[Scan-DC] Frequency allocations

[Andrew Clegg]

Howdy folks,

Sorry for the brief interruption, but I wanted to call your attention to a
couple of  applications that you may find useful. These are targeted toward
spectrum managers and regulators, but some of you on this list fall into one
of those categories, and others may still find the information interesting.

The first is a web site called UnwantedEmissions.com. This is a small
specialized site I have been putting together over the last couple of months
that allows for more efficient access to information contained in the U.S.
Table of Frequency Allocations. For those that are used to using the printed
or PDF  versions, you know that trying to find all the allocation
information for a particular spectrum band, including the text of all the
relevant footnotes, requires a lot of flipping back and forth through the
150+ page allocation document. UnwantedEmisions.com presents all the data
for a particular band (and only  the data for a particular band) on a single
page.

I have been adding functionality, such as the ability to  search for bands
that are shared between two services, and the ability to search for bands
that are  allocated exclusively to a particular service. Within a couple of
days, you will also be able to search  bands by footnote. I have several
other advanced queries in the works, which I will be adding as time
permits. For each affected band, I've also recently added references to
relevant FCC auctions that have  impacted the band. The auction references
point to the appropriate FCC auction Web page.

Please check it out and let me know if you have any constructive feedback.
Pass along the URL to anyone who may be interested, and check back often, as
I am working as many  off-hours as I can to add functionality. I am not a
professional Web designer, so you will notice that the formatting is fairly
simple to reduce the amount of coding overhead.

Note that the purpose of the site is to offer the allocation data in a more
user-friendly format,  not to provide detailed information about the nature
of operations in each band. I may begin adding the latter information at a
later date, but that requires a lot of input (it's probably a wiki-type
project).

The second (similar) item is an app for the iPhone and iPod touch that
allows for querying of the  allocation table data. It is built upon the data
tables used in UnwantedEmissions.com, and allows for querying the allocation
table by frequency (with footnote text included). The app is named
"Allocations,"  and it's available through iTunes and the App Store. The
data are built in, so Allocations is fully functional when you're offline. I
collaborated on this app with another telecom engineer. It's not free, but
given its target audience, the $6.99 price is pretty low. And compared to
flipping back-and-forth  through a 150+ page PDF file on your phone, it may
save your sanity.

By the way, if you're not up on what frequency allocations are, I have
posted an introductory document at
http://www.unwantedemissions.com/wp/allocations101.pdf.

Cheers,
Andy