Patent ID: 7085592

Claim:
A method of evaluating a tentative location for a fixed subscriber communication site of a wireless communication system using a wireless testing system, said wireless testing system comprising a testing antenna for communicating wireless communication signals with a transmit antenna and a receive antenna at a base station, an adjustable mount associated with said testing antenna for orienting said testing antenna in a plurality of pan orientations and a plurality of tilt orientations, an adjustable boom attached to said adjustable mount for positioning said testing antenna at a plurality of heights, a signal measuring device associated with said testing antenna and a signal attenuator associated with said testing antenna, said method comprising: at said tentative location a) positioning said testing antenna such that an angle α defined by said testing antenna as a vertex between said transmit and receive antennae is 1.5 degrees or less; b) adjusting tilt, pan, and height of said testing antenna to exchange wireless communication signals with said transmit and receive antennae; c) measuring a characteristic of said wireless communication signals received by said testing antenna by integrating a power signal of said wireless communication signals across a frequency band associated with said wireless communication signals; d) attenuating said wireless communication signals until said testing antenna no longer receives said wireless communication signals from said transmit antenna; e) calculating ambient atmospheric and meteorological conditions corresponding to said amount of attenuation based on a distance between said testing antenna and said base station; and f) comparing said calculations of said ambient atmospheric and meteorological conditions to a predetermined threshold level required to maintain a level of service required for communications with said base station when said ambient atmospheric and meteorological conditions exist, wherein, if said level of attenuation exceeds said threshold level, said tentative location for said fixed subscriber communication site is acceptable.