Well that is a little more comforting. They don't need to be "Engineers" because there is no formal degree for wireless engineers in the US. Electrical Engineers only get about two weeks antenna theory when it comes to wireless. If these three are really on staff, they are not doing a very good job of oversight for the staff running the maps. I have seen results in both Illinois and Michigan and can tell you their predictions are way off.
Thank You, Brian Webster From: David Hannum [mailto:oujas...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 12, 2010 3:23 PM To: bwebs...@wirelessmapping.com; WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] connected nation mapping data I believe the folks doing the mapping (at least a significant part of it) for Connected Nation are Chip Spann, Layne Wagner and John Determan. All three of these men have significant RF and WISP background. Not sure if they are actually "engineers' but probablly 30-40 years combined wireless (licensed and unlicensed) between them. I'm not sure who is doing the mapping in your state, but I believe these three are overseeing the mapping for all of Connected Nations's contracts. Kind Regards, David Hannum New Era Broadband, LLC On Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 3:13 PM, Brian Webster <bwebs...@wirelessmapping.com> wrote: Matt and anyone else who talks to the state level mapping organizations: The next time you talk to these people you might ask them to provide you with the names, resumes, and qualifications of the staff that would be running your coverage maps if you were to provide all of the tower data they are requesting. Also ask for a list of similar projects these people have worked on in the recent past to justify their skill in creating an accurate coverage map. IF they actually produce that data (and I doubt they will) I would ask them how it is they feel these people are qualified to conduct this level of work. From what I have seen at various state levels, they do not have anyone with RF Engineering experience on staff, let alone anyone with experience in the unlicensed bands so that they can produce maps that show reality of what works vice equipment manufacturer specs. Connected Nation is putting someone in charge of mapping WISP's using Radio Mobile. While that is not a bad thing (you all know I think Radio Mobile works great) these people don't seem to have much if any RF Engineering Experience. If they do it seems to be in the cellular world and I can tell you from experience, that those types can be all over the place with their ability. There are experts who think they know what they are doing because they can run some software, and then there are the ones who know the RF theory in the first place and can really understand what the tool is showing when they run a map, especially as it relates to knowing what to use for settings within the program. Too many people just play with the settings until it "looks" right. What I am seeing in this mapping grant process is a bunch of GIS/Mapping Companies that now think they are also RF Engineering Companies, many times because they hire someone who can make a map in Radio Mobile and they think that is good enough. Thank You, Brian Webster -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wants You! Join today! http://signup.wispa.org/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org Subscribe/Unsubscribe: http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/
