RF Shorts: Other Items of Interest - Feb. 4, 2010

by Doug Lung, 02.05.2010

• • Canadian publication Telemanagement takes a look at what Bell Canada has done to support the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in an article by Tim Wilson, Let the games begin.
  
  I found this part of the article interesting: "Perhaps the biggest test for Bell will be mobile video, which has been supported by an aggressive but well thought-out build of wireless capacity." The article also includes this statement from Info-Tech Research Group senior research analyst Mark Tauschek: "For video streaming on handsets, having an HSPA+ network helps. I think that Bell has the site capacity, but I'm not sure about the back haul." Tauschek talked about a "rather un-nerving experience" at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where ATT's 3G GSM network was "mediocre at best. When you put 100,000 geeks with iPhones in one place the network becomes unusable for everybody. It was brought to its knees. Hopefully Bell will be prepared for that."
  
  
  
  
  
  He thought they would be, and would probably put up temporary towers if necessary.
• • Copper theft has become a problem at communications sites for some time now. I haven't seen as many reports of thefts since the price of copper dropped, but San Antonio, Texas station television KENS reported a recent incident: a copper thief was shocked to death by 69,000 volts last week. Local authorities are looking for his accomplice, who left scene of the mishap.
• • Wired.com's This Day in Tech – Events that Shaped the Wired World – Feb. 1, 1951: TV Shows Atomic Blast, Live describes how KTLA put together the first live broadcast of the detonation of an atomic bomb blast. The station put cameramen on top of a Las Vegas hotel and set up a 200 mile microwave link to Mount Wilson in California.

Other items worth noting:

• • Light may replace RF for short range wireless links - Scientist claim wireless networking breakthrough – Business to see the light with improved speeds.
• • The FCC Media Bureau is seeking comment [PDF]seeking comment on a petition for declaratory ruling that a Nashville condominium association's rules on outdoor antennas are preempted by the FCC's over-the-air reception devices rule. Comments are also requested concerning Motorola's request [PDF] for a waiver of the FCC's IEEE-1394 output requirement for cable set-top boxes.