Is a Michigan Tech electrical engineering professor aiming at ham frequencies? In the article, “Sharing the Airwaves: Michigan Tech’s Tian Researches Cognitive Radio,” there’s a line, “Meanwhile, frequencies in other bands used by amateur radios and pagers are rarely bogged down by too much traffic.” It goes on to describe Tian’s research into cognitive radio, a technology that allows radios “to dynamically pick the best frequencies and use them to transmit their signals.”
Of course, Tian is not trying to horn in on the amateur radio bands. She’s just trying to use the radio spectrum more efficiently. It’s fascinating technology, too. I’m trying to imagine how something like this would work on 2m.
Of course, the problem on 2m anymore is not too much traffic, but not enough. Perhaps we could make our network of 2m repeaters smart enough so that they connect two stations no matter where they are as long as they are in the coverage area of the network. That might boost usage, which would be a good thing.
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