Progress

  5G is going to crash all the airplanes! That's what I heard on the news. Verizon has agreed to not turn on the towers within two miles on the airport. I just got new phones a part of a promotion from Xfinity and they are 5G. I don't live anywhere near an airport, well technically there is an airport in Ridgely about five miles from here, it doesn't have a tower or an air traffic controller. You just have to take a good look yourself before taking off or landing. There is one in Easton, twenty miles away, not certain if 5G will affect that or not. The reporter says the technicians are working out a solution. He did briefly go into what the issue was regarding frequencies or bandwidths, something like that.

 I take some pride in knowing how most things work. It is something I was told as a child, before you try to fix something, know how it works! If you don't know how it works, leave it alone. As a result, I do try to gain at least a rudimentary understanding of how things work. Electronics are a subject that I have the least understanding of. Basic electricity I have a grasp on, I do know what components do what. The broadcasting of radio signals however, a bit of a mystery. I do wonder why all the signals flying through the air don't get all scrambled up! The concept of invisible lines that these signals travel on elude me. 

 I think I first began wondering about that stuff during the CB craze in the late sixties. 10-4 and dropping the requirement for a license to broadcast low powered signals across a number of channels. Became so popular the number of channels was increased. Not certain if anyone even uses CB's anymore. I remember you could purchase a linear amplifier to boost your signal and "step" on others with less power. My oldest brother having been a Radioman while in the Navy had some knowledge of this stuff. He had an antenna the size of a 5G tower and that amplifier. All illegal as I recall, but when he keyed his mike, he was heard! I don't remember his "handle" but my other brother was the Red Rooster. I never did come up with a good handle, never had a cool nickname either. I always wanted the last one but that's something you don't get to pick for yourself. I guess I can't blame anyone for that when I couldn't think of a name for myself! I'm just not nick-name material. But in my defense, I have been called a lot of names. Still am as a matter of fact. 

 Now I'm wondering if I use my phone to call in a pizza will I cause a disaster? Did you want pepperoni on that pie? Yes, and a crash crew sent to the airport! Just what is this 5G and why is it a problem? Well, the G just stands for generation. We have come a way since the phones in a briefcase. Fifth generation, about a hundred years in people generations. My grandchildren have never known a time when cell phones didn't exist. They have never known a time without an internet. But now, this fifth generation may cause interference in the flight gauges and systems of aircraft. I wonder if it would affect these self-driving, self-parking cars? That's a scary thought. Don't text and drive takes on a new level of importance in that scenario. Can it interfere with the electronics in the car next to you? 

 I'm certain they will get it all figured out soon enough. Some type of shielding no doubt, some new technology to purchase. You would think that the engineers would have thought about all of this before now. I wonder how that got overlooked. This 5G really isn't so different from the 4G. At least that is what I read about it. It is just faster, having a broader bandwidth. I hear about bandwidth a lot but confess to not really understanding it. But according to Google it is anticipated that 1.3 billion people will be connected to this 5G network. Seems to me the odds for something getting mixed up is high. Well, except for the planes that is, they are grounded. Orville and Wilbur wouldn't have a problem though, 1st generation being pretty basic and all. Progress does complicate things, doesn't it?