Couple points in favor of the State Farm site:
1) The Sprint hardware has not yet been converted over to T-Mobile. This is a band 2/66 site, not 25 or 26. When Sprint is converted, those frequencies will be on a separate eNB as is the norm with Sprint to T-Mobile conversions.
2) The Band 66 alpha sector (sector 1) was logged just south of 84th and O on 84th Street; then while still adjacent to the State Farm building coverage switched over to sector 3 which is typically west or southwest facing in situations where the alpha sector is north or northeast facing. The signal strength was -84 dBm, a strong signal on Band 66. This tells me that the tower is very close to that location, and just to the east. This would either be the tower by State Farm, or another location very close (likely within 1/4 mile). I know of no other location nearby that would fit.
I should be able to check it out for myself and drive around the immediate area in a couple of weeks. -nelsonjw
01:25, 9 March 2022 (UTC)01:25, 9 March 2022 (UTC)
Regarding point 1, if the Sprint hardware has not been converted to T-Mobile, the site would not broadcast a T-Mobile signal at all. When a site is converted, the B41 and B26 signals go away, they are no longer broadcast at all since the Sprint equipment is removed. The site is switched over to solely T-Mobile, with some sites still broadcasting a B25 signal on the Sprint Keep PLMN (312-250). We still have evidence of a Sprint B26 and B41 signal being broadcast from this site, which indicated conversion has not happened. They do not leave the Sprint equipment behind when a conversion happens. - dkoellerwx
14:37, 9 March 2022 (UTC)Nelsonjw (talk)
Thank you dkoellerwx for this information. So my question would be whether T-Mobile has installed a separate rack with their b2/b66 (and 71?) equipment or if this is coming from another location altogether, and if another location altogether, it still seems as though it would be very close to the State Farm site. If you are able to drive around the site it might lead to more clarity; otherwise I believe I will be able to do so in a couple weeks' time and gain more information. Will respect your judgment for the time being and refrain from setting any pin. -nelsonjw
That isn't what the permit called for and isn't what we've observed on any of the other conversions in Omaha or Lincoln. They'll typically keep the Sprint B25 equipment and remove the B26 and B41 equipment while adding T-Mobile B2/66/71 and L/NR 41 on to the existing rack. Lincoln often uploads PDFs of the site plans so we know for certain that was the plan here. I've gone ahead and relocated the site as someone did hit it again yesterday with the strongest signal yet indicating it probably is the State Farm site. Deleting the erroneous sector that went all the way past Lincoln to the West also helped. I too will try and get done there if neither of you beat me as the behavior of this site with it still broadcasting multiple Sprint bands is abnormal. We know of one additional site in Omaha that has equipment installed that I would expect to start broadcasting at any time right now as well as what other sites are currently permitted for conversion in both Omaha and Lincoln. -MrNuke
3/15/22 - Based on a picture received today, it appears that T-Mobile was added to the site on a new tier without removing the Sprint equipment. This does not match the permit that T-Mobile applied for. This also explains why we were still seeing full Sprint signals from the site when we expected a conversion, which is what was causing all of the confusion. - dkoellerwx
3/16/22 - Good to know. Thanks for clarifying and for the time and interaction put into this! I may still drive around it next week and have a couple other things I want to check out while in Lincoln, my original hometown though MO is home now. -nelsonjw
3/16/22 - Based on the photo and some permit digging what happened here is that Nextel equipment was somehow still on the tower and that is the rack T-Mobile swapped out; like dkoellerwx said causing even more confusion when the permit called for swapping out a T-Mobile rack. Mr.Nuke