ORIGINAL: JPMacG

I just read some of the recent posts and I feel I must bring this out again:

Everyone should think long and hard before writing off our 72 MHz frequency allocation. Path loss is proportional to 1/(frequency squared). At 2.4 GHz we would have about 1000 times the path loss we have at 72 MHz. Saying this in another way, a 2.4 GHz transmitter would need to transmit 1000 watts to produce the same voltage across a receive antenna as a 72 MHz transmitter transmitting 1 watt. This is basic physics and there is nothing we can do or ever will do to change it. Remember, we are using omnidirectional receiveing antennas and as frequency goes up the effective aperture of the antenna must go down.

Sure, 2.4 GHz spread spectrum has advantages in preventing fading and some processing gain and some reduction in atmospheric noise, but we have a large initial disadvantage to overcome. I'm not sure that we will see a 2.4 GHz spread system that offers the range and robust signal quailty that we get from our 72 MHz systems.