Proposal:Communications tower

Abandoned. Please use man_made=tower or man_made=mast with tower:type=communication instead

Communications tower
Proposal status: Abandoned (inactive)
Proposed by: mungewell
Tagging: man_made=communications_tower
Statistics:

The proposed tags are:

<tag k="man_made" v="communications_tower"/>
<tag k="man_made" v="communications_transponder"/>

Communication towers which are used for broadcast or two-way communications via radio waves; such as radio, television, cellphones and two-way radio. Each tower may have 1 or 2 more transponders (antennas) attached to it, which is why this scheme abstracts out the transponders.

It is often possible to use these for visual orientation. In the case of cellphone towers, there are concerns about having these placed close to homes, so home-buyers might be interested in seeing their location on maps.

Some communication towers have further uses ( water tower, observation tower)

Suggested Icon

It is suggested that the Communication Tower node be rendered as follows:

The renderer may wish to use the height tag to gauge the size of the tower, to render the icon at different zoom factors or at different sizes.

It is suggested that the Communication Transponder node would not be rendered.

Required Tags

All communication towers using this tagging scheme should be tagged with man_made=tower

General Tags

Some general tags which are used across many other types of object are used to tag communication towers:

Key Value Element Comment Example Icon
name*Name of the towerNose Hill Park
ref*Reference number of the towerVE6RYC
operator*Maintainer/Operator of the tower structure.Calgary Amateur Radio Association
height*Height of the top of the tower (including any antennas) from ground in meters. In the case where the tower is mounted on top of a building the height should include the height of the building. 
ele*Elevation of the top of the tower (including any antennas) above sea-level in meters. 
access*Physical access to tower, most likely private but some towers have viewing platforms. 
source*Where did the data come from?http://nwham.com/
website*Website with information about this Tower.http://www.caraham.org/

Specific Tags

Tags which aren't shared with other OSM features are prefixed with the "communications_tower:" namespace.

Key Value Element Comment Example Icon
communications_tower:typeguyed_groundedThe whole or the upper part of the tower is anchored with guys to the ground. The tower is not electrically insolated against ground.KVLY-TV Mast , Gerbrandy Tower , Behren-Bokel TV Mast
communications_tower:typeguyed_insulatedThe whole or the upper part of the tower is anchored with guys to the ground. The tower is electrically insulated against ground ( most towers used for mediumwave broadcasting are in this category)Mühlacker Radio Mast , Hirschlanden transmitter
communications_tower:typefreestanding_groundedThe tower is completely freestanding. No guys are used for its stabilization. The tower is not electrically insolated against groundStuttgart TV Tower , Croydon transmitter , Gliwice Radio Tower
communications_tower:typefreestanding_insulatedThe tower is completely freestanding. No guys are used for its stabilization. The tower is electrically insulated against groundBlosenbergturm , Junglinster Longwave Towers
communications_tower:typedishThe 'tower' is a parabolic dish 
communications_tower:typedomeThe 'tower' is a dome (or 'golf-ball') construction, with antenna elements concealed from view 
communications_tower:typeconcealedThe 'tower' is concealed/disguised (ie. made to look like a tree). 
communications_tower:otherconcealedCommunication towers which do not fit well in the above mentioned patternsRussian Woodpecker
communications_tower:typeguy_anchor_basementBasement of a guy 

A guy is a structure for keeping a tower or its upper part upright. Some wire antennas look also like guys, but are not used for keeping the tower upright. A tower only using such device is free-standing. The course of guys and antenna wires should be drawn-in.

Transponders (Antennas)

Most communication towers will carry multiple transponders, each transponder must be characterised seperately and a relationship between the tower and the transponder made.

The 'communication_tower_group' relation shall contain the node representing the communication_tower and any/all communication_transponders.

In some cases a communication tower will only serve a single channel/frequency (ie. a single transponder), in which case the 'Communication_Transponder' tags may be applied directly the tower's node. It is unlikely that a single antenna would be mounted 1/2 up an (expensive) tower, so the height/ele tags should be consistent between tower and transponder.

There are also towers, which serve directly as antenna. Such structures are called mast radiators and are most common for frequencies below 10 MHz. Most of these towers are guyed and are insulated electrically against ground. However, there are also free-standing towers used for this purpose and some towers, which serve directly as antenna, are grounded.

It is also possible that a mast radiator carries antennas for transmission on higher frequencies.

Transponder General Tags

Some general tags which are used across many other types of object are used to tag communication_transponder:

Key Value Element Comment Example Icon
name*Name of the transponderNose Hill Park
ref*Callsign of the transponderVE6RYC
operator*Maintainer/Operator of the transponderCalgary Amateur Radio Association
height*Height of the transponder's antenna from ground in meters, at the tower location 
ele*Elevation of transponder's antenna above sea-level in meters 
source*Where did the data come from?nwham.com
website*Website with information about this transponder.http://www.caraham.org/

Transponder Specific Tags

Tags which aren't shared with other OSM features are prefixed with the "communications_transponder:" namespace.

Key Value Element Comment Example Icon
communications_transponder:frequency*The frequency of operations for the transponder, in MHz. May denote a frequency range with '..'. May include offset indication for duplex communications.146.8500-0.6
communications_transponder:power*The output power for the transponder, in W.150
communications_transponder:access*Whether the use of this transponder is public, private, etcPublic
communications_transponder:service*Generalisation of the 'service' provided by this transponder (TV, RADIO, GSM800, GSM1800, UMTS, C2000, Amateur)Amateur

Transponder Technical Tags

These are included to suggest a scheme, but are not recommended for placing into the main OSM database.

Key Value Element Comment Example Icon
communications_transponder:modulation*The modulation scheme for the transmission, (AM, FM, PAL, NTSC, COFDM, NFM, SSB, etc)NFM
communications_transponder:bearing*For a direction antenna the bearing on which it is pointed. (degrees from north)65
communications_transponder:tone*Whether a CTCSS (or the like) tone is required access/enable transponder110.9
communications_transponder:antenna_type*Description of antenna elementDipole

Possible Sources of Geodata

See also

Tag:man_made=tower#Tower_types

This article is issued from Openstreetmap. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.