cracketh me up u do....that was great!

On 16 Jan 2002, Miles Nordin wrote:

> Here is an interpretation of Part 15, explaining how to make sure your
> high-gain antenna is within the ``legal limit'':
> 
>  http://www.lns.com/papers/FCCPart15_and_the_ISM_2.4G_Band.index
> 
> Here is some rambling that agrees with John Utz's speculation, that
> the proprietary connectors were required by the FCC so that the
> manufacturers could sell particular type-certified antennas.  However
> it's trivial to get a bullshit-to-N adapter from brumleynet or
> similar, so if this was the intent, it failed.
> 
>  http://lists.bawug.org/pipermail/wireless/2001-July/001492.html
> 
> 
> My take on it all: there are a bunch of radio integrators out there
> who have up until now made their living selling the sort of systems
> that goofballs are now building DIY out of pringles cans (if they're
> showoffs) or commercial $50-$100 wire-mesh-dish antennas (if not).
> The integrators worry about ``fade margins'' and have fancy test
> equipment and talk about ``the site'' and ``the customer.''  The
> simplicity of this new low-end gear irritates them, threatens them,
> makes them feel castrated and superfluous, so they have many reasons
> to explain why their roles are still necessary.  They start with the
> reasonable assertion that ``our systems work better than yours,'' but
> are overwhelmed with a chorus of ``WE DON'T CARE!''  
> 
> So they try again.  No mere amateur can navigate the maze of FCC
> regulations.  The relevant language usually includes the words ``type
> certification'' and ``pacemakers,'' and the associated images of
> death, chaos, the Lidless Eye of the FCC's goon-squad huff-duff vans,
> the Fascist Jackboot and ``daddy, why is mommy in handcuffs?''
> <sniff>, so shameful, so sad that their fresh innocence should be
> tainted by concepts like moral ambiguity and innocent until proven
> guilty.  
> 
> ``Great Scott, Batman!  I'd better hire a professional Radio Priest
> before it's too late, or abandon my presumptuous goofyness in
> tampering with the Awesome Mysteries of Radio for good!''  so,
> although I'm now convinced that John Utz's specilation is probably
> spot-on as to what's going on with these goatheadded plugs---``that's
> a connection, but not a connector.''  (Scott at Electro-Comm)---I
> would be wary of taking these naysayers at face value.  They have a
> vested interest, and clearly the FCC is trying to do something
> different with the 2.4GHz junk band---hence the cultivated threat to
> the established regime, and the ERP bonus allowance for links that are
> directional on both ends.
> 
> Airport only put out 30mW, and the legal limit for ISM is 1000mW, 3dB
> antenna.  We are being handed such pathetic toys, and the proper way
> to use a toy is to play and be happy, right?
> 
> ``That's not a toy, son.  That's a radio.  In the wrong hands, it's
> Dangerous!''
> 
> As for the firmware-upgrade problems, I would say that hindsight is
> 20-20, but all the same you were the victims of some really
> low-quality software.  Thanks for mentioning it---I'll try to avoid
> the HP and Proxim ``brands.''  I've already been avoiding HP for a
> while now.
> 
> BTW, someone on a.c.ericsson told me it would be illegal to allow
> consumers to upgrade the firmware in any radio gear themselves,
> because a firmware upgrade would require the device to go through type
> certification again.  Yup.  Well I guess I've been schooled.  I'll
> never try THAT again, Officer.
> 

-- 

John L. Utz III
john@utzweb.net

Idiocy is the Impulse Function in the Convolution of Life