__________________________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------

                         THE CGC COMMUNICATOR

                              CGC #1127

                      Wednesday,  March 21, 2012

                               ________

                  Robert F. Gonsett, W6VR,  Editor
                  <cgc (at) cgc333.connectnet.com>

    Copyright 2012, Communications General® Corporation (CGC)

------------------------------------------------------------------
__________________________________________________________________

  LPFM AND FM TRANSLATOR RULE CHANGES

  The FCC has made fundamental changes to the Low Power FM
and FM Translator rules and other changes are being contemplated.

  URLs galore are posted in Tuesday's FCC Daily Digest (second
URL below); Wednesday's Digest may contain more items yet (third
URL below -- Wednesday's Digest should become available by noon
Pacific Time).  The Radio World synopsis comes first:

  http://www.rwonline.com/article/lpfm-vs-fm-translator-sorting-begins/212452
  http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Digest/2012/dd120320.html
  http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Digest/2012/dd120321.html

******************************************************************

  ATTENTION COMMUNICATION SITE OWNERS/USERS ON SOUTHERN
  CALIFORNIA FOREST SERVICE LAND

  The USDA Forest Service is beginning to enforce the provisions
of Appendix G of their land management plan.  This could have a
significant impact on your operations if your facility is located
in the Angeles, Cleveland, Los Padres or San Bernardino National
Forests.  That means many operations on Mt. Wilson and Santiago
Peak will be impacted, for example.  Potentially affected users
should read Appendix G carefully.  The text is available here:

  http://tinyurl.com/ForestServiceAppendixG

******************************************************************

  BACKGROUND INFORMATION

  The Appendix G story begins with the following letter received
by Communications General Corporation, consulting radio engineers,
on March 6, 2012:

  "Well I just received an inspection notice from the Forest
Service regarding my [communications facility on Forest Service
Land here in southern California].  What is significant is the FS
states, "Anti-perching devices must be present along open
horizontal surfaces...."

  "Appendix G was created as a result of a Stipulation the FS
signed with the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity back
in 1999....  This stipulation only makes reference to towers in
relation to electric power [lines].  Eventually, Appendix G was
finished and now applies to all communications sites on FS
property in southern California.

  "The issue is to prevent harm to birds.  Clearly, on high
voltage power lines, this is quite possible, but on communication
towers & buildings, it is very very unlikely.  In creating
Appendix G, the FS assumed any bird near an antenna would be
harmed....  They also assumed if a bird perched on a building
rooftop.... it must also be in harms way [presumably because of
RF signal exposure]....  This is junk science.

  "At this point I will simply put up a batch of worthless anti-
perching strips for show to simply make the problem go away.  My
concern is the FS may want us to put [these devices] all over our
towers & antennas, and that becomes a safety hazard to tower
workers.  See www.birdbgone.com for a sample of bird spike
strips (these can also cause RF interference)...."

  Editor's comment:  There are several problems with Appendix G.
For example, if metal spike strips are used, there is a huge
likelihood that loose strips, rubbing wires and/or electrolysis
will generate significant levels of harmonics and intermodulation
products that will seriously degrade reception on site receivers
over time.  Everyone needs to proceed slowly and carefully, as
a group, least anti-perching devices become an unintentional
recipe for electromagnetic disaster.

  More when this story continues.

******************************************************************
                       LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
******************************************************************

  TECH LETTERS

  Letters to the Editor of the CGC Communicator should be
posted on the Tech Letters Website.  Here is the URL to see
the most recent postings and to make new postings (all letters
and comments are moderated and are posted after review):

  http://www.earthsignals.com/press/

  Please contact the moderator, Steve Blodgett, if you are
having trouble viewing or posting: sblodgett (at) earthsignals.com

  Thanks!

__________________________________________________________________