Lake Waseosa Ratepayers' Association

Good news! The second tower went live yesterday. Located on the peak of the hill overlooking Ceramic Mine Road, the "Melissa Tower" should fill in the radio shadows cast by the hills around here, particularly along East Waseosa Lake Road and the areas around Palette, Ripple and the north end of Waseosa. In fact, the location should provide extensive coverage from Huntsville to Novar.

Final Update: March 2010: The system has has now been running for approximately a year. Once the teething issues were settled (as documented below), the connection has been consistent with good signal strength even through the summer when the foliage was at it's maximum and in the midst of a winter snowstorm.

The first tower went live today (Feb. 3)  at 5:45pm. The installer said "I'm hooking up the cables now" and within 2 minutes he had a call on his cell phone from Core telling him the system had recognized the new tower going online. (And you think driving and talking on a cell is bad -- how about doing it while clinging to a narrow perch with frozen fingers 100' in the air! ) 

Update: January 30th. Things are back on track again and the tower is taking shape. They use a modified TV tower as a crane to lift the tower sections into place. I refuse to say the new projected operation date because every time I do, something happens to cause further delays!

MCN has hired Core to erect the towers and related infrastructure for high speed wireless service in our area. The system is described as a "hub and spoke" arraingement -- there will be a central main tower in Huntsville to serve smaller regional towers for areas like ours. Core is now awaiting final approval from Huntsville Town Council for the main tower. That location must be finalized before they can finalize the height and locations of the regional towers.

Spurred on by Jerry's initiative, I have contacted a number of takeholders and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). The Waseosa area should be receiving wireless high-speed service no later than this coming September.

There will be 2 primary alternatives: