Britain Could Switch Off Airport Radar and Release 5G Spectrum

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 13, 2013 @07:58PM from the open-up dept.

judgecorp writes "Britain is considering switching off air traffic control radar systems and using "passive radar" instead. A two year feasibility study will consider using a network of ground stations which monitor broadcast TV signals and measure echoes from aircraft to determine their location and velocity. The system is not a new idea — early radar experiments used BBC shortwave transmitters as a signal source before antenna technology produced a transceiver suitable for radar — but could now be better than conventional radar thanks to new antenna designs and signal processing techniques. It will also save money and energy by eliminating transmitters — and release spectrum for 5G services."

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UK and TV rader? LOL by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-13 20:30 · Score: 0, Troll

Yeah given the fact the UK has had only 4 TV channels for decades, took another decade to add a 5th channel, and reception is piss poor unless you live under an antenna.
And UK is one of the bussiest airspaces in the world.
I do not like this one bit.