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Phil Kane · May 6th 08, 08:22 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.moderated

On Tue, 6 May 2008 14:03:17 EDT, wrote:

Remember that the radar system in question is probably being used in
roles it was not originally designed for. That's probably why the
problem didn't show up before.

I haven't chimed in because I had a foot on both camps, so to speak.
The problem is not new, and was handled on a case-by-case basis until
it became a "real big" problem when the system was upgraded. Most if
not all of the ham repeaters which fall in the "circle of interest"
for the Beale AFB site were in my District (San Francisco) and I
knew/know several of the repeater owners personally.

A practical example of the problem in the non-military world: One
would have problems using the usual consumer type in-line cable
amplified splitter with a VHF/UHF receiver such as a scanner because
the receiver deals in signals of the order of 0.5 uV or less while the
amplifier is designed to deal with signals in the order of 1 mV or
more and consequently the noise floor is much higher.

Whether the contractor(s) designing the system and/or running the
tests are competent or not is an exercise left for the reader.
--

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon

e-mail: k2asp [at] arrl [dot] net