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Any Idea What This Is?
I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles
in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg |
Scott en Aztlán wrote:
I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg Are they attached to random street light poles, or are they at/near intersections? And what streets are these on - which street was that one on? According to the City of Irvine's website, the city's Traffic Research and Control Center has various mobile, wireless cameras set up around Irvine to monitor flow on major arterials and some other side streets. Might that device in the image be related to that? -- Robert I. Cruickshank roadgeek, historian, progressive |
"Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message ... I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg Could also be a microcell for cellphones. Ours are usually mounted about halfway up the pole. I can't make out the blak dome above. It may be a photocell to turn lighting on at dusk, or perhaps a GPS antenna. If GPS, then the unit may be a DGPS transmitter. Brad. |
In article ,
Scott en Aztl?n wrote: I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg SCADA controllers for the lights would be my guess. |
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8Bit Scott en Aztlán wrote: I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg I am guessing that they are close to the 16000 block of Von Karman Avenue - the IPMobileNet HQ. Am I right? IPMobileNet makes the XpressNet 802.11 Mesh System, which is often set up using SmartCell access points on light poles. That box looks like a standard NEMA enclosure that anyone can use. The antenna looks like a WiFi (zoom in, it's longer than it looks at first). |
On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 02:50:50 +0000, Guy Macon
http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote: http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg I am guessing that they are close to the 16000 block of Von Karman Avenue - the IPMobileNet HQ. Am I right? While there may be one of them at that location, the one in the picture is near the 5 freeway and Culver Drive. The other one I saw was on Alton Parkway near Jeronimo. IPMobileNet makes the XpressNet 802.11 Mesh System, which is often set up using SmartCell access points on light poles. That box looks like a standard NEMA enclosure that anyone can use. The antenna looks like a WiFi (zoom in, it's longer than it looks at first). Hmm... Any idea which SSID(s) they use? I can use NetStumbler to see if that SSID shows up. Also, there is a cable leading from the NEMA enclosure to a cylindrical device on top of the pole; any idea what that is? Is it some sort of sensor that is being remotely monitored via the radio in the NEMA enclosure? |
That cylindrical device on the top is nothing more than a simple photo
cell to turn the street light on at dusk and off at dawn. It looks as though they are merely getting power through the exposed cord. Still don't know what the unit is though. We have them here in Denver too. GB Scott en Aztlán wrote: On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 02:50:50 +0000, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote: http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg I am guessing that they are close to the 16000 block of Von Karman Avenue - the IPMobileNet HQ. Am I right? While there may be one of them at that location, the one in the picture is near the 5 freeway and Culver Drive. The other one I saw was on Alton Parkway near Jeronimo. IPMobileNet makes the XpressNet 802.11 Mesh System, which is often set up using SmartCell access points on light poles. That box looks like a standard NEMA enclosure that anyone can use. The antenna looks like a WiFi (zoom in, it's longer than it looks at first). Hmm... Any idea which SSID(s) they use? I can use NetStumbler to see if that SSID shows up. Also, there is a cable leading from the NEMA enclosure to a cylindrical device on top of the pole; any idea what that is? Is it some sort of sensor that is being remotely monitored via the radio in the NEMA enclosure? -- "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws." -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged |
I'll accept something like that. What frequency range does the terrestrial signal occupy? I would have figured something smaller and several of them in a city, not just one multi-kilowatt transmitter. Mike wrote: In My area we have cell phone extenders that look about like this. XM terrestrial repeaters are usually on large buildings or hills and they use a several KW Klystron amplifier, which takes a 6ft rack for the redundant pair. Don't think that is stuffed inside the lamp pole.... |
I am going to guess its a mind control transmitter to make drivers come
to a complete stop rather than a rolling one. Or it might keep vagrants from washing windshields at intersections by making them consider getting real jobs. :-). Mike Burch K8MB Scott en Aztlán wrote: I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg |
"Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message ... I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg I've seen these on some poles in upstate NY also. Think they are used to signal the electric utility when the streetlight goes out. You will note the round power adapter that is sandwiched in-between the 125 VAC photocell which switches on the lamp. These are a 3-conductor / pole twistlock connector. |
On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 11:51:41 -0700, Scott en Aztlán
wrote: On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 02:50:50 +0000, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote: http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg I am guessing that they are close to the 16000 block of Von Karman Avenue - the IPMobileNet HQ. Am I right? While there may be one of them at that location, the one in the picture is near the 5 freeway and Culver Drive. The other one I saw was on Alton Parkway near Jeronimo. IPMobileNet makes the XpressNet 802.11 Mesh System, which is often set up using SmartCell access points on light poles. That box looks like a standard NEMA enclosure that anyone can use. The antenna looks like a WiFi (zoom in, it's longer than it looks at first). Hmm... Any idea which SSID(s) they use? I can use NetStumbler to see if that SSID shows up. Also, there is a cable leading from the NEMA enclosure to a cylindrical device on top of the pole; any idea what that is? Is it some sort of sensor that is being remotely monitored via the radio in the NEMA enclosure? one thought about these : this device is located on a utility company light pole. it's highly unlikely that it belongs to anyone commercial other than the utility company / or the " city of " people. could easily be part of the new equipment that cities are installing that allow cops and city workers to have hand held and " in car " wi-fi " ( mdt style ) data terminals. we have those recently installed in my city and they resemble these devices. they ' do not " show up on netstumbler type receiving equipment . |
Wireless Modem network from the late 90's. Before I retired I lived in San
Francisco a few years, these units were on light poles about one per city block. "Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message ... I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg |
Ricochet wireless ISP, is the name of the company I found in my notes.
"Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message ... I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg |
krackula wrote:
they ' do not " show up on netstumbler type receiving equipment . In case it is really WiFi, then it can be found with such equipment, when using the right equipment and the right software and waiting for some real traffic on the network. regards - Ralph -- Want to get in touch? http://www.radio-link.net/whereisralph.txt |
I forget the exact frequency, somewhere in the 2GHz range. Xicom makes
the amplifiers. Phoneguy wrote: I'll accept something like that. What frequency range does the terrestrial signal occupy? I would have figured something smaller and several of them in a city, not just one multi-kilowatt transmitter. Mike wrote: In My area we have cell phone extenders that look about like this. XM terrestrial repeaters are usually on large buildings or hills and they use a several KW Klystron amplifier, which takes a 6ft rack for the redundant pair. Don't think that is stuffed inside the lamp pole.... |
http://www.ricochet.com/about.aspx
GB SAMUEL LA RUE wrote: Ricochet wireless ISP, is the name of the company I found in my notes. "Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message ... I've seen several of these devices attached to the street light poles in Irvine, CA. Clearly there is some kind of radio inside the box, but what is their purpose? http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg -- "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws." -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged |
krackula wrote:
On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 11:51:41 -0700, Scott en Aztl?n wrote: On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 02:50:50 +0000, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote: http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg one thought about these : this device is located on a utility company light pole. it's highly unlikely that it belongs to anyone commercial other than the utility company / or the " city of " people. Are we looking at equipment left over from the old Metricom Ricochet service? Their strateqy was to operate a mesh network in the unlicensed ISM band. By cutting a deal with the city to use lamposts they could avoid having to pay the high utility pole attachment fees. |
On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 18:04:35 -0000, "Jack Myers"
wrote: Are we looking at equipment left over from the old Metricom Ricochet service? Did they ever serve Irvine, CA? According to http://www.ricochet.com/FAQs_Compari...verage%20Areas the closest market they serve is San Diego. |
On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 13:30:30 -0600, gray-beard
wrote: That cylindrical device on the top is nothing more than a simple photo cell to turn the street light on at dusk and off at dawn. That seems likely. An identical device is also present on the poles which lack the boxes. |
Scott en Aztl?n wrote:
On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 18:04:35 -0000, "Jack Myers" wrote: Are we looking at equipment left over from the old Metricom Ricochet service? Did they ever serve Irvine, CA? Yes. http://tinyurl.com/arkyz |
That's what they looked like to me. I've seen them in Troy, Michigan also.
Bill Crocker "Jack Myers" wrote in message ... krackula wrote: On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 11:51:41 -0700, Scott en Aztl?n wrote: On Sun, 03 Jul 2005 02:50:50 +0000, Guy Macon http://www.guymacon.com/ wrote: http://tinypic.com/6okknl.jpg one thought about these : this device is located on a utility company light pole. it's highly unlikely that it belongs to anyone commercial other than the utility company / or the " city of " people. Are we looking at equipment left over from the old Metricom Ricochet service? Their strateqy was to operate a mesh network in the unlicensed ISM band. By cutting a deal with the city to use lamposts they could avoid having to pay the high utility pole attachment fees. |
I forwarded the photo to an distribution engineer friend of mine at a
nearby power utility. He suggested it could be a remote meter reading transponder repeater. The technology has numerous ways of doing it, and low power radio modems are used in some demand metering systems where individual phone lines are not practical. The transponder gets its power via the power tap inserted between the lamp body and the light controlled switch. The nearby low power transponders all report into their local transponder which in turn relays the reports to a central gathering station. That's how the system works. Whether or not that is what it is is yet to be verified. The antenna's element and coil dimensions look too big to be 2.4GHz. It does however look right for ISM. |
Are they not boxes for switching traffic lights for emergency vehicles?
|
Not in Troy, MI. The Fire Dept. uses the modulated light beam aimed at
photoelectric sensors for that. Bill Crocker "SamSez" wrote in message news:w7wye.2317$gD5.1632@trndny06... Are they not boxes for switching traffic lights for emergency vehicles? |
On Tue, 05 Jul 2005 08:36:43 -0400, Phoneguy wrote:
I forwarded the photo to an distribution engineer friend of mine at a nearby power utility. He suggested it could be a remote meter reading transponder repeater. The technology has numerous ways of doing it, and low power radio modems are used in some demand metering systems where individual phone lines are not practical. The transponder gets its power via the power tap inserted between the lamp body and the light controlled switch. The nearby low power transponders all report into their local transponder which in turn relays the reports to a central gathering station. That's how the system works. Whether or not that is what it is is yet to be verified. The antenna's element and coil dimensions look too big to be 2.4GHz. It does however look right for ISM. That is a Ricochet Radio. Part of a Mesh network on 900 Mhz for Internet connectivity. The company has been about about 7 or 8 years and has had a hard time of it. I first ran into them in there home city of Seattle in 1998. In some places they pulled the plug on the network leaving the radios on the poles. I thought they were out of business. http://www.ricochet.com/ -- Korbin Dallas The name was changed to protect the guilty. |
"soliton" wrote in message ... "SamSez" wrote: Are they not boxes for switching traffic lights for emergency vehicles? In the photo, it is connected to a street light not a stop light so it would be useless for controlling a stop light. what in gods name does where it is mounted have to do with what it does? |
would be useless for controlling a stop light.
what in gods name does where it is mounted have to do with what it does? Quite a lot actually. The ricochet radio answer gets my vote. |
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 00:14:07 -0400, Bob wrote:
The ricochet radio answer gets my vote. Give the men a see-gar! A closer look at the box with a pair of binoculars reveals the name "Metricom" printed on the outside. |
In article ,
Scott en Aztl?n wrote: On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 00:14:07 -0400, Bob wrote: The ricochet radio answer gets my vote. Give the men a see-gar! A closer look at the box with a pair of binoculars reveals the name "Metricom" printed on the outside. then it is a leftover from the old Ricochet Network that went tits-up a few years back... Makes a nice 928 Mhz packet system..... Me who actually ownes a complete Ricochet 800Mhz Base Station including the router |
edison uses them as line of sight transmitters for remote switching of
the power lines and outage indicators. |
I can verify that these were the transceivers for the Ricochet wireless ISP
of a few years ago. I used to be a subscriber. I could run 19K full time at the cheap grade of service. I was living where it was difficult to add another dialup line at the time. They went out of business. "Phoneguy" wrote in message t.ca... I forwarded the photo to an distribution engineer friend of mine at a nearby power utility. He suggested it could be a remote meter reading transponder repeater. The technology has numerous ways of doing it, and low power radio modems are used in some demand metering systems where individual phone lines are not practical. The transponder gets its power via the power tap inserted between the lamp body and the light controlled switch. The nearby low power transponders all report into their local transponder which in turn relays the reports to a central gathering station. That's how the system works. Whether or not that is what it is is yet to be verified. The antenna's element and coil dimensions look too big to be 2.4GHz. It does however look right for ISM. |
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