[amsat-bb] Re: Lightsquared Analogy

[Greg Dolkas]

Hi Bob(s),

I think the difference here is that, continuing the headphone analogy, the
headphone manufacturers created a line of very popular lightweight
headphones at an affordable price, knowing that the environment they were
going to be used in were to be music rooms and other places with quiet
surroundings.  Now LightSquared wants to come in and build a rock crushing
plant in the adjacent room.  That invalidates a base design criteria for
the headphones. Certainly they would have designed noise cancelling
headphones if they knew that the adjacent music room was zoned for rock
crushers, but that's not what the landlord told them.

I saw a better analogy on the CNET website (Reporters Roundtable), where
the poster likened it to a zoning violation.  As I understand it, the
spectrum adjacent to the GPS band is also (zoned) for satellite
communication, which if LightSquared had kept to their original
satellite-based business plan would have worked out just fine.  Instead
they've changed business plans, and feel they have a right to use the
spectrum they own in a different (incompatible) way.  We all know that the
laws of physics don't work that way, and thankfully the FCC decided not to
ignore them it this time.

Good design principles should consider all factors, including both
performance and cost.  Clearly one CAN build better GPS receivers, but that
doesn't mean that they need to, or even should.  If Henry Ford hadn't built
the Model-T, I bet our highway system would look a whole lot different
today.

Greg  KO6TH


On Wed, Feb 29, 2012 at 4:30 PM, Robert McGwier <rwmcgwier at gmail.com> wrote:

> In this case that would be wrong.  The headphone manufacturers complained
> that good foam costs too much and were allowed to get away with tissue
> paper and now everyone pays for allowing lobbyists and lawyers run the FCC
> and ignore good design principles
> On Feb 29, 2012 3:01 PM, "Bob Bruninga" <bruninga at usna.edu> wrote:
>
> > I finally figured out a good analogy about the LightSquared and GPS
> fiasco.
> > ---------------
> >
> > There is a "music room" where people can go and, with headphones, listen
> to
> > their own music.  No one disturbs anyone else.  Everyone is happy.
> >
> > A LightSquared rock band comes into the room and begins to play at max
> > volume, and then insists there should be no problem because the
> headphones
> > work just fine in providing the isolation between what each person is
> > listening to.
> >
> > Therefore the interference to everyone in the room is not their fault,
> but
> > the fault of the Headphone Manufacturers!
> >
> > Bob, WB4APR
> >
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