Most of the pages on this website have headers that are photos of antennas in various places. In general, antennas for multiple radio services are shown close together.  There are two reasons we use such photos:

1)  MSS is about wireless solutions.  Marconi had it easy - he was the only radio user around.  But ever since his second transmiiter was built, every new radio transmitter has impacted pre-existing radio systems.  The real challenge of spectrum management is not to throw up FUD (fear, uncertainty & doubt) in front of proposed new spectrum uses, but to search for creative solutions to let new technologies and services coexist with existing ones.

2) The success of the wireless industry has resulted in it becoming an integral part of our urban and rural landscape.  This ubiquity is something we should generally be proud of as it is a symbol of our success and growth.  Thus when we find attractive placements of antenna systems in our environment we photograph them and add them to my archive for later use here.

Sometimes, however, we find antenna systems that "look like they are designed by engineers" and which are a blight on the landscape.  We do not think this is responsible engineering and is a contributor to the backlash and NIMBY ("not in my backyard") problems that are limiting the growth of wireless service.

FCC Chairman Ferris' mentor, Tip O'Neill, famously said "All politics are local".  We must recognize this if we want to continue the rollout of our services and new services.

Unless otherwise stated, MSS was not involved in the design of any of the depicted systems.

A brilliantly designed antenna installation on the

bell tower of Sacre Coeur Basilica, Paris, France

(Not really visible from street level.)

 

Contact Information:

 
Michael J. Marcus, Sc.D.

Director

Marcus Spectrum Solutions

Cabin John, Maryland, USA  

(Washington DC area)

e-mail: mjmarcus@alum.mit.edu

+1-301-229-2818

This page is entirely in a san serif type font. This

typography is a memorial to Mrs. Jacqueline Casey,

the chief graphic designer at MIT while I was a

student. While she was not a member of the faculty,
I learned much from her including her strong belief
that such fonts were key to clean design. 
She is missed. 

Some of her award winning

work can be viewed on the web at

http://wally.rit.edu/special/JacquelineCasey.htm

MIT obituary at

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1992/casey-0520.html

2007 is the 50th anniversary of Helvetica,

the pioneering sans serif font and the

one Jacquie preferred.  But, depending

on your browser, you may be seeing this

in Arial - a font preferred by Microsoft

because it is cheaper. 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetica

MM