Civilian devices could hinder Huachuca testing

[unhappycamper]

Civilian devices could hinder Huachuca testing
By Aaron Mackey - Arizona Daily Star via AP
Posted : Sunday Apr 13, 2008 15:46:59 EDT

TUCSON, Ariz. — Civic and Army leaders are hoping to stop an unforeseen force from limiting future operations at Fort Huachuca, the military’s sole outpost for sensitive electronic testing.

Sitting in a bowl surrounded by mountains roughly 75 miles southeast of Tucson, the Sierra Vista post is home to the Army’s Electronic Proving Ground, where military equipment undergoes extensive radio-frequency testing.

The terrain, shielded from radio waves by the metal-rich mountains, is the only place in the United States where such testing can occur, officials say.

Yet as more people move into the surrounding area — bringing with them cell phones, ham radios and other electronic devices — the radio frequencies used by fort officials are seeing an increasing amount of interference.

While officials say there’s no immediate danger to the proving ground — a key mission that led to the post reopening in 1954 — they worry that the radio-frequency encroachment, while mostly unnoticed by the public, one day could become a tangible problem similar to aircraft noise around Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.


Rest of aticle at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_huachuca_testing_041308/



uhc comment: I think it's rich that electronic devices have been declared "an unforeseen force".