Verizon Wireless Balloon Test

On Wednesday April 29th from 10 am till 2 pm Verizon Wireless will be conducting a balloon test at the existing cell site in Yosemite Village. The existing cell site is located behind the electrical substation in the NPS maintenance yard in Yosemite Village. The purpose of the balloon test is to help the park assess the visual impact from a proposed taller monopole at that site. An orange balloon will be flown at the 100' height by a crane to simulate the height of the proposed tower. The roadway behind the electrical substation will be temporarily closed during the test to allow for the use of the crane.

They are trying to catch up to AT&T's coverage in the valley.

Does AT&T truly have better coverage, or are there simply more Verizon users using bandwidth which reduces coverage quality? I really don't know anything about this stuff--but in March, when not many people were in the park I had perfect service all the way to the top of Clouds Rest. Then in March, on a weekend where temperatures averaged 80 and the valley was pretty busy, I didn't have any service.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2015 05:44PM by Torero14.

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Torero14
Does AT&T truly have better coverage, or are there simply more Verizon users using bandwidth which reduces coverage quality? I really don't know anything about this stuff--but in March, when not many people were in the park I had perfect service all the way to the top of Clouds Rest. Then in March, on a weekend where temperatures averaged 80 and the valley was pretty busy, I didn't have any service.

I really don't know, but I have gotten 4g on AT&T in Camp 4 and other areas of the valley.

Same here. Reliable, fast AT&T 4G at Degnan's, Village store parking lot, even Sentinel meadow parking.

Until recently, the valley was covered by Golden State Wireless, a regional CDMA provider that Verizon users would roam onto. A few months ago I noticed that the coverage in and around Yosemite had changed from "Extended" to "Verizon", and former 3G areas are now indicating LTE coverage--so maybe now Verizon is investing in upgrading coverage in the area.

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basilbop
Until recently, the valley was covered by Golden State Wireless, a regional CDMA provider that Verizon users would roam onto. A few months ago I noticed that the coverage in and around Yosemite had changed from "Extended" to "Verizon", and former 3G areas are now indicating LTE coverage--so maybe now Verizon is investing in upgrading coverage in the area.

Verizon bought Golden State Wireless last year. Seems like the transition from Golden State to Verizon is complete now and they are looking to upgrade/expand their service.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/verizon-wireless-completes-purchase-of-golden-state-cellular-in-east-central-california-2014-06-02

If this balloon test is only about visual impact, then there ought to be some discussion about cell towers disguised as trees, etc. Of course, there are some "tree-like" cell towers that are ridiculous fakes, but some are so good that you probably haven't noticed them as you drive by.

At the very least, they could paint the tower some drab color, not silvery metal.

There is already plenty of ugliness at the NPS maintenance facility. A proposed cell tower should be judged partly by whether it would make that any worse. For example, if you look closely at that area from the Yosemite Falls Trail, the maintenance center is a mess, but most people's eyes just slide past it.

Take a look some time at the ugly antenna farms at Turtle Dome and behind Glacier Point. People don't complain about them because they don't look in that direction.

I am no fan of ugly facilities in the valley. But think about the visual context before knee-jerk opinions that nothing ugly should ever be permitted, or on the other hand, the visual cost to everyone else of satisfying your craving for more bandwidth...

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wherever
Of course, there are some "tree-like" cell towers that are ridiculous fakes

I really laugh at one that's in the middle of a big DWP sub-station. A fake tree is just what a bunch of wires, transformers and towers needed.

It's funny, one of those fake trees between Midpines and Mariposa died.

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eeek
. . . snip . . . The existing cell site is located behind the electrical substation in the NPS maintenance yard in Yosemite Village. . . . snip . . .

So that's where it is, I always thought it was at either Sentinel or Turtleback Dome.
Is the AT&T cell site at the same location? Who else has cell sites in the area?
ADVthaAnksNCE