mitch mccann

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since Apr 20, 2011
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Flagstaff, AZ
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Recent posts by mitch mccann

Z,
Second thoughts, sounds like you will have to be satisfied with COURSE location information,,, i.e. knowing only which Cell Tower coverage area your Android device is operating in.

I don't think that towers have aimed directional antennas. When in range of two or more towers, more specific location might be possible. Again I think that economics of tower operation suggests that towers of the subscriber's service are used in preference to towers owned by competitors, even when radio engineering might suggest the customer is better off on roaming.... Or maybe it's the other way around. economics dictates..

cm (CactusMitch)
12 years ago
"R," is you. I probably should have put "Z" of "H," but I guess I saw the "R" in Ranch Hand. I am cm, or CactusMitch.
How do you prefer to be addressed? realize that you name is not on this "REPLY" screen and there are potentially others in the discussion.

I presume that in the USA, the Federal Communications Commission maintains a public list of cell tower locations,, i.e. LAT and LON. Getting the location of the towers from a handheld device might be possible by collecting the signal strength against a record of the location of the handheld device as it explores the area as recorded from some other source of location information like a map or GPS. Then there is the trigonometry. Sounds like going around the barn to get to the door.

Do you want to find the location of the tower, or the location of the device relative to the tower? The direction to go to get a better signal?

I am working on a project to find the the Android device relative to the proximate entries in a big database of locations.

Best regards, cm (CactusMitch)
12 years ago
R.
Sounds like you want to "ping" the local towers?
Cm,
12 years ago
Himanshu,
If you'r trying to avoid getting a GPS, it's hard but not impossible for a limited number of locations. Using a portable computer running an Android emulator is not going to work well, because the emulator requires that one send it "fake" locations. This is fairly easy to do through Eclipse, (after you get out of hospital from the pain of having to learn Eclipse.)
If you can sit in an office and use Google Maps to drag a cursor to the spot of the place you need for your academic investigation, that might be the best way to get the info.
If you need to record lots of locations, (I'd say more than 10 a day,) getting some kind of GPS will prove more efficient in the long run.
regards, CactusMitch
12 years ago
All,
R is my kind of language. I learned it through the 10" screen on my Acer Aspire. I'd love to have a book on it. I did get have my hands on a book through interlibrary loan. The output graphic potential is far beyond what I'll ever be able to learn. I hope this doesn't exclude me from eligibility for winning the book...
Cactusmitch
12 years ago
Ed Burnett's book has a program... LocationTest Chapter 8, page 153, I got the program to work. It gives lots of info about all the "providers."

I wonder if cell towers get information about the exact location of stationary wifi hot spots in their service area from packets generated by mobile users... Skype etc. If I were Big Brother I'd be tracking stuff like that.
12 years ago