The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology released a list of experimental license grants from 11/1/11 to 2/1/12 last week, and it includes some interesting uses of TV broadcast spectrum.
It's widely acknowledged that TV Channel 2 doesn't work well for DTV. Researchers in the University of Utah's Department of Physics and Astronomy have come up with another option. They were granted WF2XZZ to use 54.1 MHz (TV Channel 2) to study high-energy cosmic rays in Delta, Utah.
Broadcasters have debated whether high-band VHF or UHF is better for DTV broadcasting, but the City of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Water and Sewer Department has found another use for the high-band VHF TV band. Experimental license WG2XAB allows them to use 174-216 MHz (TV channels 7-13) in Murfreesboro "for data collection of remote water and sewer infrastructure."
Boeing's WF2XON allows them to use the low VHF band, FM band, and all of the UHF TV spectrum, along with many more frequencies ranging from 30 MHz to 15.350 GHz "for testing communication systems on Unmanned Vehicle" in St. Louis, St. Charles, and Smartt Field, Mo. and Vandalia, Ill.
National Public Radio received a license to operate on TV Channel 6. The WG2XBW allocation allows operation on 87.7 MHz "for testing FM modulators" in New Haven, Conn.
With the possible exception of the Murfreesboro Water and Sever department operation, which may be considered a TV band device, I didn't see any other grants in this report for "White space" devices on TV spectrum.
Garmin will be studying the Impact of out-of-band RF on its GPS receivers. Experimental license WG2XCC allows them to operate in various frequency bands between 585 kHz and 18 GHz for HIRF testing at the Garmin flight test facility at the New Century Airport in New Century, Ky.
See list of experimental license grants from 11/1/11 to 2/1/12 for information on these and other experimental license grants.
