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 The FCC requires that all 2600 MHz band BRS and EBS broadband licensees who would must demonstrate that they provide “substantial service” to actual customers no later than May 1, 2011. Failure to meet this requirement will result in forfeiture of the license and the licensee will be ineligible to regain it. Various “safe harbors” [...]  There is a new “next great thing” concept now moving through the land, undergoing promotion in the popular press and probably destined to be a future concern (and cost burden) to the citizens of the United States. That term is “Smart Grid.” And it’s a term that would be much easier to deal with if, [...]  Some wildlife conservationists and communications industry members have reached an understanding about how to start giving migrating birds safer flights when they take wing in the vicinity of wireless and broadcast towers. In a memorandum submitted this month (May) to the Federal Communications Commission, the ad hoc group recommended the FCC develop interim standards on [...]  Engineering consultant Richard Arsenault says the biggest problem for AM reception during the daytime “is no longer interference between stations”, as it was when the AM service was established decades ago. The former station owner and consulting engineer says the threat is now “interference from electronic devices and power lines”, and it’s steadily getting worse. [...]  It is our experience that RF safety accountability and hazard avoidance is well established in the wireless communications sector. However, hazardous industrial RF is widely encountered in a wide variety of industry settings through all manner of process equipment and non-radio systems. Many of these systems are benign just out of the manufacturer’s shops, but [...] It has become increasingly popular to install bi-directional amplifiers (BDA’s) and distributed antenna systems (DAS’s) to overcome problems of cellular and other wireless coverage within buildings. Properly engineered, and coordinated with the cell cos being retransmitted these can greatly help in overcoming building problems. However, these systems are readily available, and are increasingly being installed [...] Who would have thought that oil wells could interfere with cell towers? Yet, in the bizarre world of RF interference – it happened! The FCC Los Angeles Office received a complaint of interference to the reception of Sprint cell towers in Long Beach, [...]  We’re not used to freebies from the FCC, but they just offered up a broadband Speedchecker to see how your carrier is performing. Get it here. Nothing’s really free from the FCC, of course. The Speedchecker is a Trojan horse. Before you can run it, you have to give up personal address information, presumably to [...]  The Spectrum Dashboard pulls from the FCC’s license databases and lets anyone browse the allocations table for licensed spectrum. Users can search FCC license records using a map interface, or search the records by common name – Verizon, for example – which greatly simplifies pulling together data by carrier. Determining who has radio frequency licenses in a given metropolitan area suddenly is [...]  In response to the last blog posting, a San Diego Amateur radio operator kindly forwarded to the Curmudgeon the enclosed photograph and some of his observations of the monster residential ham antenna that set off the furor with the city government. The enclosed photo shows the situation on the ground there. For identification, this antenna [...] The Curmudgeon has received word about and has done a little investigating on an evolving issue. It’s the sort of thing that has to make you scratch your head and wonder just exactly where we have taken ourselves. It’s the kind of matter that causes you to feel a bit queasy inside. We’re back for [...]  The Coast Guard says LORAN-C isn’t necessary for maritime navigation and the Department of Homeland Security says it’s not needed as a backup for GPS, so will shut down most of its system 0n 8 February 2010. That leaves pilots and other users very concerned about the lack of a land-based redundancy for GPS. Loran [...] There’s so much heat on in the spectrum and broadband areas today, LBA asked the Curmudgeon to expand a bit on his last posting’s spectrum musings. In the last blog post we identified the looming potential problem of total consumption of the radio frequency spectrum. If we want to head this off, we need to [...] LBA asks the Old RF Curmudgeon to put on his magic glasses and look through the swirling mists of spectrum policy. In this several part (he’s still looking) series the Curmudgeon will share with us the fantastic visions of spectrum usage and policy that he tunes in. Look with him carefully, as the spectrum path [...]  Given the amazing success of this year’s World Moon Bounce Day, we are about to announce the date for the 2010 event and wish to not step on any toes regarding other events scheduling. We are looking to precede the Apollo 13 mission and thus a date in late March or early April. We have [...] LBA asks the Old RF Curmudgeon “Now that the remaining analog TV nightlight stations have gone dark and the DTV transition fireworks are pretty much over, what is the success, or lack thereof, of the enterprise. This event is important because it was a major field test of whether the general population can be successfully moved [...] LBA asks the Old RF Curmudgeon how “being wired-in continuously” on hand held RF devices is affecting the (still) finite RF spectrum. The Curmudgeon believes that, without necessary and sufficient prior consideration, the US is starting down a technological path which may well prove to be unfortunate, festooned with many unforeseen consequences. One wishes that [...]  If you haven’t discovered Linked In yet, click on over to it and sign up! You’ll find serious members from radio, TV, CATV, satellite and a host of connected industries. You are almost certain to find some of your colleagues already there and ready to network with you. This is way better than Facebook and [...]  LBA sponsors these groups to assist our user communities in exchanging information, tips, and opinions. Please visit www.linkedin.com, join up and check in – it’s [...] LBA asks: What do you think of the future of AM broadcasting as you see it today? This one is emotional, of course. After all, AM radio is one of the very oldest uses of the radio spectrum (beginning ~1919), as evidenced in part by the Medium Frequency band on which it began and still [...]  Ham radio commemorative QSO party, learn more [...]  The MSK-200 TV Signal Analyzer combines the best of everything in measurement capabilities. With the demands of the broadcast industry and new beginnings and unknowns with the DTV conversion, the MSK-200 is equipped to handle challenges today and tomorrow. The MSK-200 comes out of the box with the ability to demodulate all DVB signals whether [...]  In a breakthrough action, the Federal Communications Commission today authorized digital television stations to use DTS technology. Read more [...] LBA asks: So many of those in our industry are amateur radio operators, including staff at LBA, that we asked the Old RF Curmudgeon to come out of his den and give us a read on the health of ham radio today. The Amateur Radio Service has an almost unduplicated position for a recreational activity/leisure [...] LBA asks: There has been a lot of activity recently among FM broadcasters, what with adding IBOC digital, more transmitting power and station upgrades for better coverage. Knowing your “RF sensitivity”, where is all this going for our spectrum? One day not too long ago I happened to have my spectrum analyzer connected to the outside [...] *** If you are new to The Old Curmudgeon series, read the previous blog for a brief introduction.*** LBA asks – “Well, RF Curmudgeon, what do you say to this RF interference and spectrum pollution from the nifty LED devices popping up everywhere? Why I can’t drive through an intersection without LED traffic lights blanking [...] The Old RF Curmudgeon has been poking his beak into the RF world for very close to fifty years. With both commercial and amateur radio experience, close contacts in broadcast engineering, radio site management experience, lots of paper pushed into the FCC, an immense curiosity about “how things work,” and a “real gud college education,” [...] |
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