the real problem, is that spectrum space (i.e. the frequencies/bandwidth chunks available) are fundamentally limited, and there is allot of competition. all the new services, like digital phones, private business radios, wireless networking, pcs, new police/fire systems, satellite tv systems, hdtv systems, military needs (which are often huge, partially to allow them to use ancient equipment they don't want to replace, like the tube type radios every nuclear launch center has for backup in case an emp fries the new sophisticated radios, i've seen them!) etc., etc. all want more and more space, but the size of the pie is limited. there are allot of powerful business interest competing and arguing with the fcc for space, doubtless there is much corruption, doubtless industry claims about needed space and usefulness and popularity of any given service consistently paint the new service as essential and superior to other uses, and doubtless many of the estimates are grossly wrong. for instance, few if any expected cell phones to become as popular as they are, and other uses have been less popular than expected. when tv started to become popular, the fcc expected allot more channels in urban areas, and allocated a huge amount of space for uhv transmission, they latter took the top of that off and gave it to cellular. ironically one of the best ways to monitor analog cell calls is with an old tv set that still tunes that high, tv sound and analog cellular are fm so it works rather well (before it was illegal, a friend of mine did this, people were obviously expecting more privacy than they had, people talked about doing their secretaries and such on a band that any old tv could pick up!).
there are also constant claims, that technologies like fm (an oldy but a goodie) and spread spectrum will reduce interference and allow overlap of service in the case of spread spectrum. in the case of fm, there are few natural sources of fm noise, and no man made sources other than other fm users (at least on the planet, in space is another matter). so fm reception was initially noise free, however, as the number of fm sources (users/transmitters) increased parts of the spectrum used for fm began to have just as much noise and static as am (i've tried to use an fm business band radio similiar to a cell phone, it worked, but there was the same kind of noise on it i used to get on cb radio (an AM system, there are man made sources of AM noise, like motors etc.). we now hear the same claims about spread spectrum use, and the arguments are convincing, assuming there aren't too many users and uses. rest assured in the future spread spectrum will have the same problems that fm has now, it just requires a high user density, which is more likely when more people use it. also, a signal doesn't have to be in the same band (frequency range) to cause problems, radio signals constantly interact with natural and man made structures, with the result that signals are shifted to other frequencies (at a lower power of course, but it adds up). as an example, one particularly bad case was traced to a copper clad roof, there was corrosion, which creates diodes, which makes signals mix and the same roof retransmits the resulting garbage mix. the main problem is with the fcc. they were all ready to adopt the wonderful japanies system, but competing interest screamed, and a long, long process of didling with the standard to save spectrum space began, doubtless lowering the quality, as well as delaying things. it also led to new development cost for both studio and home equipment, who were all ready to start making tv sets to the japanies standard, and doubtless already had prototypes developed. in the end, big business is screwing the consumer again. the fcc has even abducated it's responsibility largely, they are charged with protecting and regulating the air space for the benefit of all, but more and more they auction off spectrum space. they use the usual justification, that what a company is willing to pay is somehow related to it's value to the community. of course in reality, the interest of business and consumers are often opposed, and of course there is massive hype every where. to attract investors new companies often make ridicuolous claims, get thier money, and let the whole thing collapse latter. meanwhile, to convince investors of the validity they have to go ahead and do things like buy spectrum space or pressure the fcc to award it to thier service, even though it may never happen, meantime that space is unavailable to existing services that people already want. there's also the fcc reverse compatability thing, which is good in some ways. the problem is, with the original hdtv standard, to be compatible with old tv's stations would send 2 completely different signals, one for old tv sets, and another for hdtv (which obviously requires allot more space per channel since it's sending much, much more data). the current tv standards in the u.s. are truly ugly. i've worked with analog video, it was originally designed for tube type b/w tv sets, then color tube type sets. adding color made things somewhat ugly. they were already ugly so that early tube type b/w sets could reasonably be made. solid state sets had to be made to work with these signals, which were far from what you'd chose if you had started with solid state tv sets. it's a mess folks, and rest assured it will get worse, every body wants to make money off of "wireless", but there just isn't enough room for everyone. it's being slugged out every day, and makes large fortunes for many law firms. -- "Promise me, promise me this day, promise me now..." he asked. "Even as they strike you down, you will remember: humanity is not our enemy. The only thing worthy of you is compassion...Hatred will never let you face the beast in human beings. One day, when you face the beast alone, with your courage intact, your eyes kind...out of your smile will bloom a flower. and...on the long, rough road, the sun and the moon will continue to shine." Thich Nhat Hanh, Buddhist monk -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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