FCC Grants Experimental License for PSYOP Equipment

By Doug Lung
published

If you see odd TV and radio signals around El Centro, Calif., they may be coming from experimental licenses from the Naval Air Station.

Hatfield & Dawson, a Seattle-based engineering firm received the licenses WF2XAE and WD22XYJ "to model and transform psychological operation (PSYOP) equipment."

The WF2XAE license allows operation on TV channels 2, 4, 10, 15, 30, and 63, while the WD2XYJ license authorizes operations on 88.3, 89.1, 93.5, and 97.1 MHz in the FM broadcast band.

Another experimental license grant in the FCC list of experimental actions from 3/1/09 to 5/1/09 that might be of interest to readers is WE2XZK, issued to Qualcomm, Inc.

It authorizes operation on 698–710 MHz, 728–740 MHz, 746–757 MHz and 776–787 MHz for developmental testing and demonstration of new R&D technologies in San Diego, Calif.

Not all experimental work is in the VHF, UHF and microwave spectrum. Thales Communications received a new experimental license to operate in the 2 to 30 MHz band for "the test and development of HF technology" at a fixed location in Clarksburg, Md.

Vaisala was granted a license to use the AM broadcast band 560–1600 kHz and 1800–1900 kHz for testing and evaluating "electronic remote sensing system for measuring soil moisture" mobile in Tombstone, Ariz.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack. A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.