What should we do with this chunk of dead air? Ofcom wants to know VHF isn’t just for voice. Ofcom is seeking advice on how to get things connected in the spectrum space between 30MHz and 300MHz. The regulator argues that lots of spectrum is underused, or not used for the most productive things. In its consultation (PDF), Ofcom says: This document aims to encourage investment and innovation …
...has man managed to survive and develop without all this guff? The same way as he can continue to do.
At the frequencies and powers Ofcom is discussing, we are looking at long range, low bandwidth applications: using wirelessly connected sensors for “smart” farming, where fertiliser and water are automatically distributed across a farm to increase efficiency; <snip>
Brilliant; a means of determining the need for water and fertiliser that necessitate every bit of arable land to be permanently plumbed. Yes; some crops do need irrigation (leafy ones, ISTR) but farmers and growers tow the necessary machinery to site and tow it away again when they have finished.
Smart farming would see sensors sown into fields with grain to measure moisture at different depths below ground, or put into grain silos to monitor for temperature.
Similar comment applies. "Smart farming" will see farmers not spending a penny more than they have to on gimmicky toys. A smart farmer monitors his land and its crops / stock himself and reacts accordingly.
OTOH sensors that could detect and send out an alert when gates have been opened would almost certainly be of benefit to try to contain and hopefully stop the problem of sheep and cattle rustling, but doing that in a way that does not betray the system's presence to the determined snooper might not be easy; any such system would be frustrated by simply cutting the fence, so perhaps it isn't such a good idea after all.
Well, if you would step out of the manure you are standing in, you might realize that farmers consider it a fixed cost, but using the proper analytics changes it to a variable cost you can cut by 25%. See http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2014/jul/17/aquaspy-drought-farm-water-conservation-monsanto/ for just one example.
Many years ago I had a licence to use the the Business Radio part of Band One (55-60Mhz), even to the extent we had the only equipment that actually passed type appraisal (acquired from Simoco).
Compared with our existing Mid Band (155-164Mhz) the performance was not acceptable for end users. Our erp was only 25w, and the RA (as it was then) did not allow us to try 50w to see if the interference and dead spots could be reduced to acceptable levels.
I suppose that if had the time and money some of the problems could have been sorted. Use in 'normal' urban areas needed a far higher signal level for mobile use and the equipment sat on the shelf for some years unloved and unused.
'ALLO DELTA X-RAY 'ALLO DELTA X-RAY CQ THE DELTA X-RAY EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ 'ALLO DELTA X-RAY 'ALLO DELTA X-RAY CQ THE DELTA X-RAY EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO EASY ABLE THREE JAPAN ECHO CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ 'ALLO DELTA X-RAY 'ALLO DELTA X-RAY
Turn off DAB and use it for FM Radio.
76-90 is used in Japan
The OIRT band in Eastern Europe is from 65.8 to 74.0 MHz.
Some countries are considering extending FM below 87.5MHz.
Existing sets (unlike DAB) can be converted using a less than £5 adaptor.
Maybe add part of 175MHz to 220MHz too (where DAB lives)/.
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