Hear No RF Evil - See No RF Evil

On July 24th, while working on a reinforcement project to add additional capacity to a Howell, Michigan monopole, a contractor accidentally set the structure’s transmission lines on fire, causing the American Tower Corporation monopole to be completely destroyed.

The fire, which started at about 9 a.m., burned itself out by 10 a.m., but left a leaning unstable 177-foot telecommunications tower that served AT&T, Sprint, and carried the internet connections for five Howell schools.

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The Wireless Communications Association has been the focal point of wireless broadband communications for over 20 years. During that time, its conferences have played a majore role in brining business and technology players together. It sprincipal membership encompasses Sprint/Nextel , ClearWire, and other carrier and hardware broadband market leaders. LBA has been a member and active participant since the inception of WCA.

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The Wireless Communications Association Pioneers celebrated their 20th year this June at the WCA 2007 Exposition in Washington, D.C. Longtime wireless industry participant and LBA CEO Lawrence Behr was among those honored. The WCA is an international organization that focuses on broadband wireless including WiMAX, millimeter wave, FSO, gigabit and other emerging technologies. Behr is also a member of the WCA Engineering Committee and Co-Chair of its AM Subcommittee.

WCA Pioneers Celebrate 20th Convention
From left, former WCA President Robert L. Schmidt, Jack Rickel of Comex Worldwide, Philip Merrill of BeamSpeed, former NIA President Ted Steinke of the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, Thomas Farrell of Indiana Educational Broadcast Corp., WCA Counsel Paul Sinderbrand of Wilkinson Barker Knauer, Susan Gay of Baltimore Wireless Cable, Thomas Dougherty of Kilipatrick Stockton, Johanna DeStefano of Baltimore Wireless Cable, William Barnard of Baypoint TV, John Mansell of Mansell & Associates (seated), former WCA Counsel Nicholas Allard of Patton Boggs, Dawn Alexander of Alexander & Associates, WCA President Andrew Kreig, former WCA Treasurer Jim Clark of Motorola, Jennifer Richter of Patton Boggs, Lawrence Behr of Lawrence Behr Associates, Stephen Coran of Rini & Coran, and Richard Amons of Fixed Wireless.

TOMCO high-quality sophisticated broadband RF amps, distributed by LBA, are being adopted by institutes such as the Mayo Clinic and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to support advanced research experiments.

These RF amplifiers provide a cost-effective solution for commercial and scientific applications such as magnetic resonance (NMR, MRI, NQR), ultrasonics, communications, radars, and RF heating.

For many years the FCC has required licensees with antenna towers near AM stations to protect the radiation patterns of those stations. Currently, the FCC rules apply to any tower within 3.0 kilometers of directional AM arrays, and 1.0 kilometer of non-directional towers. Affected licensees need to take measures like AM field intensity measurements and detuning to ensure minimal interactions. This may significantly impact cellular and PCS carriers, public safety, and tower companies.

Now, in an effort to apply method of moments (NEC) mathematical modeling to AM patterns, it has proposed changes in the traditional way of managing AM protection. It has proposed a more administratively convenient approach that sets frequency dependant guidelines for both spacing and height of licensee towers. It has also expanded the reach of the rules to “structures” holding antennas – buildings or water tanks, for example. It further permits the impact of these antenna structures to be gauged by NEC modeling, rather than traditional measurements.

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Welcome to the rollout of the LBA Blogsphere! We have three all new blogs from the diversified world of LBA Group.

You can be up to date with new LBA products, happenings with LBA people and customers, and plugged in to latest insider industry news – even a few special notes on sports, food, wine and travel!

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