ComradeGlock
Member
Below is a page (just one) from the FRA’s Office of R & D and Technology Current (2024) Projects list.
It briefly describes what they are studying / working on for Railroad comm’s in the future. The title is somewhat misleading as it identifies the project as intended for Passenger Trains, but reading the first three Phases of this ongoing study and then this description of Phase 4, it pretty much addresses all Railroads, at least the Class 1’s.
The 160 Mhz band is clearly the focus of this entire study and an SDR the type of radio platform they are looking at which will include all bands (as mentioned in other studies) currently used by RR’s, not just the 160 Mhz band.
An SDR in the cab makes a lot of sense. It can replace virtually all of the existing radios and they’re also studying the feasibility of utilizing a single roof antenna as space on a cab roof is apparently starting to get scarce too. As more lineside tracking and monitoring gets applied, an SDR can be reprogrammed to accommodate the added comm’s without having to add another physical unit to the cab and all its associated hardware.
The reason (I believe) to pay attention to studies like this by the FRA and others is it’s one of the only ways for us outsiders to try and gauge a move to VNB/NXDN. When the FRA blesses the 160Mhz band for data, the Railroads will jump on it, and the first step will be to move to VNB to free up bandwidth.
It briefly describes what they are studying / working on for Railroad comm’s in the future. The title is somewhat misleading as it identifies the project as intended for Passenger Trains, but reading the first three Phases of this ongoing study and then this description of Phase 4, it pretty much addresses all Railroads, at least the Class 1’s.
The 160 Mhz band is clearly the focus of this entire study and an SDR the type of radio platform they are looking at which will include all bands (as mentioned in other studies) currently used by RR’s, not just the 160 Mhz band.
An SDR in the cab makes a lot of sense. It can replace virtually all of the existing radios and they’re also studying the feasibility of utilizing a single roof antenna as space on a cab roof is apparently starting to get scarce too. As more lineside tracking and monitoring gets applied, an SDR can be reprogrammed to accommodate the added comm’s without having to add another physical unit to the cab and all its associated hardware.
The reason (I believe) to pay attention to studies like this by the FRA and others is it’s one of the only ways for us outsiders to try and gauge a move to VNB/NXDN. When the FRA blesses the 160Mhz band for data, the Railroads will jump on it, and the first step will be to move to VNB to free up bandwidth.
