[BC] FAA RF rulemaking

[Mark Humphrey]

On 6/26/06, Larry Fuss <lfuss2 at cox.net> wrote:

> The FAA has been attempting to regulate this for years, all in the name
> of "public safety."  Electromagnetic interference to FAA facilities and/or
> airplanes is usually their complaint, usually based on a worst-case
> scenario.

I kinda see both sides of this issue, because I wouldn't feel too
comfortable landing in severe IFR conditions if I knew the ILS
indicators were going bonkers due to localizer interference.

However, the FAA intereference prediction model probably does need to
be updated to accurately reflect the intermod and desense performance
of modern receivers (and any non-compliant receivers need to be taken
out of service).

I found a copy of their software several years ago and ran studies on
some of our existing local FM stations.  It was surprising to see how
many "hits" were predicted (which are apparently grandfathered) yet
planes haven't been falling out of the sky here on a regular basis.

The problem, of course, is that the FAA can still shut stations down
immediately if an actual interference problem develops -- and if they
haven't been notified of facility changes, this may come as an
unwelcome surprise, such as the messy situation in Shreveport a couple
of years ago.

My advice to anyone considering an unbuilt "move-in" CP near the upper
end of the band: let the buyer beware!   Contact me off list if you
want more details.

Mark