Broadcasters aren't the only ones having problems finding space for antennas. The Navy is looking for ways to reduce the number of antennas on its ships. An Office of Naval Research article, "Mowing Back Antennas - Clearing Antennas for Better Communication,"pointed out the problems the Navy was having with the antenna systems designed for a single function.
The article said, "Specialized computers, power hookups, and maintenance support for each antenna means higher costs, and risks, when they fail. The dissimilar antennas can interfere with one another or other ship systems, and degrade performance, thereby forcing ships to limit strictly the operations of certain RF systems when others are needed."
The Office of Naval Research is working on a technology, the advanced multifunction radio frequency concept, or AMRF-C, to combine multiple communications, radar and electronic warfare functions. The article did not describe how AMRF-C would accomplish this goal, but it will be interesting to see if the effort produces any technology of use to broadcasters.
