E980163 EARTH STATION TECHNICAL REPORT

Submitted by Ed Shiflett

A.     BACKGROUND  The C-Band Earth Station at White Springs is a descendant of the Earth Station that was located at the Telford Hotel in White Springs, FL, and decommissioned on 12-31-97. That original Earth Station was built and licensed in 1991 for Peoples Network, Inc. (PNI) and was protected from terrestrial interference from horizon to horizon. It was coordinated and sited in White Springs, FL, due to the fact that there were few interfering terrestrial microwave towers and cellular telephone service had not yet come to the area. 

An “all satellite” (ALSAT) license was easier to obtain at that time. Locating such a facility now ... anywhere in the County ..  especially with horizon to horizon protection, would be extremely problematical because of the proliferation of terrestrial cellular telephone and wireless transmission.

The PNI Earth Station was sold in 1996 to United Broadcasting Network, Inc. (UBN); the radio network of the United Auto Workers union known as The U.A.W. 

This was part of  a five million dollar investment for part interest in the facility by the Union.  The U.A.W. subsequently began moving their radio network to the UAW headquarters in Detroit, MI. PNI was able to obtain the information the UBN Earth Station was about to be decommissioned because they held a mortgage with a UCC-1 registration on the original Earth Station.

PNI and its subsidiary American Community Oriented Radio Network, Inc. (ACORN) immediately began making plans to license an Earth Station within one mile of the original site. PNI and ACORN sought to recreate an Earth Station with the same horizon to horizon protection as the original had and before terrestrial microwave and cellular towers could move into the void created by the decommissioning of the original Earth Station.

The new C-Band Earth Station dish was set into place in February 1998. (See Figure 1) It was the newest  technology available and meets all current Federal Communications Standards as of April 2003. It is licensed as E980163 and was essentially able to maintain the legal “zone of protection map” (See Figure 2) the original had in 1991 before the explosion of terrestrial cellular telephone and wireless technology towers congested the landscape physically and electronically.  

It is not easy to imagine finding an area the size of the protection zone required that currently would meet the interference free criteria. Thus, making replication or relocation from the present location a virtual impossibility.

FCC Laws requires the Licensee of this class of Earth Station to be notified, in writing, of ANY technical activity including testing, installation or modification of transmitting equipment which might, to any extent, interfere ANY WHERE within the protection area. See typical letter and report  (Figure 2A and 2B )

The area of protection for the facility is defined by this Map on file with the FCC (Zone of Protection) 

It was in continuous operation from August of 1998 through August of 2000 and since then has been maintained legally and physically in a professional manner.

B.    SITE SURVEY

At the time, there may have been other remote locations in North America at which an ALSAT license could be obtained. However, there were few that met all the criteria required to be viable. The primary being not being in proximity to other transmitting facilities which might cause interference to it and visa versa. In sighting this Earth Station, many factors were considered. These included: reliable connection to the power grid, ability to expand as needed or planned, connectivity to the telephone infrastructure, weather and natural phenomena, proximity to major highways, cost of labor, ability to transmit to the desired satellites, and security.

The result of the site survey are as follows:

A reliable connection to the local power utility, Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative was obtained.  The service provider infrastructure was deemed to be average and backup generating capacity was installed to provide emergency power for more than 2 weeks with no interruption in service for the Earth Station.

The physical location of the Earth Station is 1.6 acres (MOL) which allows for the addition of at least four Earth Stations of the size presently in use, a variety of smaller Earth Stations and multiple C and Ku Band downlinks.  In addition a large 30 foot tower with a 10 foot square platform was installed which allows for siting a smaller Ku Band Earth Station for direct view of the horizon.

Connectivity to the telephone and fiber optic circuits has proven to be superior. The local telephone provider, Alltel, Inc, has proven over the last 12 years to be outstanding in terms of service and ability to deliver the latest technology to this area in a timely fashion. One of the strong points for this site is the proximity to the fiber optic network. Many major providers have large trunk lines within 1000 feet of the Earth Station Site (See Figure 3). This amount of connectivity is rare in a semi-rural location.

The Earth Station is located in North Central Florida, approximately 90 miles from any coastline and is outside of the 500-year flood plane. The site has never has any appreciable snow and de-icing equipment has proven to be unnecessary. Hurricanes have little or no impact on the area due to its inland location.

The Earth Station site is easily accessible by Interstate Highways. It is less than one mile from Interstate 75, Exit 439 and approximately 5 miles from Interstate 10 exit 299. Airports in Gainesville (45 miles) and Jacksonville (70 miles) service the area.

The labor pool White Springs and surrounding areas is industrious and the cost of labor is much lower than average. There have traditionally been many governmental incentive programs to operate businesses in the area.

The security of the Earth Station Site is far above average. It is located in a semi-rural area on the outskirts of White Springs, FL, a town with a population of 840 people, with a very low crime rate. The site, even though it is near to Interstate 75, is remote, and most local people within a mile of the site do not know it is there. The site is fully fenced by a 6-foot chain-link fence with 3 strands of razor wire at the top.

The Earth Stations is located at approximately 81 degrees west longitude and can provide service to all of North America and many other International Locations (see figure 4). Many satellites outside the authority of the United States government are accessible only from fixed Earth Stations such as E980163.

C.    TECHNICAL NOTES

The Earth Station in operation provided service to three radio networks, simultaneously.  It was operated as an analog Single Carrier Per Channel (SCPC) Earth Station and is still configured as such. It is configured with redundant High Power Amplifiers (HPA). These use traveling wave tubes, the most expensive, but reliable units on the market.

The emergency and backup power consists of five 1400VA line conditioning UPS units and a Dayton 8 kW propane generator with automatic start and change over on loss of power with more than 2 weeks of propane on site. The unit also automatically returns to the grid upon restoration of service.

D.    SUMMARY

 As Vice-President of Broadcasting at ACORN and at PNI, I was directly involved in the planning and construction of E980163. I studied many other Earth Stations, including some of the largest in the country. Each one has its advantages and limitations, as does E980163.  

E980163’s licensure allows it to do essentially all of the operations of the largest Earth Stations in the US, on a somewhat smaller scale. Its connectivity and secure location are advantages over many other Earth Stations.

 Respectfully submitted

Edward Shiflett 
White Springs Media

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