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Boston TV Signals Disrupting Police Radio in NJ

jeffy124 writes "WCVB, a digital TV station in Boston, is disrupting police radio communications in South Jersey. It seems that under certain weather conditions, the signal reaches here travels 270 miles (it's normally 50) and blacks out the police frequencies, making communication between officers and from 911 call centers impossible. The article seems to suggest that as more TV stations go digital, more small-town police radio will be affected, as the digital signal is significantly stronger than analog. Insert Joisey-joke here."

6 of 339 comments (clear)

  1. Same frequencies? by Spazmania · · Score: 2, Insightful

    How is it that the FCC registered digital TV frequencies overlap the FCC registered police emergency frequencies at all, miles apart or no?

    Are we talking too much power on the TV's sideband, bleeding into the police frequency?

    Are we talking a grandfathered police operation when the frequencies were reallocated to digital TV where the cops have had years now to realize that they were playing with fire and replace their communications system?

    Surely the FCC didn't intentionally allocate a police frequency smack in the middle of the exact same bands they set aside for digitial TV. So what's the real story?

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    1. Re:Same frequencies? by damiangerous · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The "real story" would be the article. Which contains the answers to every single one of your questions.

  2. Random related question by Have+Blue · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I heard this once but never confirmed it: Is it true that Air Force One's broadcast system uses the same frequency as, and occasionally interferes with, garage door openers?

  3. Re:Did someone say 'Joisey joke'? by Loki_1929 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Score 5 Funny?

    I'm guessing the moderators who modded that up have never actually been to New Jersey. Now, for one thing, the Meadowlands (up north close to NYC) is the only place that's even remotely smelly or of poor conditions in NJ that I've seen so far. Much of southern NJ was made up of small farming communities until recently when actual townships started forming. Most of NJ is now just that; small townships with hardly anything in between but trees, connected only by small (two lane) roads. I just moved to NJ a few years ago, and I'm not offended by comments - just the ignorance that their content shows. If you want to make a joke, call the people here simple, or make a comment about how almost everything is closed after 6pm, or how there's so much farmland. There's no accents in New Jersey; you're thinking of certain sections of NYC. These are (for the most part) normal, simple people who are MUCH friendlier and happier than the people from the DC-metro area. No one here says "joisey", we say "jersey". I must admit, however, that I was a bit surprised when I moved here from Maryland and couldn't find someone with any accent for a while.

    Oh, and by the way, our gas is cheaper than most places in the country, and it's full service everywhere (state law). When my relatives in MD were paying $1.90 for gas, we were paying $1.25. NJ isn't such a bad place when you actually take a turn off the NJ Turnpike.

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    -- "Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
  4. Re:Not the only occurence by dcollins · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I do hope you're talking about an "antenna", because I've got no idea what an "atena" might be.

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    We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
  5. Re:Digital TV by gadget_ts · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is being shoved down our collective throats! I have nothing against technology but there is something definitely amiss with this issue. HDTV and Digital Radio is not worth the price that we will have to pay and I am not just talking about money. Why is this such a priority for the FCC? There has to be money involved.... lots of money and we are the pawns. KEEP IN MIND... that this will edge out low-cost independent broadcasting because of the way the FCC has chosen to implement it. I am as tech hungry as the anyone but a B&W, 5" screen, analog TV for much of my watching needs is just fine. When HDTV if fully implemented I will no longer be able to use it. Digital braodcasting hands over control to the handful of huge media companies. They can control copying (recording), etc..... We have been sucked into DVD's. Which are nice but it controls copying of the media. We were sold on the digtial picture and sound but in reality it has giving the media companies control over copying. Something is wrong here folks. We should all step back and look very carefully at what we are giving up for a pretty picture. Is it worth it?