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Author Topic: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.  (Read 10583 times)

Andrew Outlaw

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #10 on: May 06, 2016, 08:43:51 AM »

After the FCC Spectrum Repack this is what UHF frequency bands will still work.

Note that no BTR or HME850 can be used anymore.

I have a question regarding this. It is my understanding that if the auction does go down to 566, anything that is capable of operating above that would not be legal to use. My understanding of that also is that for, say, the Shure H4 even though the majority of it's band is below 566, the fact that it is capable of operating above 566 would also make that illegal to operate after 39 months as well, is that correct? If so, is that something that could be solved by a firmware update that won't let it tune above 566, or is the only acceptable solution to the FCC that the radio itself cannot operate above 566?
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Keith Broughton

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #11 on: May 06, 2016, 09:33:56 AM »

I have a question regarding this. It is my understanding that if the auction does go down to 566, anything that is capable of operating above that would not be legal to use. My understanding of that also is that for, say, the Shure H4 even though the majority of it's band is below 566, the fact that it is capable of operating above 566 would also make that illegal to operate after 39 months as well, is that correct? If so, is that something that could be solved by a firmware update that won't let it tune above 566, or is the only acceptable solution to the FCC that the radio itself cannot operate above 566?
I would "hope" that if you have the equipment, you can use it in the range that is legal but new equipment for sale would be band limited.
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Henry Cohen

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #12 on: May 06, 2016, 03:35:26 PM »

I have a question regarding this. It is my understanding that if the auction does go down to 566, anything that is capable of operating above that would not be legal to use. My understanding of that also is that for, say, the Shure H4 even though the majority of it's band is below 566, the fact that it is capable of operating above 566 would also make that illegal to operate after 39 months as well, is that correct?
That is correct. At the end of the 39 month period equipment that can tune above the new band edge of auctioned spectrum will no longer be type certified, unless it can tune only to the duplex gap and guard bands based on its locations.

Quote
If so, is that something that could be solved by a firmware update that won't let it tune above 566, or is the only acceptable solution to the FCC that the radio itself cannot operate above 566?
Whether or not existing equipment can be re-tuned or upgraded with a firmware update is completely dependent upon the design and build of the individual model of equipment. More than likely manufacturers will let dealers and customers know which models and bandpsplits of equipment can be made compliant and which can't.
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Henry Cohen

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Henry Cohen

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #13 on: May 06, 2016, 03:38:12 PM »

I would "hope" that if you have the equipment, you can use it in the range that is legal but new equipment for sale would be band limited.
As long as the equipment can tune outside the newly limited TV bands, the device is no longer type accepted (it loses its FCC certification and the ID number becomes invalid) even though you would operate it only in the correct band(s).
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Henry Cohen

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Henry Cohen

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #14 on: May 06, 2016, 03:41:23 PM »

Re loss of BTR use: Note of clarification from Telex Thanks to an inquiry from [email protected]

From: Bowers Britt (ST/SAS-ID-NA) [mailto:[email protected]]

In most areas of the country some portions of the 600 mhz band will be auctioned off & then there will be a repack.  Most likely to be effected are the top 30 broadcast markets but again only portions to be auctioned off
 
At the best the following bands should be available.  F1, F2, F3, H1, H2, H3, A1, A2, A3, B2, B3, and C3.
Fixed that for him.
 
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The frequency allocation / repack will not take effect until 39 months after the auction is complete and the completion date is unknown.  In the meantime, RTS created the Peace of Mind Program to cover any potential issues.
Is he going to be for a surprise.
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Henry Cohen

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Henry Cohen

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #15 on: May 06, 2016, 03:42:52 PM »

So as far as the guard bands are those changing too? What will they be?
That will be determined on a market by market basis after the auction and new channel plan is determined.
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Henry Cohen

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brian maddox

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #16 on: May 06, 2016, 03:51:14 PM »

As long as the equipment can tune outside the newly limited TV bands, the device is no longer type accepted (it loses its FCC certification and the ID number becomes invalid) even though you would operate it only in the correct band(s).

From a practical standpoint, does that make it illegal for me to use provided i only use it in allowable frequencies?  I dealt with this before during the 700MHz sale where i continued to use Shure UB systems, but only below 698 MHz.  I know that Shure wasn't allowed to service them for US use, which made sense to me.  But i was under the impression that they were still legal for me to use so long as i only used them below 698.

[FWIW, this is a totally hypothetical question for me now as i am no longer in a situation where i would need to deal with this.  I'm just curious about the relationship between FCC certification and legality of device use.]
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Ike Zimbel

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #17 on: May 06, 2016, 04:13:03 PM »


Whether or not existing equipment can be re-tuned or upgraded with a firmware update is completely dependent upon the design and build of the individual model of equipment. More than likely manufacturers will let dealers and customers know which models and bandpsplits of equipment can be made compliant and which can't.
There is some precedence for this: The Shure H4 band has always been programmed to skip over TV 37, so I suspect that, for example J4 and L3 could be re-programmed to only operate in the bands that are deemed to be legal after the "Repacalypse".
iz
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Scott Helmke

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #18 on: May 06, 2016, 04:47:48 PM »

There is some precedence for this: The Shure H4 band has always been programmed to skip over TV 37, so I suspect that, for example J4 and L3 could be re-programmed to only operate in the bands that are deemed to be legal after the "Repacalypse".

That would be the J5 band.

In UHF-R the transmitters skip right over TV channel 37.  However, they're pretty much stuck that way since it isn't possible to do field firmware updates on the transmitters. ULX-D at least has a transmitter firmware update process so those could be reprogrammed.  Hard to say if Shure would find it cost-effective (or perhaps even possible) to track all the various allowed and outlawed frequency ranges and provide appropriate firmware.  Especially if the guard bands are different in different markets.
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Lyle Williams

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Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #19 on: May 06, 2016, 05:50:53 PM »

FCC certification will cover power levels, purity of emissions (ie, not causing interference to other spectrum users) and the appropriateness of the product for the target market.

The FCC wouldn't like a backyard-hack-job refrequency of wireless as this would likely produce spurious emissions above the permitted levels.

As for a permitted device that is tunable in legal and now-illegal frequencies?  This wouldn't gain approval for a new product, but I'd expect an existing device to continue to be legal to use in legally permitted spectrum.  There would just be no in built protection against breaking the law. 

You should consider what controls exist in your business to prevent illegal use. Adding a sticker indicating "do not tune above XXX MHz" might be sufficient if always operated by trained staff.

Please note that I am on the other side of the world to most of you, but spectrum regulators in western countries operate in broadly similar ways.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: What wireless bands will be usable after the Sale of spectrum.
« Reply #19 on: May 06, 2016, 05:50:53 PM »


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