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Re: Not exactly...
Author: Mark
Date: 03-10-2014 - 21:41
All of the Class 1 railroads gave back the new interstitial narrowband frequencies in 2009. These were only licensed for analog use.
Practically all of the licenses on the books have had NXDN emissions designators added for possible future use. This is true for all railroads. And like Jim said, that doesn't mean digital will ever be used, only that somebody had the foresight to take care of the paperwork now.
Nobody else benefits from the railroads going narrowband. With few exceptions, the 160.215-161.565 spectrum is "owned" by the railroads and that's not going to change. The NXDN cheerleaders are quick to point out that 6.25 kHz narrowband NXDN offers double the number of channels. That's nice but unnecessary because the underlying problem is extremely poor spectrum management by the AAR Frequency Coordinator. Archaic trunking systems using 1980's technology could free up lots of channels for other uses (and at minimal cost) in the few places where additional channels are needed.
Practically all of the licenses on the books have had NXDN emissions designators added for possible future use. This is true for all railroads. And like Jim said, that doesn't mean digital will ever be used, only that somebody had the foresight to take care of the paperwork now.
Nobody else benefits from the railroads going narrowband. With few exceptions, the 160.215-161.565 spectrum is "owned" by the railroads and that's not going to change. The NXDN cheerleaders are quick to point out that 6.25 kHz narrowband NXDN offers double the number of channels. That's nice but unnecessary because the underlying problem is extremely poor spectrum management by the AAR Frequency Coordinator. Archaic trunking systems using 1980's technology could free up lots of channels for other uses (and at minimal cost) in the few places where additional channels are needed.
