The arrival of spring (?) has seen the days lengthen and the frost isn’t quite as hard. It’s also enabled me to get out to some of the locations where demand for in-band spectrum is highest and conduct survey measurements. Wireless microphones and IEMs, as Services Ancillary to Broadcasting, have to co-exist with high and low power television transmissions and exploit the ‘white-spaces’ between them. A quick check on JFMG’s on-line ‘UHF Mic/IEM/Intercom Location Planner’ will show the availability of this white-space at the click of a mouse. However, key locations often have demand that exceeds this availability. Thus I’ve been getting out and making measurements to supplement our computer modelling. The results are then fed back into our systems to improve online availability. Already, key locations in major cities, sporting venues and festival locations have been visited and users will already see spectrum being freed-up. The work is ongoing, so further improvements should be seen throughout the year.
