It's a Sad, Sad Day

November 4, 2008 will go down in history as a very sad day in American history.  After months of many heated opinions and exchanges of harsh words, it is official.  One voice has silenced another, at the peril of those that aren't as vocal.

I am referring, of course, to a compound mandate from the Federal Communication Commission that effective this next February it will become illegal for nearly all wireless microphones (and wireless in-ear-monitor systems) in existence today to be used.  (Did you think I was talking about something else?)  And then, as the second part of the double whammy, the frequencies they opened up after making the current frequencies illegal are now open for use for wireless Internet access and other wireless digital services. 

So first they are making existing microphones illegal by making it illegal to transmit in the frequencies currently in use.  And then, after they assigned a new radio band for microphones, they decided to allow other services onto that same band, creating interference.   Just think of how hard it is to have a conversation at a rock concert and you begin to understand the implications of this.

The first part is frustrating enough.  Existing microphones shouldn't cause significant interference with any devices on the current radio bands because of their very short range, so there wasn't really a need to make their use illegal.  They have co-existed with UHF television just fine for years.  A grandfather clause would have been perfect.  Then the FCC pushes us into a radio band that hasn't been used in the past, so no equipment is even available for purchase.  And then they are allowing that radio band to be used for other things, creating a huge potential for interference.  The only way to combat this new interference is to invest in new, much more expensive equipment, if you can even find it.

Those of us that currently own wireless equipment have had virtually no warning, and we haven't had any time to prepare to phase out and replace what we already have.  In the past when the FCC has made changes like this it hasn't affected low power equipment, so we haven't had to worry about replacing equipment.  And because it will become illegal to use what we now have, the stuff we have invested thousands and thousands of dollars in is officially now becoming totally worthless -- nobody will buy it because it isn't really legal to use it. 

Since the government is now offering coupons to make the transition to digital TV easier for people with analog televisions, maybe they ought to offer subsidy coupons to wireless microphone owners.  Okay, I'm not really serious about that... I am very much opposed to the "something for nothing" mentality, and I have always felt that it was wrong for the government to use tax revenues to benefit a small group of people.  But it sure would be nice if this were handled differently, because if I were to replace all of the wireless microphones I currently have with models with roughly the same level of performance, it would cost me roughly 12 x $2,500 = $30,000 or more, plus another $1,500 for my wireless in-ear-monitor system.  Ouch.  And I'm not one of the ones hit hardest.  Performing groups with more wireless systems have to use computerized, even higher end equipment to make sure that none of the microphones interfere with one another, so it will cost them a lot more.

D'oh.