Hi Pat,
Thank you so much for the offer of help. We have completed additional testing at the CGYC repeater site with some success. We are in the process of working out our next steps. Hopefully, we will have some good news soon.
Regards,
Shirley MacBeath
Dear Ms. Drummond,
As you know, we have had a number of significant difficulties in completing our deployment in your area. Although we have some problems with our original installation contractors, these were resolved by changing subcontractors. Those earlier problems included some sites that had to be re-installed... including the antenna at the Clubhouse (you may have noticed the crane there a couple of weeks ago).
The more serious challenge for us is that the signal being transmitted by our Access Point is not penetrating the trees in the Golf Course area to the degree we expected. Previous testing with these radios had demonstrated a capability of reaching distances far greater than the end of the CGYC area through similar trees. Unfortunately, the behaviour we are currently experiencing is far below what was expected given our prior testing. Indeed, our system in Osgoode is delivering acceptable service levels as much as 10 km away from the tower.
We are continuing to investigate the CGYC-site performance but to date; we have not been able to determine the cause. There are basically two possibilities:
First, there may be some element of the site, which is attenuating our signal in one direction or the other. If this is the case, then we will be able to replace that element and begin serving the community as planned. This was our expectation and we have been working to replace different elements. Each active element appears to be working properly but we must do some sophisticated testing with specialized equipment to proceed further.
The second possibility is that the foliage at the golf course is simply too dense for our signal to penetrate far enough to reach all of our customers at the golf course. This violates both our theoretical analysis and our field-testing of the radio system being used... but it remains a possibility. If this turns out to be the case, then there is little that can be done to overcome the situation in a cost-effective way.
Regardless of the results of our on-going testing, we recognize that you have had to wait excessively long for our service and we do apologize. We have successfully installed several customers that are somewhat closer to the clubhouse and we will continue to provide service to those customers that we can reach with our current signal levels. Ms. Drummond, we hope that you will allow us to keep your order pending our finding a solution, however we do understand should you wish to cancel.
We remain committed to finding a solution for the CGYC and we thank you for your understanding and patience.
Sincerely,
Shirley MacBeath