Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: net.followup Subject: Re: Re: Alternate Energy & Microwaves Message-ID: <4235@utzoo.UUCP> Date: Sat, 18-Aug-84 18:41:41 EDT Article-I.D.: utzoo.4235 Posted: Sat Aug 18 18:41:41 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 18-Aug-84 18:41:41 EDT References: <1702@inmet.UUCP> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 27 > I have a question about SPS microwaves for those more knowledgeable - > granted the u-waves don't fry birds, wouldn't they fry every radio on an > airliner passing through/close to the beam? ... > ...what about > satellites that might pass between a geostationary power satellite and its > ground station? ... > [he also mentions ground-based microwave transmissions] Communications interference from powersats is not a trivial topic, but it looks manageable. The wavelength for powersat transmissions will be in the industrial-microwave band, almost certainly, and this is not at the same frequency as communications. Note that there is no need for more than one frequency for powersats, so the problem comes down to filtering out one offending frequency that is well away from the normal communications bands. (Well, harmonics complicate the issue a bit...) Powersats will definitely create interference, and communications systems will need some work, but last I heard it didn't look impossibly hard. It helps that powersat beams will be put out by emitters perhaps a kilometer on a side; they'll be by far the tightest microwave beams ever generated. The intensity will fall off very quickly indeed outside the area of the rectenna. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry