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posted by chromas on Tuesday June 18 2019, @03:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the two-minutes-hate dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow4463

The FCC recently auctioned spectrum in the 24GHz band under controversial circumstances, as experts from other federal agencies warned that cellular transmissions in that band may significantly reduce the accuracy of weather forecasts.

When asked about the controversy at yesterday's Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Pai said that data provided by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is faulty. He also criticized the agencies for raising concerns "at the 11th hour."

Calling NOAA's study "fundamentally flawed," Pai said, "For example, it ignores the fact that 5G will involve beamforming, essentially adaptive antenna arrays that will more precisely send 5G signals—sort of a rifle shot, if you will, instead of a shotgun blast of 5G spectrum."

Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/06/ajit-pai-says-noaa-and-nasa-are-wrong-about-5g-harming-weather-forecasts/

See also: 5G likely to mess with weather forecasts, but FCC auctions spectrum anyway


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Tuesday June 18 2019, @03:24PM (5 children)

    News at eleven.

    This isn't just par for the course, it's several shots under par.

    It will be interesting to see how much Pai will be (is being?) rewarded by the telecoms for doing their bidding. Sadly, I suspect we'll never find out. More's the pity.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday June 18 2019, @03:34PM (3 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 18 2019, @03:34PM (#857014) Journal

    But, but, but, isn't Ajit Pai a super scientist, or something? Part time neuro-rocket man, or something like that? We should all trust a Jit to know better than a bunch of wannabe scientists.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 18 2019, @04:04PM (2 children)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @04:04PM (#857032)

      Beamforming like a rifle shot... yeah - somebody needs to stand his head just off to the side of a 100kW beamformed signal and let that bullet of energy just whiz by his brain for a few seconds.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 5, Touché) by MostCynical on Tuesday June 18 2019, @09:06PM

        by MostCynical (2589) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @09:06PM (#857176) Journal

        Evidence suggests that may have already happened..

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @03:51PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 19 2019, @03:51PM (#857484)

        I hate Pai as much as anyone, but you seem to be missing the point of the analogy entirely.

        sort of a rifle shot, if you will, instead of a shotgun blast of 5G spectrum.

        Rifle dispersion is typically anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes.
        Shotgun dispersion maybe from 30 to 150.
        Order of magnitude difference in width. As a ham, I've used exactly this analogy to explain why high-gain antennas are better for PTP links than dumping more power into omni or patch antennas.

        I haven't messed with beamforming, but this order-of-magnitude difference in beamwidth still seems more-or-less correct for comparing omni or sector patterns vs beamformed. If that's wrong, though, please correct me. Be happy to learn if you can demonstrate how it's wrong, and what a realistic beamwidth ratio is.

        stand his head just off to the side of a 100kW beamformed signal and let that bullet of energy just whiz by his brain for a few seconds.

        I'm honestly not sure what point you're even trying to make here.
        That beam-formed radiation patterns still have sidelobes? Well, so do sector antennas. Since neither rifles nor shotguns have sidelobes, I'm pretty sure the analogy had nothing to do with that.
        That the width of the main lobe is wider than actual rifle dispersion? Yeah, but the analogy is about the ratio, not the exact beamwidth.
        That 20 or 30 dB down on a 100kW signal is still pretty damn hot? Well, no shit, but it's irrelevant.
        That Ajit Pai is an obnoxious evil fuck who oughta microwave his brain for the good of mankind? I'm with you on that.

  • (Score: 5, Informative) by captain normal on Tuesday June 18 2019, @04:25PM

    by captain normal (2205) on Tuesday June 18 2019, @04:25PM (#857047)

    Pai is a lawyer and a professional lobbyist for the TelCom industry. I doubt that he knows very much about radio spectrometry or meteorology and his masters at Verizon and ATT could care less because...you know bidness and nothing should stand in the way of commerce.

    --
    When life isn't going right, go left.