Bureau issues FAQs for computer-modeled proofs
It may seem like forever ago, but it was in 2007 – less than three years ago – that the Commission, acting at the suggestion of an ad hoc “coalition” of broadcasters, consulting engineers and manufacturers, started to get serious about “moment method modeling”. In May of that year it invited comments on proposed rules that would permit use of computer modeling techniques to verify AM directional antenna performance. (The smart money says that such computer-assisted proofs are a huge time/effort/money saver for all concerned.)
The new rules were adopted 16 months later, but because of bureaucratic processes beyond the FCC’s control, the rules did not formally take effect until February, 2009. (As we reported here in November of last year, despite those bureaucratic roadblocks, the Media Bureau staff was very helpful effort in allowing the benefits of the new rules to be enjoyed as soon as possible. Props to them, again, for that.)
Now that everybody has had a reasonable amount of time to work with the new rules, the staff has issued a public notice clarifying a number of questions that have arisen about who gets to use the moment modeling method and under what circumstances. If you think that moment modeling is something that may be affecting you in the future, you should review the public notice carefully and confer with your consulting engineer to see how it may alter your plans (if at all). (We would ordinarily try to summarize some of the highlights of the notice, but this is Highly Technical Material that is probably best left to our friends on the other side of the legal/technical divide.)