Discussion
I'm wondering if anyone else knows about this?
Apparently people are tracking down mobile phone towers, reading the cell ID and reporting its location. This is so you can effectively use the cell IDs as poor man's GPS. I'm tinkering with the software, have stored the location of one tower in my area and am thinking about mapping some of the others.
Some people are going one step further and providing GPS waypoints for the towers
Apparently people are tracking down mobile phone towers, reading the cell ID and reporting its location. This is so you can effectively use the cell IDs as poor man's GPS. I'm tinkering with the software, have stored the location of one tower in my area and am thinking about mapping some of the others.
Some people are going one step further and providing GPS waypoints for the towers
Nothing new under the sun.
When I worked as a Base Station Engineer for Voodoofone in the late 80's (when phones were still the size of bricks on the old ETACS system) we all modded our phones so they displayed the cell that the mobile was currently registered on.
Very handy for fault finding but not a lot of use otherwise (unless you're doing a lot more tinkering to triangulate position).
Great fun that was. Did 50 - 70,000 miles a year - and that was just between calls. And hooning around off road & in snow to get the Astravan up the cart tracks to the sites.
...and unlimited overtime in those early days of the network
When I worked as a Base Station Engineer for Voodoofone in the late 80's (when phones were still the size of bricks on the old ETACS system) we all modded our phones so they displayed the cell that the mobile was currently registered on.
Very handy for fault finding but not a lot of use otherwise (unless you're doing a lot more tinkering to triangulate position).
Great fun that was. Did 50 - 70,000 miles a year - and that was just between calls. And hooning around off road & in snow to get the Astravan up the cart tracks to the sites.
...and unlimited overtime in those early days of the network
I knew displaying cell information was nothing new, been using net monitor on nokia phones since the 3210 was new, even modded my 3210 to vibrate. Not seen people going to the detail of sharing the info before.
I know voda at some point used to have direction in their cell IDs but they renumbered their towers a few years ago, not making it very easy as you cant easily figure out where the tower is.
I know voda at some point used to have direction in their cell IDs but they renumbered their towers a few years ago, not making it very easy as you cant easily figure out where the tower is.
If the cell operator wanted to they could release the data to do this. I mentioned direction before.
Towers often have 3 directable elements, a north, a SW and a SE. They all have consecutive cell IDs. If you know which cell you are in you know the direction the tower is in. Trouble is the location and IDs are considered commercially sensitive information for some reason, probably to stop the lentilists realising how many towers there are.
Towers often have 3 directable elements, a north, a SW and a SE. They all have consecutive cell IDs. If you know which cell you are in you know the direction the tower is in. Trouble is the location and IDs are considered commercially sensitive information for some reason, probably to stop the lentilists realising how many towers there are.
richa said:
Bit different now, feels like every minute has to be accounted for (saying that, I'm on O/T at the moment, looking at PH whilst waiting for a field engineer to do his stuff!).
Oh! NO!!! You're NOT one of those that sit around in the background whilst I "fix it" for the same money, an' then you get all the praise are you!!! GRRRRRrrrrrr!!!!!!! I hate you lot! 'ere, you're not a "controller" are you?
>> Edited by 8Pack on Saturday 19th March 02:12
Hills an' dales folks, right? and for the down-right nosey of course there are: Satellites! UK & US stations listening here in Britain. Hi! Guys! 
s'pose I'm on the list then? Oh Um! What a waste of time, and no doubt (millions of pounds) in listening for.........nothing!
If I were a terrorist, would I use a mobile or other phone? Of course I wouldn't, and don't you think that they already know that. Of course they do! (the fuel protesters and the miners before them found that out before them) I've heard many private calls coming from:....... Barns! Yes you heard me right!......... B.A.R. N. S. Farmers ...... Barns! (I get to some funny places) on top of hills. Freedom of Information? don't make me laugh! You can listen to the most private of conversations on loudspeakers, if you know where to go, by parking beneath, opening the window,and listening. Well, I suppose that's what a "free" country is all about! Er! but! Free for whom?
P.S. I once needed a whole 1/8 of a watt to speak to the space shuttle on the 2 metre band, far less power than a light bulb! Think about it!!!
>> Edited by 8Pack on Saturday 19th March 03:27
s'pose I'm on the list then? Oh Um! What a waste of time, and no doubt (millions of pounds) in listening for.........nothing! If I were a terrorist, would I use a mobile or other phone? Of course I wouldn't, and don't you think that they already know that. Of course they do! (the fuel protesters and the miners before them found that out before them) I've heard many private calls coming from:....... Barns! Yes you heard me right!......... B.A.R. N. S. Farmers ...... Barns! (I get to some funny places) on top of hills. Freedom of Information? don't make me laugh! You can listen to the most private of conversations on loudspeakers, if you know where to go, by parking beneath, opening the window,and listening. Well, I suppose that's what a "free" country is all about! Er! but! Free for whom?
P.S. I once needed a whole 1/8 of a watt to speak to the space shuttle on the 2 metre band, far less power than a light bulb! Think about it!!!
>> Edited by 8Pack on Saturday 19th March 03:27
humpbackmaniac said:
This is the entire basis of my company. And in response to simpo 2's if they could used the timed response between three towers to position more accuratley. Way ahead of you!
Nice service! Have you taled to anybody in Newbury about this in the UK or our other countries?
GSM mobile phones in the UK use UHF radio, either in 1800 or 900Mhz depending on the network (i.e. the two bands of dual band) The microwave thing is pretty much rubbish but there is no way to explain high frequency radio to sheeple and make it sound scary at the same time. Tetra and 3g are on different bands but are the same order of frequency.
The range depends on the tower used, anything from a few miles to 30 feet AFAIK. Mobiles themselves reduce their transmitting power when the signal is good to conserve battery power so they typically broadcast a few hundred mW, compare that to a 4 watt handheld CB radio and you get an idea of how laughable the idea is of a mobile phone microwaving your brain.
As for monstrocities of towers, it is likely there are mobile phone transmitters in your area that you never noticed. If you wondered what that lamp post was that doesnt have a lamp on it?
mobile phone mast. Wondered what that small box screwed to a wall in the city is?
Mobile phone mast - one of the 30ft microcell ones
This tree is actually a large mast, the equipment for it is under the grass
The older towers described as monstrocities are normally in fields, industrial estates and railway lines where most people dont care. You dont normally see them near houses although you do sometimes. They also often more than just cell masts - TV relays, radio relays etc. They are also putting them on electricity pylons, telegraph poles, and tall buildings to try and make use of locations that are already there.
The range depends on the tower used, anything from a few miles to 30 feet AFAIK. Mobiles themselves reduce their transmitting power when the signal is good to conserve battery power so they typically broadcast a few hundred mW, compare that to a 4 watt handheld CB radio and you get an idea of how laughable the idea is of a mobile phone microwaving your brain.
As for monstrocities of towers, it is likely there are mobile phone transmitters in your area that you never noticed. If you wondered what that lamp post was that doesnt have a lamp on it?
mobile phone mast. Wondered what that small box screwed to a wall in the city is?
Mobile phone mast - one of the 30ft microcell ones
This tree is actually a large mast, the equipment for it is under the grass
The older towers described as monstrocities are normally in fields, industrial estates and railway lines where most people dont care. You dont normally see them near houses although you do sometimes. They also often more than just cell masts - TV relays, radio relays etc. They are also putting them on electricity pylons, telegraph poles, and tall buildings to try and make use of locations that are already there.
I found this leaflet in my local the other day :
www.traceamobile.co.uk/
I was thinking perhaps a cheap tracker for your car ?
Hard wire in a charger and old pay-as-you-go and stuff it behind the dashboard or something ?
No? Just me then....
www.traceamobile.co.uk/
I was thinking perhaps a cheap tracker for your car ?
Hard wire in a charger and old pay-as-you-go and stuff it behind the dashboard or something ?
No? Just me then....
8Pack said:You got it. I'm also the one who diagnoses the fault, and gets the parts and instructions to the site, so that a highly paid 'board swapper' can do his thing
Oh! NO!!! You're NOT one of those that sit around in the background whilst I "fix it" for the same money, an' then you get all the praise are you!!!
. Actually had a field 'engineer' on a site site recently who bashed the top of a server case off with a screwdriver and using his shoe as a hammer, because he didn't see the lock on it... 
Rich.
sadako said:
As for monstrocities of towers, it is likely there are mobile phone transmitters in your area that you never noticed. If you wondered what that lamp post was that doesnt have a lamp on it?
mobile phone mast. Wondered what that small box screwed to a wall in the city is?
Mobile phone mast - one of the 30ft microcell ones
This tree is actually a large mast, the equipment for it is under the grass
The older towers described as monstrocities are normally in fields, industrial estates and railway lines where most people dont care. You dont normally see them near houses although you do sometimes. They also often more than just cell masts - TV relays, radio relays etc. They are also putting them on electricity pylons, telegraph poles, and tall buildings to try and make use of locations that are already there.
Nice photos.
There's one of the 'tree' masts near me at Ince Blundell, blends in nicely. But then having trained as an RF Engineer originally, I find any aerial a thing of beauty
I left Voda before GSM came in. The fault finding part was great as was call-out but the routine maintenace started to hack me off. Go sit in a cabin on top of a tower block & perform the same test/adjust routine on 100+ voice channels and I went stir crazy!
I've always preferred 'response' type work. Gimme something that's broke & I'm happy... Give me routine stuff and I start to eye up the trim tools with homicidal intent. One of the best times ever was when an exchange software upgrade went wrong and caused the base stations to hang.
Drove around all night, spending 5 minutes at each site doing a power reset and then hooning off (as fast as a diesel Astravan would go anyway) to the next one.
We used to have some great route cards printed off by the local engineer (we all had our areas but overlapped of course). "Through farm gate, use van to nudge gate unless you like cow shit!"
Then I left to go & do Comms work in Nigeria - but the outfit I joined lost the contract before I got started. Grr...
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff