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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."
Maybe this will slow down the adoption of the Digital TV...
Ok, this is slightly OT, but speaking as someone who lives in Southern NJ, I would like to state for the record that no one around here speaks with that type of accent. We all pronounce Jersey with the letter R, thanks!
:)
Most people have a large misconception about New Jersey, especially thinking that it all looks like Newark, every woman has huge hair and long fingernails, and that none of us pronounce the letter "R". While this isn't entirely untrue (head up to Northern NJ to see what I mean), it does not describe the area of NJ being affected by the Boston signals. As I always say, they should split up Northern & Southern NJ, and combine the Dakotas.
Back on topic, I saw this story on the local news here tonight. It's a very big problem, as peoples lives can potentially be at stake. This is something we will be seeing a lot more of in the future; we already have frequency problems with 802.11, and now it seems that TV broadcasts will be continuing the trend.
Tropospheric ducting is your friend! Actually my first experience with tropospheric ducting was on a sunday night around 10pm, and I was able to reach a radio station in Ironwood MI (about 250miles from where I am,) with fairly decent quality. What was playing in Ironwood? Well... simple, Hearts of Space. IMHO one of the best radio shows around.
.noitacidem deen uoy siht daer nac uoy fI
I used to do a lot of flying and can attest that high-frequency navigation signals travels maybe 70 miles line-of-sight at 2000 feet -- the height of some broadcast antennas -- and farther at higher altitudes. But reflections were weak or nonexistent.
Communication frequencies, and this is aviation only, numbered some 720 (it's been a few years). Police communications are probably just as narrow and could be slotted any number of places, and being low-altitude would not cause much town-to-town interference. But instead they plant it in a frequency spread reserved for TV? (TV channel bandwidth is astonishing, dominating most of the available spectrum to deliver Gilligan's Island reruns and professional wrestling.)
I know some people are excited by the advent of digital programming -- no, wait, actually I don't know any, though most agree it looks neat -- but the way the equipment manufacturers and FCC colluded to ram digital down the throats of consumers and broadcasters stinks. I for one will hang onto my analog set until the picture is no more than a faint flicker.
Ok, I'm the submitter. I see a few posts denouncing the "Joisey" reference. I'm from NJ. It takes a sense of humor to live in NJ. I know that SJ is vastly different from the smokestacks of Newark.
Am I the only person who lives in NJ with a sense of humor?
(oh, and for the record, I live between exits 3 and 4)
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Growing up in the southern california desert, on the fringe of the los angeles broadcaster's coverage area, we would regularly get nasty interference on the lower vhf channels 2-9. one evening it was particularly strong: the picture was completely obliterated and replaced by video from the interfering station. Being able to see the video, we discovered the signal originated from philadelphia!
Alright now I have to speak up. I live in north jersey and no one here speaks without the "r", in fact ive never even heard that. What we do do though is turn some "a"s into "o"s. Ex: its not tomato its tamato. Looks weird on print but it sounds right to me.
About the newark thing, some of jersey does look pretty damn shitty, but if you go west, belive it or not, there are farms, with real cows. I live in a pretty rich area and I think its beatiful here. Belive it or not, I love NJ!
What signature defines me as a person?
VHF / UHF Tropospheric Ducting Forecast Maps
These maps graphically display unstable signal areas.
Quote from the website:
The areas noted in the forecast have the necessary atmospheric conditions to produce tropospheric bending of UHF or VHF TV and radio waves. Tropospheric bending extends the range of stations well beyond their normal limit. Distant reception along straight line paths becomes possible..though the longer the path, the higher the Index required. The pursuit of distant stations is called "DXing".
Digital television won't affect small towns very badly. Many small towns are still on the 460 mHz band, rather than the higher bands that Digital TV will use. Remember, the FCC is clearing out the lower broadcast bands and moving everything up into the UHF and Microwave bands, where police don't do a whole lot of talking.
Trying is the First Step to Failing --Homer Simpson
This is actually an issue the other way as well.
As the FCC forces digital broadcast and begins to sell off the UHF and VHF ranges for communications equipment....what will happen if a TV station is still broadcasting.
For instance, in San Diego the local Fox affiliate actually has their broadcast tower in Mexico (they can get a permit for a stronger signal there). If a nationwide carrier developes communications equipment uses that part of the spectrum...their equipment won't work in San Diego.
How will the FCC control 'foreign' signals?
I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
The duct covered roughly 1600km LOS on a few watts. I don't know if that's a record, but it certainly impressed me.
Got time? Spend some of it coding or testing
Years ago (almost 40!), I was a transmitter engineer at KANU-FM (110KW, Lawrence, KS - University of Kansas). One night we got a call from a station in Florida that was on the same frequency. They had shut down their transmitter for maintenance, and our signal immediately started coming in on their studio monitor.
I also used to monitor the local police, who in those days were operating on VHF Low Band (30-50 MHz). That same ducting caused some southern, very rural and very hick-like (this was the 60s) sheriff systems to come come in on the same frequencies. Things got really wierd - especially since neither side knew what was going on.
Tropospheric ducting is kewl.
The only good weather is bad weather.