BAS

The time is right for a BAS overhaul. Old spectrum is getting new tools with private LTE and mesh networking as engineers and vendors create ways to achieve the same flexibility and two-way connectivity that bonded cell affords within BAS. Above, Silvus Technologies’ StreamCaster radio gives bi-directional IP connectivity for camcorders. Here it’s being used for the New Year’s Eve live webcast from Times Square in New York.

Following this year’s FCC spectrum auction and repack, TV broadcasters will find themselves facing technical challenges involving satellite newsgathering, wireless mics and the Broadcast Auxiliary Service.

The trade group tells the FCC that “CTIA’s gold-rush mentality to stockpile spectrum has left its proposal and corresponding analysis lacking any perspective on the value of the current use of the 2095-2110 MHz band to the American public.”

The station group’s IP-based GrayMax Hotspot system is designed to provide the reliability of a microwave truck without the telescoping mast, and the newsgathering freedom of bonded cellular technology without the worry of being knocked off the air by cellular congestion. It’s being tested at Gray’s KBTX Bryan, Texas.

NAB says that the wireless industry group’s request that the FCC reallocate some BAS spectrum for mobile broadband will damage TV stations’ ability “to provide breaking coverage of devastating storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires.”