Article by Pat Schrawder
PREPARING FOR THE OFF SEASON - WHAT TO WATCH FOR OVER THE WINTER
As many of you are going to be putting your boats in storage over the winter, there are a few procedures you should follow with respect to your electronics to keep them in good shape for next year. I have provided a checklist below:
1. Remove all items that are not flush mounted and store in a dry location. This is important even if your boat is shrink-wrapped as the temperature variations will cause moisture to develop and be trapped.
2. Spray plugs and fittings that are left on board. Mark them so you know what electronics they belong to.
3. Remove batteries, if possible, and store on a non-conductive surface. Cardboard or wood is best.
4. If you haven’t already done so, make a list of all items with their serial numbers in case of theft.
5. Place a bath towel or similar material over the face of anything that has to be left on board. It will help absorb any moisture and keep direct sunlight off the equipment.
Now I’m going to switch subjects as there is an issue brewing that I want to make you aware of.
The FCC is in the process of licensing a firm called LightSquared to provide the nation’s first wholesale-only integrated 4G-LTE wireless broadband and satellite network. This means wireless internet access to the entire United States, provided by LightSquared to existing and new service providers through their own equipment and services. In other words, LightSquared, together with its investors and partners, will purchase bandwidth from the FCC, install the satellites to deliver the broadband service and sell it to other providers like Comcast, Verizon, Sprint, etc. who will sell it to their end users. This is a wonderful goal. Imagine you could use your computer, cell phone or Blackberry anywhere you go in the US.
However, there is concern that the existence of these satellites will interfere with GPS signals, so I have been doing some research and would like to give you some background on the issue.
Wireless communications, whether voice, digital or video, are transmitted through the air in the radio-frequency spectrum. The frequencies assigned to various entities are controlled by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC auctions them off. It is a complex system of “dividing” the radio waves into various “bands” and deciding who gets what and for what purpose. As we have become more addicted to all of our new devices, this bandwidth availability is getting pretty crowded. According to one official from A T & T, the typical household will use more internet time in 2011 than the whole country used in 2008. There is an estimated 8 hours worth of YouTube video being uploaded every minute. Hi-definition video transmissions place 7-10 times more demand on the system than regular video and video alone accounts for almost 80% of all traffic. There are some estimates that we may face a spectrum shortage by 2014.
Only certain frequencies on the spectrum are available to use with reliable signal quality. Steps have been taken in the past to address the problem of overcrowding by the use of more efficient digital encoding and new frequencies are being opened. 4G (LTE) is the next generation solution. So it was with a certain degree of concern when the techno-public learned of the pending approval of the FCC for LightSquared to be assigned a large degree of bandwidth in the new 4G (LTE) range since it is neighboring to the frequencies used for GPS. It is known that the GPS frequencies are weak and subject to interference. In spite of that, GPS is being used for so much today that it is unthinkable to imagine the chaos that would develop if these two endeavors interfered with each other. Of course boating would be impacted but also the airline industry, search and rescue, first responders, medical fields and the list goes on.
Currently, the FCC and LightSquared, as well as members of Congress, are negotiating and working to make certain that no such interference will occur. I have no doubt that they will come to a solution but it bears careful monitoring. I am also concerned that virtually every Internet Service Provider will come to depend on this one company to provide their broadband resources. With no competition, that puts LightSquared in a pretty strong position. Additionally, a terrorism strike at LightSquared satellites could bring the country to a halt.
Pat and her husband, Larry are owners of L&L Marine Electronics on Golf Course Road in West Ocean City, MD.
