind enough to give them a right hook to calm them down? Could you do it? Could you take the time to rig the tower with a rope for descent and a rope for safety before helping the person? Could you be the rational person on site? I know you say yes now, but if you listened to theTrauma podcast with Lane Falkner then you know it’s not so easy. Could you work on someone’s injury much less pull them from a tower? I would imagine most of you would think a lifeguard has it easy, but when you see them pull someone from the water and save someone, then what do you think? To pull someone from a tower is real work and you have to be very confident to do it. It takes practice and confidence. Practice? That is where the training comes in, practice. Pay attention! If you practice you would be more ready because then you are prepared. If you are prepared then you can adapt to the situation. If you can improvise then you can adapt to the situation. Once you know how to adapt then you can overcome the obstacles and issues and fear. Improvise, adapt and overcome is said by the marines because if you are prepared you can do it. The marines don’t say it for nothing, they say it because it becomes a way to survive and help your partner survive.
With all of that said, if you can’t do the rescue, call for help! If your company has a no rescue policy, then maybe you should wonder why you work for them.
So would you? I don’t think that is the right question! I think the right question is could you? What is the situation? What is your capability? What equipment and ropes do you have? What help do you have? Did you already call for help? You should always call for help right away! Just do it! Does anyone on the crew have enough experience to help a coworker out. Experience, now there’s something that we should think about. Many of you that read this have experience with climbing, but do you have enough experience in rescue? When is the last time you took a rescue class? When is the last time you practiced rescue? When is the last time you pulled someone off the tower? Do you think that rescue practice is a waste of time? Then get another job!
Climbing should be for people who care and have a passion for the job. If you’re in it just to kill time then maybe you should think twice about your future. There is no shame in finding something you enjoy. Unfortunately most of these young men that are in accidents seem to really like the job, which makes writing this so hard. Many of them dies doing something they love. It’s too late for them but if you happen to go to a tower where seasoned veterans are working then make a point to learn from them.
Climbing and tower work isn’t for everyone. Rescue isn’t for everyone. Thank GOD for the Fire Departments learning high rescue and rope rescue, I have some links below.
Remember that theHubble Foundation needs your support. Show you care for the families of the fallen and the fellow climbers in need. They still have tickets to the car giveaway! Support Hubble, honor the fallen, and maybe win a Mustang!
OSHA Issues citations to company telling workers to free climb:
OK all, this was a long interview, but it is worth the wait! Gette is a wealth if information for the tower industry, and yet she is not a climber. However, she did climb just to see what it was like. She’s got guts, I’ll give her that!
Part 2 podcast here for website, here for download.
Comments welcome below or at Wade4Wireless Facebook page or on Twitter.
From the Hubble Foundation’s Inspiration page;
The Climber’s Protection Prayer While Psalm 91 applies to all of us, I believe that this Psalm is especially poignant for climbers and their families. Often times, the families feel like they have no control over their loved ones in the industry.
This is simply not true. Your greatest defense and protection of your loved one is through Prayer!
My Refuge and My Fortress Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his opinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 a thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place
the Most High, who is my refuge
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.
Hubble Foundation http://www.hubblefoundation.org/ and go to the donate section where you can donate a tax-deductible donation or buy something from the store. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HubbleFoundation for more support. They have tickets left for the car giveaway that you need to get in on, so go to the Hubble Foundation website and get some tickets to win a Mustang!
Godwink: On the Wings of Butterflies
The cover has Mike V’s hand on it with a butterfly. Pretty cool photo.
PA Wireless Association, http://www.pa-wireless.org/ is a group that really helped Gette out with the fundraising aspect. Then the following groups pitched in;
OK, listen to the podcast because Gette covers so much in this time. I had to break it into 2 podcasts. Just listen to both to hear Gette give her view of the industry and her passion. If you have ever been on a tower forum or on Facebook’s tower groups then you know Gette, she is taking care of the climbers the best way she knows how.
Gette talks about her mission in life, the Hubble Foundation, which is there to support tower climbers that need help. Not only the fallen climber’s families, but the climbers that may need help to see their families or maybe the families need someone to talk to or maybe the children of the fallen need scholarship money. Gette is doing all of this with the help of her husband. Thank GOD we have people like this that are driven to help beyond what any normal person would or could do. Gette has a book that explains why that passion burns so deep in her. You see, she lost her husband to a horrific tower collapse years ago. This was something that changed her life in so many ways. I won’t get into it but if you want to know exactly what happen then get her book, Godwink: On the Wings of Butterfliesfor an explicit description. It’s too painful to talk about here.
We also discuss the training that is offered today and how the industry has boomed. This is good for work but the carriers going out to the lowest bidder and the explosion of work has led to many fatalities due to companies taking shortcuts and inexperienced people trying to do the work. OSHA just doesn’t have the manpower to support this effort because they generally look at the tower climbing industry as a small industry.
Something that I bring up is how little the carriers have given to this cause. I think that Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile could spare a few dollars to support the families who lost a someone to a horrific accident while building their systems out. Maybe building one of the new LTE systems, the 3G systems, or even the backhaul. Recently a young man was lost working for a carrier. While they were very helpful at the time, what about the devastation that is left behind when a wage earner in a family is suddenly gone? You have an emotional loss and a financial loss at the same time. A lost love is something that will not be replaced and can destroy families instantly. Thank GOD for Gette who works so hard to reach out to these families to comfort them and pull them back together. I just think the carriers could help the Hubble Foundation by giving a few dollars to this tax-deductible charity that cares to deeply for the people who build the wireless systems.
Hubble Foundation http://www.hubblefoundation.org/ and go to the donate section where you can donate a tax-deductible donation or buy something from the store. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HubbleFoundation for more support. They have tickets left for the car giveaway that you need to get in on, so go to the Hubble Foundation website and get some tickets to win a Mustang!
Godwink: On the Wings of Butterflies
The cover has Mike V’s hand on it with a butterfly. Pretty cool photo.
PA Wireless Association, http://www.pa-wireless.org/ is a group that really helped Gette out with the fundraising aspect. Then the following groups pitched in;
The Climber’s Protection Prayer While Psalm 91 applies to all of us, I believe that this Psalm is especially poignant for climbers and their families. Often times, the families feel like they have no control over their loved ones in the industry.
This is simply not true. Your greatest defense and protection of your loved one is through Prayer!
My Refuge and My Fortress Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his opinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 a thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place
the Most High, who is my refuge
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.
Young field workers, pay attention! This could save your life! He is sharing this to help you know not only how to treat this horrible disease but how to prevent it.
Bruce Holsted, a great guy! He opened up to me about how RMSF (Rocky Mounted Spotted Fever) stole 3 years of his life, and he has 2 more years to fully recover. It appears it is expected to take him 5 years to fully recover. All this form the bite of a tick. Luckily, the doctor he saw knew what he had. Unfortunately he waited 6 months to see a doctor.
Let me tell you about some of Bruce’s background. This is a company owner and a tower guy that has 4 full-time crews, hiring subs as needed. This is a guy that built his business over the past 24 years. This is a Hospice volunteer that gives his time to assist more than 25 people a year. This is a guy that has written 2 books, that I know of, for his descendants only to sell quite a few of them on Amazon. I spoke to him and he is a genuinely a good man. He is a Hospice volunteer, something I hold dear to my heart since losing my father a few years back. Bruce is a good man.
So how did a tiny tick almost ruin his life? One tick bite was enough to give him RMSF and cause him so many issues. It started with muscle cramps, mental confusion and more. He had arthritis and so many infections that affected his teeth and his prostrate. This disease almost ruined him, caused him to make bad decisions, and miss important meetings as well as some of his life. It cost him thousands of dollars and he almost lost his business.
Luckily he has a good wife and support of friends that helped him through this horrible ordeal. He also had a doctor that knew what he had and what to look for and how to treat it. He is doing well these days but he still has 2 more years of recovery. He has to keep a close watch on his health because he never knows how it will affect him next.
Prevention, prevention, prevention!So listen to the podcast for his story, not my words. He mentioned that we make sure you know that to kill ticks before they bite you by covering your clothes with Permethrin. This is so important because the best treatment for any tick bite born disease is prevention! What is it? Go tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permethrinand you will see that it is an insecticide that Bruce uses to kill ticks. You put it on your boots and jeans.
If you have RMSF there is support, go to the Facebook pageSurvivors of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Diseaseand you will see that there are others out there that went through what you are going through. Support for people going through this is very important! I want you to know that you are not alone.
To learn more about Bruce, go tohttp://www.bruceholsted.com/and see his books,Sacred SpacesandSteps to a Conversation of Mindto learn more. Make sure you go to the photos section and look over all the pictures, there are several tower and engineer pictures in there. It is worth a look. He also has a Hospice section for those of you who are curious about it. God bless this man!
From my previous blog about ticks;
If you go to this sitehttp://www.medicinenet.com/rocky_mountain_spotted_fever_pictures_slideshow/article.htmyou will see a good explanation of the ticks and the disease. They also give hints on how to remove the tick safely and disinfect your wound after the tick is removed. Then save it in case you get sick. Put it in a zip lock bag or pill bottle and freeze it. This will give you something to take to the doctor and explain that you have a tick bite. That may help them diagnose the problem.
Some links that may help explain this tick bite disease.
Alright, I had so many technical issues and the interview went so long I had to break it into 2 podcasts!
However, Vicky was a trooper and although it comes out a bit choppy and my audio isn’t the best I did get the interview and Vicky is just full of information about the towers and the climbers in her book. She talks about Tony the Tower Builder and she also mentions some interviews with some other climbers that are crazy. It’s good to hear about how these guys have lived and worked as well as how someone like Tony, a good guy, could persevere throughout all of the hardships of the job and his life to come out with such a good attitude.
Vicky talked to so many people in researching this book. Her faith in GOD really shows in this interview and in the book because things just seemed to work out in here favor and she researched this story. She learned so much about WW2 history as well as towers as well as tower climbers. I really enjoyed the book. It was a 3 year venture that Vicky worked relentlessly to solve the mysteries of the tower and the beacon. Along the way she learned so much about American history. The Blaw-Knox towers and the WBT-AM radio station are very interesting.
Vicky originally became interested in the towers because her brother is a HAM radio operator. I call them HAMsters. I have so many friends that are HAMsters and you will see on their emails they always have their call signs below their names. They spend so much time getting on their radios and they play the game of trying to reach the most people the farthest away. Not only that but it was the original social network, the way I see it. They would talk to each other at set times to discuss radios and other interests. It is like the BBS services back when dial-up was common because digital text only bulletin boards were quite common for technical people. HAM radios were around before that, since the 50s really, and it was a way to keep in touch. Well, that will be another blog is anyone is interested in having me research that then let me know.
Hello wireless workers in the wireless world! OK, this is long but filled with good information!
Small cells, small cells, small cells! Are you tires of hearing about small cells? They have been hyped but they are slow to roll out. However, many of the obstacles, mostly permitting and leasing, will be overcome at the end of 2014, yay! So now what, will the carriers go to the lowest bidder? Maybe, because they need to have the learning curve, that is except maybe Verizon and AT&T. They already learned that there are skills involved in deployment. So they should have the requirements listed when they put the installations out to bid. Why? Because they want to do it once, not twice! Luckily they learned a lot in their trials. So let me share some of what I know with you.
I want to give you some insight as to what will set you apart from other deployment companies in the business. It all comes down to skills! Skills that make you valuable so your company can honestly answer the RFP or RFQ without saying, “We can learn that if we win”. Now, don’t be naive, it will come down to price if you qualify. The key thing is that they will try to hire crews in local markets to save any per Diem costs. Remember that they put it out to bid to serve their purpose, not yours.
Mounting options – knowledge of mounting options. I am talking about wall mount on a building, pole mount on a wood pole, light pole mount on a light pole, and strand mount on a cable. Know what you are mounting to and how to properly mount to each of them. It matters that you know what you are getting into and that you do a quality mount job. If the unit falls down in a year due to weather or vandals then you may not get another chance to deploy for that company again. Remember that they invite you to that bid offering.
Antenna options – knowledge of how to mount antennas will play a key role in deployments. What does that mean? Do you know that the antenna will need to be vertical or horizontal? Will you need to point it at a bearing of 187 degrees? Does it matter? Yes, use your head and be aware of what you are mounting and how you mount it. Make sure it’s weather proof.
Fiber termination – do you know how to terminate fiber. It will matter. You will need to connect the fiber to the router and or the small cell, it will need to have the proper connector and it will need to be done on site. Make sure your fiber skills are up to date.
Training on the product – did you get trained on the product? Do you know the OEM? Do you have a clue or do you think you will wing it. Training matters, it will be so important if something goes wrong and the warranty is impacted. Do you think the customer will be happy if you do anything wrong? Do you see the payment from the customer fading away because you were not certified to mount that product and now someone else has to go out and fix your screw up? Training will matter!
Backhaul connection options – do you know the difference between fiber connections? Do you know how to terminate CAT5 copper? Do you know what the DOCSIS interface is? I expect the cable companies will play a part in small cell deployment. Why? Because they have access to so many poles that they will be ready to assist in deployment if they don’t decide to deploy their own systems which would mean more work for you! So make sure your team has all the right tools, what will they be terminating? Will it be fiber, copper, or cable? It could be all three depending on the situation. Don’t show up with only fiber tools when you may need to be ready for CAT 5 and coax? Read the SOW!
Street pole mounting locations – do you know the difference between a telecom zone and the power zone on a street pole? If you want to deploy, don’t be stupid and know the mounting locations and the rules. Strand mount has size and weight limitations, know them. Just ask the owner and do some research. Small cells are being designed to meet these specifications, so it may be in your best interest to know what can be mounted so if the OEM sends you the wrong unit then you can point it out once instead of replacing it later. If you mount something too big and too heavy the problems start with permitting and maybe a citation from the city and they could grow into the strand coming down or a truck catching the small cell and ripping the small cell and the strand out of the pole (it happened). That would be ugly and involve a lot of finger-pointing. It pays to arm yourself with some knowledge. Size and weight matter, in this case. Poles are filling up quick, or they will so if you see someone else on the pole then you may want to let everyone know. I don’t know how many small cells can be mounted on the pole but it seems to me that the first one to mount there wins.
Router skills – this may be important to the deployment people in case there is a problem or if they have a script file that you need to load. It will help if you can do it. You may be able to do this in the warehouse prior to deployment, but it is something that can set you apart from your competition. If you do it in the warehouse make sure you label the units for the designated location if they each have a unique IP, it matters to the NOC so they know where you installed it. That is usually determined ahead of time. When they integrate it into the network they need to know exactly where it is if it doesn’t have a GPS or if it is in a large building.
Grounding – so do you think because it is a small cell that it doesn’t need to be grounded. You should learn in your OEM train how to ground each unit properly because if anything is wrong they will blame grounding. They just do because no one really knows how it affects the base station, so do the grounding per the specification.
RF knowledge – this will help in case they try to mount a small cell in a metal box, (this did happen) and then they wonder why it doesn’t work. It was a small cell with integrated antennas. This is something you could point out immediately. Not rocket science, but when the NOC is working on it they can’t see it, you can. Point that out.
Acceptance testing – chances are they will ask the deployment team to do the testing when they turn it up. The plan is to have them come live immediately and with SON (Self Organizing Network) systems taking over along with plug and play technology, the installers should be able to use a special phone for the final test. This is something that you should be ready to learn and familiarize yourself with this. The OEM training should cover this so pay attention in class!
OK, that’s all I have for small cells. I have some cool things coming up. I have an interview with Vicky Kaseorg who wrote the “The Tower Builder” available on Amazon and it’s about the towers that were taken out by a hurricane and rebuilt by a tower builder and all the effort put into it as well as the life of Tony, the tower builder, and beacons. Yes, beacons, read it to learn more!
I also have an interview with a guy who is turned his toy drone helicopter into a tool to do tower inspections. He has a camera on it and he has the soft touch to control it around towers to take pictures. It’s really cool and when I get the information I will have Greg on my podcast and some of his pictures on my blog.
Someone reached out to me about rigging tags, http://www.certags.com/lifting-rigging-rigg-tag.php and they offer free samples on that site. I am not getting anything for this word of mouth but I thought some of you may be interested. Someone sent me the link on LinkedIn and I thought I would share. It seems like a good way to mark your cables, shackles, and wire rope as well as your safety gear. They have guides here, http://www.certags.com/free-guides-gifts.php if you’re interested.
Be safe, be smart, and pay attention! Robert T. Kiyosaki said focus – follow one course until successful which I think really applies to the communications work on the tower and off the tower. We all need to focus until the job is complete. Each job requires us to focus on it until it a success. Unfortunately many of you blame the schedule but if you look at the schedule and not the job at hand something may slip. If something slips on the tower then it may hit someone below. Then the schedule just doesn’t seem important anymore.
