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Britain Could Switch Off Airport Radar and Release 5G Spectrum

Posted by samzenpus on 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."

2 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Already at 5G? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seriously... You've not heard of 5G? It's a whole G better than that dowdy old 4G. Better start saving up for it today!

  2. A lot of signals .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What do you see if you take a closer look into the VHF signals arround there?

    That's a 50Mhz TV transmiter carrier.

    http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8383/8473254438_2a2f9819d2_o.jpg

    A lot of aircraft reflections everywhere. ;)

    Sould be "easy" to implement a multistatic radar with gnuradio.

    73 de EA1FAQ