[geeks] Free the airwaves

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at verizon.net>
" 
" Google has an interesting ad campaign running - Free the Airwaves[0],
" aimed at turning unused TV channels into broadband access for
" everyone.
" 
" I find it interesting that they say:
" 
" "Remember that fuzzy static between channels on the old TVs? Today
" more than three-quarters of those radio airwaves, or "white space"
" spectrum, are completely unused."
" 
" Technically, I think they mean the unused channels, not between the
" channels (TV channels are in several contiuous bands, IIRC, with Gov't
" and other services using the airwaves between those bands.[1]

i think they're saying 'channels' when they mean 'stations'.  i don't
know if it's on purpose.

" What are the chances that most that sign up have any idea what they
" are talking about, aside from magical "wireless broadband"?

offhand i'd say only 2 chances
* slim
* none

" Thoughts?

first reaction: they're taking their campaign public like this because
they can't make it run on technical arguments.  those channels aren't
as unused as google wants us to think; the fcc manages a difficult
four-color-map problem preventing co-channel interference.

for example, in boston only 2, 4, 5, and 7 are used of the vhf
channels.  are the rest 'wasted'?  from my location ~30mi n, i've
picked up all the channels from 2 to 13, from hartford ct to portland
me with just rabbit ears and an amp in my attic, and the providence ri
stations are clear enough to be quite watchable.  i'm almost 100mi
from them.  i'm not on high ground either, in a valley 2 blocks from a
river that runs e/w.

i'll admit i'm not so lucky on uhf; i can get the boston stations but
struggle with 44.  even with way higher power they don't propagate as
well as uhf.

ps. i'm pissed about the digital transition.  this has always struck
me as a solution looking for a problem, and that the govt had to
mandate a cutover because market forces didn't push it rather
reinforces my belief.  i'm in a uhf fringe area here, and in a test of
a zenith dtt901 cecb i was able to get exactly -one- digital station
with my present antenna setup vs. the dozen-odd analog ones i can get.
vhf transmitters will go digital after the transition, though with
lower power, but vhf-low is being abandoned and the channel i watch
most is 2.

" [0] http://freetheairwaves.com/
" [1] http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/catv-ch.html
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought