Creating Sites
You can create
Sites
in Overture directly from the map window, by adding to the sites collection directly,
by importing a site database from an external source, or by using Overture's automated
site creation function.
Creating Sites Manually
If you are adding sites one-by-one, the simplest method is to right-click on the
map where you want to place the site. This brings up the following context menu:
The menu option adds a new site
to your project at the location of the mouse cursor. The menu expands to let you
choose which
Site Template
to apply when creating the site; the site template specifies the number of
Sectors,
Radios
and
Connections
to add to the site and their default parameters. The properties of the newly created
site will be shown in the
Properties Window.
More information on the map window can be found
here.
You may also wish to investigate Overture's
Network Model.
You can also create new sites from the site collection editor. You can access this
from the menu option.
This will display the site collection editor:
Clicking the Add button will add a new site
to your project. Note that if you add a site this way, no
Site Template
will be applied and you will also need to add and configure the desired number of
Sectors,
Radios
and
Connections.
Importing Sites From An External Source
You can use a Site Importer to bring sites in from an external data source. See
here
for more information on importing sites held in an Excel spreadsheet. In the US,
you can also use the
Data Manager
to import sites from all major US-based tower providers.
Creating Sites Automatically
You can use the Site Creator tool to automatically add sites to your network. You
can access this tool from the menu option:
This tool add sites to your project in a hexagon grid pattern. The tool has the
following properties:
- Prefix. This prefix will be used when generating
new site names. It defaults to the prefix "FreeSite"; with this the new sites will
be named "FreeSite 1", "FreeSite 2" and so forth.
- Seek High Ground. If set to true, then new
sites will be moved to the highest point within half the
Separation parameter. The Ground Height
parameter is used to supply terrain heights.
- Ground Height. When the
Seek High Ground parameter is set, this specifies the terrain height provider
to use.
- Separation. This specifies the spacing between
sites; it also controls the search radius that is used when the Seek High Ground
parameter is set.
- Site Template. This is the
Site Template
that will be used to create each new site.
You can activate the Site Creator by clicking the Create
Sites button. This will add the sites to your project.
Deleting Sites
You can delete sites by clicking the Remove
button from the site collection editor (see above), or from the site table. See
here
for more information about site tables.
To delete sites from the site table, select the sites you wish to remove and then
press the Delete key. You will then be asked if you want to continue:
When you delete a site, all radios, sectors, connections and constraints attached
to the site are also deleted.