[SBE] Female Engineer of the Year nomination deadline near

[ROBERT & CHRISTY]

Dane,  

I think it is more than that.  I currently work for a cellular provider [albeit in a the esoteric world of microwave path design]  and we often have problems of interference from Nextel IDEN stations with the A and B carrier CDMA cellular when they collocate.  Because they are newer than the legacy cellular carriers they more often are the late arrivers on site.  The fact is, they do not do proper engineering when they collocate.  If they did, they would have less cases of interference than they do with users duly licensed and already in service.  

The 800 MHz trunking and cellular frequency plans are well thought out.  Their insertion of the IDEN technology into the mix is not exactly what was originally planned.  I had hoped when they merged with Sprint PCS this would help, but I am not sure it will.

When a cell site goes on the air with such a hybrid, there is very little engineering behind it other than basic RF coverage.  I have really seen no IM studies when they come on board.  It is kind of hit or miss.  It is partly the fault of the legacy carriers, because they only demand physical information to insure the reserved verticalities are protected, rather than demanding solid engineering with regard to interference.

Part of that is the National Programmatic Agreement, which makes it easy and, in fact, demands that cellular providers cooperate to collocate and thus reduce the demand for more towers than necessary while still providing good service by all who choose to expand their coverage and capacity to insure that calls are not dropped or ineffective call attempts are experienced.  

What would work best is if they [Sprint-Nextel]  carried all their push to talk stuff , and maybe EVDO data on the Nextel platform, and carried just the standard BTS traffic on the primary [Sprint PCS and Alamosa] network.  Then maybe they could co-exist at the same sites, and it might work better.  In cellular, it's all about footprint and call completion.  

I do not speak here for my employer.  These experiences, opinions and observations are of a personal nature.  

Robert Van Buhler, CPBE


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  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dane Ericksen<mailto:dericksen at h-e.com> 
  To: sbe member discussion mail list<mailto:sbe at sbe.org> 
  Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 4:25 PM
  Subject: Re: [SBE] Female Engineer of the Year nomination deadline near


  February 6, 2007

  Glenn:

  I disagree with your characterization of why the Nextel (now Sprint  
  Nextel) 800 MHz Enhanced Specialized Mobile Radio (ESMR) system  
  caused interference.  It had little to do with changing from an  
  analog to a digital system; rather, it was the consequence of normal  
  cellular system growth, to low-power, low-elevation sites in metro  
  areas, while the public safety users of SMR frequencies kept their  
  high-power, high-elevation site architecture.  This eventually  
  resulted in the "ambulance crew at the diner next to the Nextel  
  tower," as you put it, being unable to receive their adjacent-channel  
  SMR signal.  That is, the proximity of the low-power but nearby  
  Sprint Nextel ESMR base station trumped the signal from the high- 
  power/high-elevation, but more distant, SMR site.  It's a "near-far"  
  incompatibility, not an analog-vs-digital incompatibility.

  Thus, even though the Sprint Nextel ESMR base stations were using FCC- 
  certified transmitters meeting the Commission's limits on out-of-band  
  emissions, interference was still sometimes caused to nearby public  
  safety SMR portable receivers, either due to an adjacent channel  
  desired-to-undesired signal ratio that was beyond the capability of  
  the receiver to reject, or due to brute force overload from the  
  adjacent-channel and very strong ESMR signal.  In some cases, both  
  interference modes may have been at work.

  In the WT Docket 02-55 rulemaking, where Sprint Nextel proposed de- 
  interleaving the 800 MHz SMR band in exchange for 10 MHz of spectrum  
  at 2 GHz (in two 5-MHz blocks, one at 1,910-1,915 MHz and the other  
  at 1,990-1,995 MHz), the R&O adopted mitigation measures that Sprint  
  Nextel was required to implement when interference existed to non- 
  cellular licensees in the 800 MHz band, even though the ESMR  
  transmitters were meeting the emission mask specified in the FCC  
  rules.  These protocols are now spelled out in Sections 90.672  
  through 90.675 of the FCC Rules.

  So I think that you do a disservice to Sprint Nextel in how you  
  characterize their operations.  And I think that Ms. Cindy Hutter  
  Cavell is a good candidate for the Outstanding Female Broadcast  
  Engineer of the Year award offered by the American Women in Radio &  
  Television (AWRT).

  Finally, I'll leave you with this thought:  Would you rather have to  
  deal with Globalstar instead of Sprint Nextel?

  Regards,



  Dane E. Ericksen, P.E., CSRTE, 8-VSB, CBNT
  Chairman, SBE FCC Liaison Committee
  Chairman, ATSC TSG S3 Specialist Group on Digital ENG
  SBE Board of Directors
  SBE Certification Committee
  Secretary, SBE Chapter 40, San Francisco
  c/o Hammett & Edison, Inc.
  San Francisco
  dericksen at h-e.com<mailto:dericksen at h-e.com>
  707/996-5200 voice
  707/996-5280 fax



  On Feb 5, 2007, at 4:57 PM, Glenn Little WB4UIV wrote:

  > Have we forgotten why Nextel is changing out our equipment????
  >
  > Nextel got their start by buying a group of Mom & Pop SMR systems.  
  > Part of
  > the verbal agreement with the system users was that nothing would  
  > change
  > but the name and where you mail your check to. The users agreed and  
  > Nextel
  > bought the SMR systems. Before the ink dried, the analog systems  
  > that they
  > bought were turned off and replaced by new Digital systems. Yes,  
  > the placed
  > the Digital systems amongst the existing Analog systems owned by  
  > others and
  > left their system users holding leased equipment that was of no use on
  > their system. This left a lot of SMR users very upset with Nextel.  
  > Next
  > thing you know, Nextel is interfering with everybody on the band.  
  > Motorola
  > made some changes to the digital algorithms and this cleaned up  
  > part of the
  > mess. Then public safety starting having communications problems. The
  > ambulance that the dispatched sent to your location for your multiple
  > gunshot wounds did not arrive. The ambulance crew was at the diner  
  > next to
  > the Nextel tower.
  >
  > Now if anyone on the form had caused this much of a problem with a
  > communications system that you owned, the FCC would very quickly  
  > step in
  > and revoke all licenses that you hold for RF emissions and ask for a
  > donation to the US government for your indiscretions.
  >
  > Having very deep pockets, Nextel was able to stay on the air and  
  > further to
  > recruit many government users. This showed how important they were  
  > to the
  > communications industry. If you remember they even got the term  
  > "Push to
  > Talk" copywrited, at least for a short period of time to try and  
  > stop other
  > wireless carriers from using this very familiar marketing term.
  >
  > Today the are having to relocate the Public Safety users that they are
  > interfering with. TO get the spectrum that they need to keep their  
  > system
  > viable, they are also having to relocate the 2GHz users.
  >
  > Anyone associated with a bunch of politically connected crooks as  
  > Nextel,
  > would never get my vote.
  >
  > These are my observations, based on what I saw while working with a  
  > company
  > that made SMR enhancements at the time of the start of Nextel.  
  > These are my
  > views and do not represent the views of any employer, past or present.
  >
  > Just my thoughts on Nextel.
  >
  > 73
  > Glenn
  > WB4UIV
  > Assistant Chief Engineer WCIV TV
  >
  > iewAt 09:26 AM 01/31/07, you wrote:
  >> Cyndi Hutter-Cavell who is working for Nextel on the 2 GHz project.
  >>



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