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Broadcast repack video is truly a must see for all tower techs

In Associations News, Daily News Briefs, Training News & Initiatives by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) released a Broadcast Repack safety video during the NATE UNITE 2017 Keynote Luncheon sponsored by T-Mobile. The timely video is the second to debut as part of Volume 2 of the NATE Climber Connection series and coincides with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently concluding the bidding phase of its historic incentive auction, …

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Black & Veatch exec Martin Travers joins National Wireless Safety Alliance’s Board

In Associations News, Daily News Briefs by Wireless Estimator

The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) has announced that Martin Travers, Group President of Black & Veatch, has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Travers was nominated and formally appointed to serve in this leadership role during the NWSA Board of Directors meeting held in Fort Worth, Tex. on March 2, 2017. NWSA, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, is a national non-profit …

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NATE sets new all-time attendee, exhibitor marks at 2017’s conference

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that last week’s NATE UNITE 2017 Conference in Fort Worth, Tex, set new attendee and exhibitor records. The Association said that 1,801 individuals registered to attend NATE UNITE 2017. This total eclipses the organization’s all-time conference registered attendee total in its 22-year history, exceeding the previous attendance registration record of 1,614 at …

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AT&T’s FirstNet award in the bag rumors ignore court’s near-term expected ruling

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Rumors at last week’s Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona that FirstNet was set to award America’s first nationwide network for first responders to AT&T would require judicial clairvoyance to be accurate since the award is in an ongoing procurement process that will be decided by U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan. Oral arguments in Rivada Mercury’s lawsuit …

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Lone Survivor hero wows hundreds of NATE attendees with harrowing survival tale

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

  Decorated retired Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell paced back and forth in front of almost 900 attendees at NATE UNITE 2017’s keynote address yesterday, effortlessly herding them from the Fort Worth, Tex. convention center to a Hindu Kush mountain top in Afghanistan in 2005 surrounded by Taliban fighters who killed Luttrell’s three team members. But through his courage, training, and …

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NWSA lauds America’s first trailblazing telecommunications tower technicians

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Workers successfully complete assessments; recognized with professional NWSA Certification The National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA) announced the names of individuals who are among the first workers to obtain NWSA Telecommunications Tower Technician (TTT) certification at an educational session that was held Tuesday in conjunction with the NATE UNITE 2017 Conference in Fort Worth, Tex. The following industry workers have obtained …

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Tower Family Foundation and NATE announce the 2017 Ernie Jones Memorial Scholarship recipient

In Daily News Briefs by Wireless Estimator

  The Tower Family Foundation and National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today jointly announced that Elyse Massey, a junior Civil Engineering major from Evansville, Indiana, has been named as the 2017 recipient of the Ernie Jones Memorial Civil Engineering Scholarship at the University of Evansville in Evansville, Indiana. Through her time at the University of Evansville, Elyse Massey has …

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Executives Tracy, Miller and Little elected to lead NATE in 2017

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

  The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) announced today that Board of Directors’ members Jim Tracy, Jim Miller and Ben Little were elected to serve on the Association’s Executive Committee for the upcoming year. The Association made the announcement on the first day of the NATE UNITE 2017 Conference and Exposition in Fort Worth, Tex. Jim Tracy, CEO of …

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Texas space program post says student was never in danger while climbing tower

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

A representative of the Eldorado Space Program, an Eldorado, Tex. high school program that teaches students to design instrumentation packages and launch them into space, said on its Facebook page Saturday that a cover story photograph in the March edition of QST published by the National Association for Amateur Radio, represented an inaccurate, unsafe depiction of a student climbing a …

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Cover girl climber shot could send high schoolers to their death

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

Commentary – The March issue of a well-respected magazine published by The National Association for Amateur Radio (ARRL) will most likely latch onto the literal lunacy award for depicting in a photograph the most egregious tie-off violations one could imagine. In QST’s latest edition, their antenna issue, the cover shows a picture of Chase Mertz of Eldorado, Tex. climbing a …

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Wireless infrastructure movers and shakers to converge in Fort Worth

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

NATE UNITE 2017, the National Association of Tower Erectors’ annual conference, to be held Feb. 27 through March 2 in Fort Worth, Tex., is expected to rival a record-setting number of visitors to the event that is clearly regarded as the largest and most comprehensive show in the U.S. for the wireless infrastructure industry. The exhibition is already breaking last …

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NATE releases an updated detailed resource for tower site drone usage

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the 2nd Edition of the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems Operations Around Vertical Communications Infrastructure resource document available to all interested parties at no charge. The newest edition of this valuable safety resource is a by-product of collaboration between the NATE Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Committee and other prominent representatives from the commercial …

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NATE brings to life new ANSI/ASSE A10.48 standard with a polished video presentation

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released a safety video highlighting the new ANSI/ASSE A10.48 Standard. The video is the first to debut as part of Volume 2 of the NATE Climber Connection series. The A10.48 Standard – Criteria for Safety Practices with the Construction, Demolition, Modification and Maintenance of Communications Structures has been described as a game-changer …

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NATE’s free Train-the-Trainer and Fall Prevention Worker training courses available

In Associations News, Daily News Briefs by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) will be facilitating one Train-the-Trainer Course and twelve Fall Prevention Worker Training Courses throughout the United States in 2017. NATE is pleased to offer these training courses free of charge to members and non-members, and anticipates that the sessions will achieve the Association’s objectives of having a nation-wide impact, helping small businesses establish …

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NATE elects three incumbents and new board member Randel Scott

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) today released the official results of the 2017 Board of Directors election, announcing that candidates Jim Tracy, CEO of Legacy Telecommunications, Inc. in Burley, Wash.; Jim Miller, President of EasTex Tower, LLC in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Ben Little, CEO of Centerline Solutions, LLC in Boulder, Colo. were re-elected and will retain their …

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NATE: Commercial vehicles are now exempt from hours of service/log book requirements

In Associations News, Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) gave an early industry-wide Christmas present to the nation’s contractors this morning with its announcement  that its discussions with federal transportation officials has resulted in an important clarification of existing regulations that will provide critical relief related to companies’ commercial vehicles operations. NATE recently worked with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier …

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NATE UNITE 2017 is offering a number of optional courses

In Associations News, Daily News Briefs by Wireless Estimator

The National Association of Tower erectors is suggesting that you maximize your time during the NATE UNITE 2017 event February 27- March 2 in Fort Worth, Texas by receiving additional training all in one location. Whether you are a seasoned professional or a first-time attendee, these courses offer additional training at a reasonable cost. At this year’s NATE event, the …

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What you need to know about the new tower safety consensus standards

In Daily News Briefs, Training News & Initiatives by Wireless Estimator

Subject matter experts Don Doty and Gordon Lyman conducted a live NATE webinar yesterday, entitled Game Changers! What You Need to Know About the New ANSI/ASSE A10.48 and TIA 322 National Tower Safety Consensus Standards. Through a coordinated and collaborative effort led by NATE, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE); along with other key …

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Trump’s election might have kayoed OSHA’s new tower industry regs

In Featured News by Wireless Estimator

The election of Donald Trump as the nation’s 45th president may provide ancillary benefits to contractors and stop – or at least delay – new OSHA regulations directed at the wireless construction industry that were expected to be proposed in 2017. According to John Newquist, a former OSHA assistant regional administrator from Chicago, it is likely that the new administration …