videobruce wrote:No one else has anything on this 2013 date?
Here is a link to what I believe if the latest FCC order which mandates that "industrial" users (which includes railroads) reduce
bandwidth to 12.5kHz or less by 2013 and public safety users by 2018.
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/a ... 7-39A1.pdf
These dates are the latest in a long history of the FCC moving the dates out as each deadline has approached so 2013 could also be extended.
This whole "refarming" of frequencies to attempt to create more channels by narrowing allowable bandwidths is a case of
lawyers and politicians doing a lot of hocus pocus that violates the laws of physics to give the illusion of solving a problem.
A major issue for the railroads is that the "new" frequencies created are 7.5kHz apart but the 2013 "narrow" bandwidth is
12.5 kHz. It is like saying you added new lanes to an existing road with 15' lanes by painting 7.5' wide lanes while allowing 12.5' wide vehicles.
The FCC's goal is to require users to ultimately reduce their bandwidth to 6.25 kHz which is not compatible
with existing analog technology but there are digital technologies under development. The radios CSX is buying are
capable of present "wide" analog, the currently 2013 mandated "narrow" analog or digital and the future 6.25 digital.
AAR has been making representations to the FCC about the problems of railroads migrating to the new standards while
keeping a nationwide system of compatible radios for run through operations viable. The major railroads and AAR submitted
a plan to the FCC for all railroad radio licenses to be assigned to AAR that would administer and coordinate the conversions
without each railroad needing to coordiante their changes and file independently with the FCC. This very sensible
proposal was shot down by politcal pressure from public safety and commercial radio systems that covet access to the AAR
standard frequencies. The FCC early in this "refarming" process eliminated exclusive railroad use of the AAR channels but
required other users to "coordinate" with AAR who can object to but not veto these requests.
The AAR request was similar to the airline industry where "company" frequencies are exclusively availble to airlines and the licenses are held by "ARINC" that provides frequencies from the pool to individual airlines as needed. The FCC rejected a similar situation for the railroads.
So, transition by 2013 for the railroads is going to be a complicated mess and it is likely deadlines or other factors will
change before then.
CSX is covering all options by purchasing radios now that can comply with any currently proposed technology.
How they will implement these options remains to be seen.