As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
ADEQUATE COVERAGE Coverage is considered to be "adequate" within that area surrounding a base station where the predicted or measured median field strength of the transmitted signal is such that the majority of the time, transceivers properly installed and operated will be able to communicate with the base station. in the case of cellular communications in a rural environment like Copake, this would be a signal strength of at least -90 dBm for at least 75% of the coverage area. It is acceptable for there to be holes within the area of adequate coverage where the signal is less than -90 dBm, as long as the signal regains its strength to greater than -90 dBm further away from the base station. For the limited purpose of determining whether the use of a repeater is necessary or desirable, there shall be deemed not to be adequate coverage within said holes. The outer boundary of the area of adequate coverage, however, is that location past which the signal does not regain strength of greater than -90 dBm.
ADEQUATE CAPACITY Capacity is considered to be "adequate" if the grade of service (GOS) is p.05 or better for median traffic levels offered during the typical busy hour, as assessed by direct measurement of the personal wireless service facility in question. The GOS shall be determined by the use of standard Erland B Calculations. As call blocking may occur in either the land line or radio portions of a wireless network, adequate capacity for this chapter shall apply only to the capacity of the radio components. Where capacity must be determined prior to the installation of the personal wireless services facility in question, adequate capacity shall be determined on the basis of a 20% busy hour (20% of all offered traffic occurring within the busiest hour of the day), with the total daily traffic based on aggregate estimates of the expected traffic in the coverage area.
ANTENNA A device which is attached to a tower or other structure for transmitting or receiving electromagnetic waves. Examples include, but are not limited to, whip, panel, and dish antennas.
AVAILABLE SPACE The space on a tower or structure to which antennas of a telecommunications provider are both structurally able and electromagnetically able to be attached.
BASE STATION The primary sending and receiving site in a wireless telecommunications network. More than one base station and/or more than one variety of telecommunications provider can be located on a single tower or structure.
BULLETIN 65 Published by the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology specifying radiation levels and methods to determine compliance.
CAMOUFLAGED FACILITY Any telecommunications facility that is designed to blend into the surrounding environment, such as towers and/or attached equipment designed to look like trees or barn silos, etc.
CHANNEL The segment of the radiation spectrum from an antenna which carries one signal. An antenna may radiate on many channels simultaneously.
COLLOCATION The use of a single mount on the ground by more than one carrier (vertical collocation) and/or several mounts on an existing structure by more than one carrier.
DBM Unit of measure of the power level of an electromagnetic signal expressed in decibels referenced to one milliwatt (1/1000th watt); correctly written as "dBm."
ELECTROMAGNETICALLY ABLE The determination that the new signal from and to the proposed new antennas will not significantly interfere with the existing signals from and to other facilities located on the same tower or structure as determined by a qualified professional telecommunications engineer. The use of available technologies to alleviate such interference shall be considered when making this determination.
ELEVATION The elevation at grade or ground level shall be given in above mean sea level (AMSL). The height of the wireless service facility shall be given in above ground level (AGL). AGL is a measurement of height from the natural grade of a site to the highest point of a structure. The total elevation of the wireless service facility is AGL plus AMSL.
EMF Electromagnetic fields, often expressed in wavelengths or frequencies to indicate their placement on the electromagnetic spectrum. The radio frequencies usually radiate away from their generating source, hence wireless capability. The radio frequencies are identified between three kilohertz to 300 gigahertz and include AM and FM radio, TV, radar, cellular/PCS technologies, emergency fire and police, paging services, and satellite broadcasting among many others. Microwaves are a portion of the radio frequencies.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (EA) An EA is the document required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when a wireless communication facility is placed in certain designated areas such as wetlands and sensitive habitats.
ERP Effective radiated power.
EQUIPMENT SHELTER An enclosed structure, cabinet, shed or box located at the base station designed principally to house batteries, electrical, and electronic equipment used in connection with personal wireless service transmissions.
FACILITY SITE A property, or any part thereof, which is owned or leased by one or more telecommunications providers and upon which one or more telecommunication facility(s) and required landscaping are located. This includes any lot or location, having met all other criteria in this telecommunication facilities regulation, which may be able to provide adequate coverage and adequate capacity to a significant portion of the Town of Copake.
FALL ZONE The area on the ground within a prescribed radius from the base of a wireless communications facility. The fall zone is the area within which there is a potential hazard from falling debris (such as ice) or collapsing material.
FCC Federal Communications Commission. The government agency responsible for regulating telecommunications in the United States.
FCC-97-326 A report and order which sets new national standards for exposure to radio frequency emissions from FCC-regulated transmitters.
GHZ - GIGAHERTZ A measure of electromagnetic radiation equaling one billion hertz.
GRADE OF SERVICE A measure of the percentage of calls which are able to connect to the base station, during the busiest hour of the day. Grade of service is expressed as a number, such as p.05, which means that 95% of callers will connect on their first try. A lower number (p.04) indicates a better grade of service.
HEIGHT OF TOWER The vertical distance from the highest point of the structure, plus any device attached, to the grade before construction.
HERTZ One hertz is the frequency of an electric or magnetic field which reverses polarity once each second, or one cycle per second.
LICENSED CARRIER A company authorized by the FCC to construct and operate a wireless communications facility.
LOCATION References to site location as the exact longitude and latitude, to the nearest tenth of a second, with bearing or orientation referenced to true North.
MAJOR MODIFICATION OF AN EXISTING FACILITY Any change, or proposed change, in power input or output, number of antennas, change in antenna(s) type or model, repositioning of antenna(s), change in number of channels per antenna above the maximum number approved under an existing approved site plan.
MAJOR MODIFICATION OF AN EXISTING TOWER Any increase, or proposed increase, in dimensions of an existing and permitted tower or other structure designed to support telecommunications transmission, receiving, and/or relaying antennas, and/or equipment.
MHZ - MEGAHERTZ A measure of electromagnetic radiation equaling one million hertz.
MONITORING The measurement, by use of instruments in the field, of nonionizing radiation exposure at a site as a whole, or from individual telecommunications facilities, towers, antennas, or repeaters.
MONITORING PROTOCOL The testing protocol, such as the Cobbs Protocol, or the FCC Regulations (Title 47, Part 1, Section 1.1307 referenced as IEEE C95.3 1991), or one substantially similar, including compliance determined in accordance with the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (Reports 86 and 119), which is to be used to monitor emissions and determine exposure risk from existing and new telecommunications facilities. The Copake Planning Board may, as the technology changes, require by written regulation the use of other testing protocols. A copy of the monitoring protocol shall be on file with the Town Clerk.
MONOPOLE A single self-supporting vertical pole with no guy-wire anchors, usually consisting of a galvanized or other unpainted metal, or a wooden pole with below-grade foundations. (See "towers.")
MOUNT The structure or surface upon which antennas are mounted, including the following four types of mounts:
PANEL ANTENNA A flat surface antenna usually developed in multiples.
PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICES Commercial mobile services, unlicensed wireless services, and common-carrier wireless exchange access services. These services include cellular services, personal communications systems (PCS), specialized mobile radio services, and paging services.
PERSONAL WIRELESS SERVICE FACILITY All equipment (including repeaters) with which a personal wireless service provider broadcasts and receives the radio frequency waves which carry their services, and all locations of said equipment or any part thereof. This facility may be sited on one or more towers or structures(s) owned and permitted by another owner or entity.
RADIAL PLOTS The result of drawing equally spaced lines (radials) from the point of an antenna, calculating the expected signal and indicating this graphically on a map. The relative signal strength may be indicated by varying the size or color at each point being studied along the radial; a threshold plot uses a mark to indicate whether that point is strong enough to provide adequate coverage, i.e., the points meeting the threshold of adequate coverage. The drawback is the concentration of points close to the antenna and the divergence of points far from the site near the ends of the radials.
RADIATED-SIGNAL PROPAGATION STUDIES OR COVERAGE PLOTS Computer-generated estimates of the signal emanating, and prediction of coverage, from antennas or repeaters sited on a specific tower or structure. The height above ground, power input and output, frequency output, type of antenna, antenna gain, topography of the site and its surroundings are all taken into account to create these simulations. They are the primary tool for determining whether a site will provide adequate coverage for the telecommunications facility proposed for the site.
RADIO FREQUENCY ENGINEER An engineer specializing in the design, review, and monitoring of radio frequency technologies.
REGULATED FACILITY, SERVICE, AND/OR SITE The equipment, towers, mount, antennas and other structures subject to local regulation. This includes all telecommunication services not exempt from local regulation pursuant to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, or other such federal legislation or federal authority.
REPEATER A small receiver/relay transmitter of not more than 20 watts' output designed to provide service to areas which are not able to receive adequate coverage directly from a base station.
SECURITY BARRIER A locked, impenetrable wall, fence or beam that completely seals an area from unauthorized entry or trespass.
SEPARATION The distance between one carrier's array of antennas and another carrier's array.
STANDING WAVE PHENOMENON A localized concentration of energy. This can occur, for instance, when radio frequencies that are supposed to take off into space concentrate around metal objects instead (metal roofs, certain architectural supports, water towers, guy wires, etc.), creating "RF hot-spots" that exceed federal guidelines.
STRUCTURALLY ABLE The determination that a tower or structure is capable of carrying the load imposed by the proposed new antennas under all reasonably predictable conditions as determined by professional structural engineering analysis.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITY All equipment (including repeaters) with which a telecommunications provider broadcasts and receives the radio frequency waves which carry their services and all locations of said equipment or any part thereof. This facility may be sited on one or more towers or structures owned and permitted by another owner or entity.
TELEPORT A facility utilizing satellite dishes of greater than 2.0 meters in diameter designed to uplink to communications satellites for transmitting in the C-Band (four to six GHz) spectrum.
TILED COVERAGE PLOTS Tiled plots result from calculating the signal at uniformly spaced locations on a rectangular grid, or tile, of the area of concern. Unlike radial plots, tiled plots provide a uniform distribution of points over an area of interest; usually the same grid will be used as different sites are examined, and it is not necessary that the transmitter site be within the grid or area of interest. As with radial plots, the graphic display or plot can be either signal strength or adequate threshold. This method requires substantially more topographic data and longer (computer) execution time than radial plots, but is preferable for comparative analysis.
TOWER A support structure intended to support antennas and associated equipment. This includes:
(1) GUYED TOWERA monopole tower or lattice tower that is tied to the ground or other surface by diagonal cables.
(2) LATTICE TOWERA type of mount that is self-supporting with multiple legs and cross bracing of structural steel.
(3) MONOPOLE TOWERThe type of mount that is self-supporting with a single shaft of wood, steel, fiberglass, or concrete, and a platform (or racks) for panel and whip antennas arrayed at the top.