The term base station can be used in the context of land surveying, wireless computer networking, and wireless communications.

Land surveying

In the context of external land surveying, a base station is a GPS receiver at an accurately-known fixed location which is used to derive correction information for nearby portable GPS receivers. This correction data allows propagation and other effects to be corrected out of the position data obtained by the mobile stations, which gives greatly increased location precision and accuracy over the results obtained by uncorrected GPS receivers.

Computer networking

In the area of wireless computer networking, a base station is a radio receiver/transmitter that serves as the hub of the local wireless network, and may also be the gateway between a wired network and the wireless network. It typically consists of a low-power transmitter and wireless router.

See also

• Access point base station
• IEEE 802.11
• Signal strength

Wireless communications

In radio communications, a base station is a wireless communications station installed at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of either:

• a push-to-talk two-way radio system, or;
• a wireless telephone system such as cellular CDMA or GSM.

Base station images

Image:GaffneySC-CellTower.jpg|A cell tower near Thicketty in Gaffney, S.C.. Image:BaseStationsBlorg.jpg|Two GSM mobile phone base station towers disguised as trees in Dublin, Ireland. Image:PalmCellTower.jpg|A base station disguised as a palm tree in Tucson, Arizona. Image:base_station_mexico-city.JPG|Close-up of a base station antenna in Mexico City, Mexico. There are three antennas: each serves a 120-degree segment of the horizon. The microwave dish links the site with the telephone network. Image:CB Base Station.jpg|A typical consumer-grade CB base station. Image:iden.JPG|A professional rack-mount iDEN Base Radio at a Cell Site. Image:Trunked 5ch central control.svg|Trunked systems have groups of base stations configured as repeaters. The center blocks with frequencies in this trunked block diagram each represent a base station. Image:136 to 174 MHz US base station antennas.jpg|136-174 MHz US professional base station antenna examples.

Professional

In professional two-way radio systems, a base station is used to maintain contact with a dispatch fleet of hand-held or mobile radios, and/or to activate one-way paging receivers. The base station is one end of a communications link. The other end is a movable vehicle-mounted radio or walkie-talkie. Examples of base station uses in two-way radio include the dispatch of tow trucks and taxicabs.

In dispatching centers it is common for eight or more radio base stations to be connected to a single dispatching console. Dispatching personnel can tell which channel a message is being received on by a combination of local protocol, unit identifiers, volume settings, and busy indicator lights. A typical console has two speakers identified as select and unselect. Audio from a primary selected channel is routed to the select speaker and to a headset. Each channel has a busy light which flashes when someone talks on the associated channel.