Are RC events getting too large to be safe? Is anyone studying band saturation?
I would like to ask for your thoughts on this topic.
This has to do with 2.4 GHz band saturation. In the beginning there was concerned as to whether we could have 40 2.4 GHz radios on at one time. Then we saw tests with 60 and I think I saw one all the way to 100. Are we now complacent?
This year at the International Radio Control Heli Assoc. there were 1100 registered pilots at the AMA site. As I understand it there was no frequency/band control. Should we be concerned? Should we consider capping these events over concern for RF band saturation? I don’t know.
A unique opportunity existed this year at the AMA home site during the IRCHA festival. There could have been hundreds of radios on at one time. Did AMA or one of the manufacturers monitor the 2.4 band? I would be interested to know. When we get this big we may, again, have to go back to some kind of frequency control, or more appropriately, RF band control.
With RC events getting larger and larger, and with no frequency control, do we have a potential safety issue around band saturation? If there were no problems, if someone actually monitored the air and all was good, I would like to see a report. If it did saturate, if there was evidence of RF saturation that could lead to safety problems, did we see problems? Safety should be everyone's top priority.
It might be that the band starts to saturate at 200 or ??? radios. Who would have thought that these events would get this big. I think we need to ask this question and to document the findings. Let us share that with the community, and especially the organizers of these big events, before some $50,000 6 engine jet or some giant scale heli with whirling blades goes out of control into a crowd and takes out some people and property. If there is a guideline to be developed, let the radio manufacturers, working with AMA, develop that guideline.
This is not a witch hunt or an alarmist post. This is not a brand concern as I think all the major brands, and most of the off brands, are pretty good. I am a concerned citizen of the RF community who might like to attend one of these big events. Is it safe? I would like to know if anyone is looking at this for large events.
If we have any RF wizards here, I would like to get your opinions on the question.
Last edited by aeajr; 08-08-2013 at 07:21 AM.