Severe OTA Interference From New Digital Services Tower

[ota_canuck]

Gerry< If what your describing is real, then I would move from the area immediately. That level of electro-magnetic energy could be a serious health hazzard and IC should be there immediately to shut down the source of that noise.

[GerryB]

Well they replied to my letter - and I appreciate their punctuality - but it wasnt the response I had hoped for:

Industry Canada does not conduct general public investigations and is not responsible for identifying, locating, or resolving interference affecting the operation of such devices as AM/FM radios, televisions, stereos, telephones, etc. Our mandate as defined by legislation (the Radiocommunication Act), does not support these activities, however, for your convenience we have created a set of "self-help" information materials in form of videos and brochures title "Cutting through Interference...". These are intended to help the public better understand all the factors involved regarding the cause of interference and how it can be resolved.

In this self-help material, we offer various suggestions as to how the public can identify the source of the interference and what steps should be taken to correct the problem. Some of these steps are very simple and require no technical expertise. More complex problems may require the assistance of: a qualified technician at a local service shop, the service provider (cable operator, broadcaster, etc...) or the service utility (telephone or power utility).

Self-help information is available to the public on the Internet. Visit our web site at: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst...h_sf06086.html

[stampeder]

What a cop out! Is Industry Canada now saying that there is no policing of the airwaves when interference is reported by a consumer?

[ota_canuck]

Maybe you could get a better response from your MP & MPP or report the potential of a health risk to your local health unit. People complain about windmills and industrial vibrations ailing their health, this electro-magnetic pulse issue that you are being exposed to sounds much worse.

[GerryB]

They've been downsizing the Spectrum part of IC for a while, as is my understanding. I dont think they have the resources to handle this sort of thing anymore.

Im worried more for what will happen to OTA television reception than my health, although it makes me angry I had to put tinfoil on the wall just to get the interference down to something that WAS manageable - until they put up the 700 MHz base station. I'll take more pictures. Channel 43 (another megawatt transmitter that I have line of sight to) is completely garbled with just a dipole.

[stampeder]

Another route to take might be to have a tech from one of the affected TV and radio stations come over with some analysis gear. My thinking is that IC would have to listen to a station complaining that it's signal is being interfered with.

[GerryB]

Who would be the CTV tech in Ottawa that would also do A-Channel 43?

Im going to try to find the engineering people at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. They are experts and they can be vocal. Oops scratch that - apparently they are no more : http://www.tvb.ca/pages/canadian+ass...tting+down_htm

[stampeder]

I got this from the /A\ Ottawa web site:

P. 613.789.0606
F. 613.789.7197
Ottawa.engineering@Atv.ca

[GerryB]

Thanks Stampeder.

Here is the text of my email I just sent them:

Hello

I am an avid A-Channel watcher from your over-the-air broadcast on channel 43. I live on the 13th floor of an apartment building with line-of-sight to your tower near Manotick. Just recently I have learned that there was some kind of PCS/ LTE? Rogers base station licensed at 734 MHz right across the street from where I live. There are thousands of people that live in the buildings on Lees Avenue. I can no longer get a decent picture on 43 even just using a simple dipole antenna placed in the window facing your TV transmitter.

I wrote to Industry Canada but they suggested I try to resolve this on my own. I know enough about radio waves to know that this is serious interference being caused to your station.

Can you help me? You are welcome to come here to see just how bad it is. I will also try to take a photo and send it. Ive done quite a bit of research on the license numbers which you can see at the bottom of this email.

Thanks,

[GerryB]

Here is a photo of the interfering antennas:




Note that Channel 43 isnt as bad as I thought it was - channel 60 is the one with the worst interference

[ota_canuck]

Do any of your neighbours have this problem? If not, then maybe it's something within your own house's electrical system that is feeding all this noise.

[GerryB]

I havent checked with the neighbours yet. I thought it might be electrical noise too since it looks like electrical noise, but other channels dont have this problem and they are close in frequency (like channel 40) and about the same or less signal strength.

Update - I found that the interference on 43 was partly from my laptop. It doesnt look as bad with the laptop shut off. However, Ive shut down basically everything in the apartment that could possibly be causing RF interference, and channel 60 is still poor reception. The 734 MHz carrier is 10 MHz wide according to the IC data, so that means it is as high as 739 MHz.

[Jase88]

Yes, unfortunately IC and the government prefers to protect it's "paying customers" only: Those who pay for spectrum licenses or buy spectrum at auction. Or military, aviation and emergency responders. Joe Consumer is on his own.

If I were in your circumstance, I'd contact my neighbours. I'd call my telephony provider and let them know of the problem impacting their service. I'd call Rogers (Office of the President--ask for it by name, they have people in that office that deal with "escalations"). I would contact the property manager that rents/leases roof space to Rogers.

[majortom]

I can't believe they're using 700 MHz at all before ur transition is even complete.
Ur saying that channel being interfered with is CH 60?

And they are using 734 MHz?
Is there even a standard yet for how the as yet to be cleared 700 Mhz Spectrum would be paired in Canada? assuming it'll be used for wireless up there? Paired meaning a seperate range for an uplink and downlink channel, with sufficient frequency seperation between them.

Sounds like the Wild West of radio communications up there...

Refresher on the ch 52 thru 60 Freqs used for television.

Channel  	 Lower edge  	 Video carrier  	 ATSC carrier  	 Audio carrier  	 Upper edge 
52 	698 	699.25 	698.31 	703.75 	704 	In the USA, these channels have been reallocated to Part 90 Land Mobile Radio Service.
53 	704 	705.25 	704.31 	709.75 	710
54 	710 	711.25 	710.31 	715.75 	716
55 	716 	717.25 	716.31 	721.75 	722
56 	722 	723.25 	722.31 	727.75 	728
57 	728 	729.25 	728.31 	733.75 	734
58 	734 	735.25 	734.31 	739.75 	740
59 	740 	741.25 	740.31 	745.75 	746
60 	746 	747.25 	746.31 	751.75 	752

Just FYI, Not to confuse anyone but LTE does not use CDMA or WCDMA for the radio interface.
OFDM, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing in the Downlink,
and Single-carrier FDMA in the Uplink.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-UTRA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP_Long_Term_Evolution

[GerryB]

Yes they are already in the 700 MHz band it appears, and they are NOT holding back the ERP. It is penetrating my apartment for certain, and messing up a lot of my normal electronic devices. Here is what I know about the 734 MHz license based on the publicly available TAFL information:

Tx Frequency (MHz) 734.000000
Rx Frequency (MHz) 704.000000
Necessary Bandwidth-1 (kHz) 10000.00
Class of Emission-1 V7WEC
Station Location 180 LEES AVE, OTTAWA, ON
Tx Antenna Pattern Code 8000
Tx Channel Capacity Code 01
Tx Antenna Gain (dBi > 960 MHz, dBd < 960 MHz) 15.3
Tx Total Losses (dB) 0.5
Tx Antenna Polarization Code C
Tx Spectrum Signature Code 913
Tx Antenna Azimuth (deg) 360.0
Tx Power (dBW) 16.0
Tx Antenna Vertical Elevation Angle (deg)
Tx Effective Radiated Power (ERP) (dBW) 30.8
Tx Antenna Height Above Ground Level (m) 62
Tx Antenna Beamwidth (deg)
Licensee Name Rogers Communications
Licence Number 5110000
Call Sign VX9FIT
Tx Antenna Model Number 800 10765