text:
Low power multi-function cellular television system
A multi-function cellular television system includes transmitting antennas located in an array such that the transmitted signals of adjacent antennas are of substantially differing polarity. The system provides for a variety of two-way communication services including television, both public and private programming, digital two-way transmission, special video teleconferencing, radio programming and telephone services. A low power output coupled with a wide bandwidth in the 27.5 to 29.5 GHZ millimeter wave band region is employed along with very high Q filtering intermodulation and interference reduction circuitry. The system has the ability to transmit, retransmit and receive numerous simultaneous signals with little or no modulation distortion or interaction. Further reduction of distortion is achieved through the use of modulation diversity, frequency diversity and space diversity.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a low power, point to multipoint, multi-function cellular television system.
2. Description of Related Art
Low power television has been the object of many recent investigations. A useful discussion can be found in the article entitled "Low-Power Television--Short Range, Low Cost TV Stations are in the Offing as the FCC Prepares to Establish Broadcast Requirements" that appeared in the IEEE Spectrum, Pages 54 through 59, June 1982.
Multi-point radio communication is discussed in some U.S. Patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,656. There are also existing applications for polarization diversity between transmitting and receiving antennas. It is known that two way satellite communications often involves the use of vertically or horizontally polarized signals which communicate respectively with vertically and horizontally polarized signals from earth. There also exists some limited circumstances where individual horizontal and vertical diversity is employed. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,288,802 which describes a system of transmission between two stations wherein vertically polarized waves travel in one direction and horizontal polarized waves travel in another. However, it should be noted that the concept of polarization diversity is normally limited to two transmitting stations and not to arrays of receiving and transmitting antennas.
The use of directional antennas is found in certain contexts. Note, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,450 which describes the use of a directional receiver for receiving a signal from an omni-directional transmitting antenna. Other patents that discuss polarized modulation or the use of horizontal vs. vertical polarization in the context of radio transmissions include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,992,427; 3,882,393; 4,220,923; 4,321,705 and 4,521,878.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,495,648 is of possible relevance in that it appears to disclose a concept for monitoring a radio signal at a distant location and then modifying the transmission to adjust the output power of the originating transmitter. Phase-lock loops are occasionally used in the context of radio receivers. Note for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,540.
One major problem associated with low power television and high frequency transmissions is fading due to rainfall and the like. A brief discussion of that problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,220 entitled CIRCUIT AND METHOD FOR REDUCING POLARIZATION CROSS-TALK CAUSED BY RAINFALL.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,864,633 and 4,525,861 may be of general relevance.
While certain elements of the present invention may be found in other contexts, insofar as can be determined, none of the relevant literature suggests a low power multiple carrier cellular television system having the efficiency and lack of distortion of the invention set forth in this disclosure.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described the invention comprises a low power cellular television system that employs polarization diversity to substantially decrease intermodulation distortion. An array of transmitting antennas is organized such that horizontally and vertically polarized transmitters alternate throughout the system.
Each receiver with its appropriate narrow beamwidth antenna is directed at a specific transmitting antenna and adapted to receive signals only of the frequency and polarization of the transmitting antenna. The system preferably operates in the 27.5 to 29.5 GHz millimeter waveband thereby providing broad bandwidth but relatively short, line of sight transmission distances. Substantial isolation is achieved between neighboring transmission systems by means of polarization, amplitude adjustment, modulation techniques, frequency and space diversity as well as through the use of high Q filtering. Intermodulation levels are controlled by adjusting the multiple input levels of the receiver. Due to the substantial isolation between alternate communication carriers and broad bandwidth of the system it is possible to provide a variety of additional services such as two-way television, both for public and private programming, digital two-way transmission, special video teleconferencing, radio programming and telephone service. If the transmission from the transmitter to the receiver is made with vertically polarized signals, then the receiver will preferably transmit back with horizontally polarized signals. Individual transmitters and receivers include novel circuitry that further increases the selectivity and isolation of the system as a whole. Given the substantial electrical isolation of individual transmitters and receivers it is possible to establish a system which covers a large area without interference on the multiple receivers.
These and other features of the invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a receiver according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of an alternative frequency plan.
FIG. 1C is a schematic of a receiver having repeater rebroadcast capabilities.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the transmitter according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 3 is a top plane view illustrating the overall organization of the antenna array with respect to individual transmitter and receiver stations.
FIG. 4A illustrates the spacial diversity of transmitter and subscriber receiver antennas within a given cell of the system.
FIG. 4B illustrates the relationship between two or more subscriber receiving stations and their common omnidirectional antennas within a given cell of the system.
FIG. 5A illustrates an extended cell employing a repeater station to extend the range of the system.
FIG. 5B is a plan view of an extended cell such as illustrated in FIG. 5A.
FIG. 6 is a graph of the characteristic of the improved transmitter phase filter.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
During the course of this description like numbers will be used to identify like elements according to the different figures which illustrate the invention.
It is easiest to understand the invention by first focusing on the smallest common element, namely the receiver 10 illustrated in FIG. 1A and then working up through the transmitter system 60 illustrated in FIG. 2 to the overall system 200 illustrated in FIG. 3. Each receiver 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the invention includes an antenna 12 having elements 14 and 16 for receiving vertically polarized signals Tx 64 and transmitting horizontally polarized signals Tr 68 respectively. Accordingly, antenna 12 is used for polarization diverse transmission and reception that may be implemented either by two separate antennas having two different polarizations or by a single antenna 12 combining the two polarization capabilities as illustrated in FIG. 1A. Local oscillator 26 generates a signal that is mixed with the incoming 27.5 to 29.5 GHz modulated carrier in a first frequency converter FC#1 18 to produce in the case of television reception a 200 to 2200 MHz frequency modulated band containing a number of video signals with audio subcarriers. The output signal is amplified by amplifier 20 and directly coupled through coupler 22 to a second frequency converter FC#2 28. A portion of the signal from the first frequency converter FC#1 18 is fed back to local oscillator 26 through discriminator 24. The voltage fed back to local oscillator 26 controls its frequency so as to lock it to the master oscillator frequency L.sub.1 at the omni-directional transmitter station 60 illustrated in FIG. 2. Accordingly, discriminator 24 and local variable oscillator 26 form part of a phase locked loop. Thus, even if a given omni-directional transmitter 60 drifts as a function of temperature or time, all receivers 10 will track it without the need for expensive crystal controlled master oscillators or local oscillators within the receivers 10 themselves. Signals from the second frequency converter FC#2 28 are fed through amplifier 30 and filter 32 to discriminator 34. A portion of the signal from discriminator 34 is fed back to manually tunable local oscillator 38 whose output is also fed back as a second input to the second frequency converter FC#2 28. Oscillator 38 is manually tunable by control 48. The foregoing demodulation invention is especially efficient and low cost in that only one specific signal is selected through the use of manually tuned oscillator 38 and the automatic frequency control (AFC) loop in which it is found. Amplifier 36 amplifies the signal from discriminator 34 and produces an amplified output at terminal 50. Nearly all interfering oscillators from other cells will vary at different frequency rates in a random fashion thereby being further attenuated by the strong signal capture characteristics of oscillator 26 dictated by the prime amplitude modulated signal in the principle cell. The result is an amplitude modulated signal at discriminator 34 which coincides with the standard VHF television channels 3 or 4 on a video monitor receiver. Accordingly, the signal at output terminal 50 can be fed directly to a standard television receiver.
______________________________________ Element Element Number Name General Description Vendor ______________________________________ 12 Antenna Dual polarization 1 to MA/COM 2 Ft dia. horn 2" to 6" Seavey Stripline (duroid) array (Feed) [gain and directivity Ball Brothers on area] Frequency 27.5 to 29.5 GHz 100 Directional 10 dB directional coupler Krytan coupler WR 28 waveguide MDC 13 Variable 0 to 20 dB attenuation Narda attenuator WR 28 waveguide 18 Frequency Conversion loss, Lc = TRW Converter 10 dB max Microwave FLO = 27.3 GHz Local RHG oscillator, drive > +10 MA/COM 10 dBm < +15 dBm VSWR 2:1, noise figure 12 dB, max Dynamic Range (1 MHz band- width) = 110 dB 20 Amplifier Gain 20 to 40 dB Mini frequency 200 to 2200 circuits MHz 1 dB compression Trontech (output) +15 dBm 22 Coupler 10 dB to 20 dB, frequency Narda 200 to 2200 MHz Microlab FXR 24, 26 AFC Frequency 27.300 GHz MA/COM Oscillator Power output +15 dBm Gunnplexer lock range 30 MHz 28 Frequency Frequency 200 to 2200 RHG Converter MHz double balanced Trontech image rejection, dynamic range (1 MHz bandwidth) = 110 dBm Local oscillator 130 to 2130 MHz, Noise figure 15 dB max 30 Amplifier Frequency 200 MHz, AGC, Trontech Gain 20 to 40 dB 34, 38 Oscillator Mechanically tuned plo Multiple frequency 130 & is to Vendors 2130 MHz (could be in 2-4 bands) power output +15 dBm 36 20 dB video amplifier Multiple frequency 0 to 6.5 MHz Vendors 11 Antenna Same as 12 except single See above polarization Antenna 12 313 Variable WR-28, WG, 0 to 20 dB Narda Attenuator 318 FC #1 Conversion loss 10 dB max TRW noise figure 12 db RHG Time MW 320 Amplifier G = 20 dB, N.F. = 2.5 Trontech dB freq. 940-1440 MHz or Tx Engr. freq. 440-940 MHz 321 Receiver Freq. = 940-1440 MHz Scientific or = 440-940 MHz Atlanta Tx Engr. General Instrument Adams Russell ______________________________________
An alternate frequency plan scheme utilizing the same basic concept is to divide the incoming 27.5 to 29.5 GH.sub.z signal band into four equal 500 MHZ segments as shown in FIG. 1B. This alternative system can employ fixed cavity stabilized oscillators or the frequency control system outlined previously.
______________________________________ Element Element Number Name General Description ______________________________________ 313 Variable Automatic level adjustment attenuation 318 Frequency Balanced or double balanced Converter in order to achieve 60 dB image rejection conversion loss 7 dB max single sideband noise figure 10 dB max (with IF N.F. = 2.5 dB VSWR 1.5:1 L.O. level +10 dBm per pair diodes 320 Amplifier Gain = 16 dB min Noise figure 2.5 dB max 1 dB gain compression = 10 dBm, input/output VSWR 1.5:1, reverse isolation 30 dB Local Oscillator Power output +16 dBm or +10 dBm (balanced or double balanced), frequency tunable 26.55-28.05 GHz with AFC to L1 (or cavity stabilized fixed frequency) ______________________________________
A two-way transmission format is made possible by employing the horizontal polarization transmission portion 16 of the antenna 12. The local system oscillator 26, which is frequency synchronized to one amplitude modulated carrier among the multiple frequency modulated carriers of the omni-directional transmitter 60, is used to drive offset mixer 44 which also receives an input from the fixed offset oscillator 43. The resultant signal is mixed in another mixer 42 with the digitized and/or amplitude modulated audio signal the result of which is amplified by amplifier 46 and transmitted in the horizontal polarization mode by antenna element 16 as signal Tr 68.
Ghosting due to multipath propogation is eliminated because of the high selectivity narrow beamwidth of the receiver antenna 12 which is preferably placed facing the direction of the strongest transmitting antenna 62 in the array. The beamwidth of the preferred embodiment of the receiver antenna 12 is approximately 1 to 2 degrees which is sufficiently narrow when combined with a system of alternately horizontal and vertically polarized transmitting antennas T.sub.H and T.sub.V as shown in FIG. 3 to substantially eliminate distortion. Lower gain and/or wider beamwidth antennas may be used for receivers which are located nearby the transmitting antennas. Since all desired signals should be appearing at the antenna 12 at the same level, the intermodulation level of the system 200 is controlled by adjusting the signal to noise level of the system to a predetermined value. For input signals of -40 dBm (32 dB greater than that required for excellent video quality in an FM system) and a local oscillator level of approximately +10 dBm, the expected fourth order in-band intermodulation levels would be approximately -110 dBm which is below the noise level for a typical receiver with a -72 dBm minimum acceptable signal level for excellent quality video. Cellular power levels can be maintained throughout various levels of rainfall by a receiver re-transmitter at fringe areas which feeds information back to the omni-directional transmitters 60 to change their output power or by automatic adjustment of the variable attenuator 13 for receivers not in fringe areas.
A block diagram schematic of the preferred embodiment of the transmitter 60 is illustrated in FIG. 2. Transmitter 60 is at the omni-directional radiating node of a group of cells 214H and 214V in geographical array 200 illustrated in FIG. 3. A pair of multiplexer circuits 70 and 86 are used to provide frequency and digital multiplexing of a variety of signals which are to be radiated from omni-directional antenna 62. A group of signals 72 including L.sub.1, V.sub.1, V.sub.2, . . . V.sub.n are fed into FM multiplexer 70 producing a modulation band of information in the frequency range of 200 to 2200 MHz. The output band is converted by up-converter PUC 74 to the frequency range of 27.5 to 28.5 GHz according to the present example. Simultaneously an equal spectrum of digital signals 84 comprising inputs A.sub.1, A.sub.2 . . . A.sub.n are multiplexed in digital multiplexer 86 and up-converted in PUC 88 to frequencies in the range of 28.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz. The 27.5 to 28.5 GHz signal from PUC 74 is filtered by phase filter 75 and fed as a first input to power amplifier 80. A second phase filter 91 receives the 28.5 GHz to 29.5 GHz output from PUC 88 and supplies a second input to power amplifier 80.
The phase filter design 75 utilizes both the amplitude and abrupt phase shift characteristic of an LC network, 77, to provide a performance characteristic which is substantially better than that achievable with the same LC network used in normal configuration. See FIG. 6. The phase network 75 when used to synthesize a band reject filter characteristic results in a typical rejection performance which is 50 dB using typical resonator Q's of 100. This compares to a conventional band reject filter performance of only 16 dB using LC filter elements with the same Q of 100.
The input signal coming into phase filter 75 is divided by a power splitter transformer, 76, into two paths; one containing an LC network 77 and the other an amplitude adjustment 78. LC network 77 could comprise an inductor, a capacitor and a resistor in series. Amplitude adjustment circuit 78 could comprise a conventional variable resistor. The output of these paths is then combined (i.e., added) by a power splitter 79 similar to power splitter 76.
The performance characteristic of a network using 77 and 78 as described above is ##EQU1##
The resultant is a band pass filter network achieved by adding a 180 degree phase shift to one of the paths of the filter which exhibits a band reject characteristic with a rejection point substantially greater than that of a conventional filter with similar elements due to the vectorial cancellation.
Typical performance compared to conventional network using L=520.5 nH, C=2.12 pF is given in FIG. 6. Phase filter networks 91 and 107 work in the same manner as phase filter 75 just described.
The resulting 2 GHz (29.5-27.5 GHz) of information bandwidth is amplified by linear power amplifier 80 and then radiated to a large number of system subscribers 10 within the geographic cell 214H or 214V near omni-directional antenna 62 or via a small number of quadrant directional antennas. Omni-directional antenna 62 produces a vertically polarized transmitted signal Tx 64 which is received by the vertically oriented element 14 of each of the directionally oriented receiver antennas 12. The specific subdivision of 2 GHz of available bandwidth given in this example may vary with particular cells 214H and 214V within the system array 300, according to the need for and mixture of video and digital transmission requirements.
Up converters PUC 74 and 88 are balanced so that the frequency of master oscillator 61, for purposes of this example operating at 27,300 MHz is suppressed. A lower side band of frequencies is redundant to the transmission and are eliminated by the two differential phase shift filters 75 and 91. If more lower side band reduction is required to minimize interchannel interference, then a double balanced mixer will be used.
The foregoing technique permits a wide variety of signal formats to be efficiently combined into a single millimeter wave carrier. This form of multiplexing allows, for example, for the use of low frequency oscillators with moderate stability (for example one part in ten to the fourth power at 100 MHz) to be translated into a variation at 28,000 MHz of 3.7 parts in 10 million assuming the oscillator locking scheme previously described. The omni-directional broadcast transmitter 60 functions as the master node of each cell 214H or 214V and simultaneously acts as a receiving site for signals radiated back from individual subscriber receivers 10. The return signals T.sub.R 68 may represent a variety of communication services including, but not limited to, telephone digital data communications and video conferencing. Because of the large absolute signal bandwidths available in the millimeter frequency range, for example, up to 500 MHz of signal bandwidth might be allocated to this return path according to the specific needs of a particular local community. A variety of signal formats as well as simultaneous telephone channels can be accommodated. The receiver channel is isolated to a large extent by the polarization diversity between vertically transmitted signal T.sub.X 64 and horizontally polarized received signal T.sub.R 68. Further isolation is achieved by the frequency diversity of the transmitted signal T.sub.X 64 and the received signal T.sub.R 68 and by the space displacement of the multiple ring locations of the transmitter and receiver antennas as shown in FIG. 4A. The transmitter antenna is always located forward of the receiver antennas. Any residual transmitter energy entering the received signal port 68 through reflections that is not severely attenuated by polarization will be sharply filtered using another differential phase shift filter 107 before being amplified by low noise intermediate microwave amplifier 112 and down converted by frequency converter FC# 1 114 to a wide bandwidth of signals. The dynamic range of FC#1 is increased by using a large oscillator power at 114 and or multiple mixer diodes. This additional linearity minimizes intermodulation distortion due to the reception of multiple desired signals of unequal level or the unintentional reception of transmitter leakage. The intrinsic differentiation between frequency and amplitude modulation signal further reduces the effect of distortion and retains the fidelity of the system. Since the incoming signals are from a multitude of transmitters located at various distances from the receiver 68 the use of an input variable attenuator 13 as in the receiver is not desired. The output frequencies can then be demultiplexed by demultiplexer 115 and switched to retransmission format An. Individual carrier signals from frequency converter FC#1 114 are also amplified by amplifier 116 and forwarded to another frequency converter FC#2 118. The output from frequency converter FC#2 118 is amplified by amplifier 121 and forwarded to discriminator 122 the output of which is individual demodulated carrier frequencies. A portion of the signal from discriminator 122 is fed back through feedback path 125 of a locking signal to variable oscillator 120 thereby stabilizing the oscillator to the input frequency converter FC#2 118. Therefore the channel to be monitored is determined by the manual adjustment of 120 and feedback path 125 which provides automatic frequency control on a single channel basis. Oscillator 120 is preferably a free running mechanical or electronically controllable variable oscillator. The Multiple digital coded signals An's, are transmitted periodically with various codes in order to activate or deactivate the individual receivers 10 located within the cells 214H or 214V. Frequency converter FC#1 114 receives its second input from up converter 96 through phase filter 99. Up converter 96 receives one input from oscillator 61 and a second input from an offset oscillator 98. Another portion of the signal from oscillator 61 is filtered through phase filter 71 to up converter PUC 88. Another offset oscillator 73 provides a second input to phase filter 71.
______________________________________ Element Element Number Name General Description Vendor ______________________________________ 70 Multiplexer Multichannel FM multi- Standard plexer using modified Unit standard models as special designs. Could be standard unit presently used by cable industry. 74, 88 Up High level up converter TRW 96 converter for 27.5 to 29.5 GHz Trontech 61 Local Gunn oscillator fixed at MA/COM Oscillator difference frequency between 75 and 70 maximum 70 input level lmw 75 Filters See FIG. 2. See FIG. 2 80 Power Frequency 27.5-29.5 Higher Amplifier GHz power output 1 WATT or 60 WATTS 107, 91, Filter Special design See FIG. 2 71, 99 112 Low noise Gain 20 dB See FIG. 2 HEMP N.F. 3 dB Amplifier frequency 27.5 to 29.5 GHz 114 Frequency Dynamic range 100 dB Trontech converter N.F. = 12 dB ______________________________________
An understanding of the details of the subscriber receivers 10 and the omni-directional transmitter stations 60 is important to an understanding of the system 200 illustrated in FIG. 3 as a whole. The array 200 of transmitting antennas is comprised of horizontally polarized antennas T.sub.H 204 and vertically polarized antennas T.sub.V 206 each inside a cell 214H or 214V respectively. The various transmitting antennas T.sub.H and T.sub.V could have random frequency variations thereby offering additional interference reduction from receivers in adjacent cells or could be amplitude controlled depending upon terrain and or weather conditions thereby also minimizing adjacent cell interference and allowing for a backbone network in which the said cells are slaved to a master cell in the backbone network. The specific transmitter 60 illustrated in FIG. 2 transmits a vertically polarized signal T.sub.X 64 such as might be transmitted by antenna 206. Accordingly, antenna 62 illustrated in FIG. 2 is essentially identical to any one of the vertically polarized antennas 206 in FIG. 3. Horizontally polarized antennas 204 are preferably positioned in the regular array such that its nearest neighbor is a vertically polarized antenna 206 rather than a horizontally polarized antenna 204. Therefore, when moving in any direction through transmitting antenna array 200 one will encounter alternating antennas 204, 206, 204, 206, 204, etc. Each omni-directional transmitting antenna 204, 206 has associated with it a group of receiving antennas including horizontally polarized antennas and vertically polarized antennas. Horizontal receiving antennas are adapted to receive horizontally polarized signals from horizontal transmitting antennas 204. Likewise vertically polarized receiving antennas are adapted to receive vertically polarized signals like T.sub.X 64 from antennas 206 which are similar to antennas 62 illustrated in FIG. 2. The relatively narrow beam width of the receiver antenna directed toward the central transmitter 204 will minimize the interference from cell 214H. Each individual transmitting antenna T.sub.H or T.sub.V 204 or 206 forms the central node of a cell 214H or 214V which typically includes one or more subscriber stations 210 or 212.
A typical cell 214V in its simplest form is illustrated in FIG. 4A. An omni or quadrant directional broadcast/receiver system 60 using low gain, space diversity antennas 62 and 66 is directed towards a high gain subscriber, dual polarization receiver 10 equipped for polarization diversity transmit/receive isolation. Vertically polarized transmitter antenna 62 produces a transmission pattern 216 that is received within the reception field 220 of subscriber antenna element 14. Similarly, transmission from the subscriber station 10 emanates from antenna element 16 as a horizontally polarized signal 222 (like T.sub.R 66) which is received within reception field 218 of transmitter receiving antenna 66. FIG. 4B illustrates a cell 214 in which two subscribers 212A and 212B communicate with a single omni-directional transmitter T.sub.V 206. In this case the transmitter T.sub.V 206 produces a vertically polarized substantially omni-directional signal 216 which is received by receivers 212A and 212B. Subscribers 212A and 212B respond back with narrow divergence, 2 degree, horizontally polarized signals 222A and 222B respectively which are received by node transmitter T.sub.V 206.
The reception within an individual node 214 can be improved by means of repeaters so as to cover those areas masked by various obstacles between transmitter and receiver sites. The directional coupler 22A located in certain receiver repeaters, FIG. 1C, is used to couple the received intermediate block signal by use of amplifier 102, up convert it by single sideband converter 103, and amplify again by amplifier 104 at millimeter wave frequencies. This signal is retransmitted by antenna 11 at an orthogonal polarization to the received signal, in this case horizontal, to other subscribers which may be masked from the central node signal. Since the received signal Tx has a vertical polarization the retransmitted signal T.sub.RR has a horizontal polarization.
______________________________________ Element Number Element Port Specification ______________________________________ 102 Amplifier Gain 75 dB typ. ALC power output = +10 dBm 1 dB compression = +23 dBm 103 high level Lc 8 dB converter Pin = +10 dBm L.O. drive = +17 dBm 104 HEMP Power output +16 dBm Amplifier (1 dB compression) Gain 15 dB ______________________________________
This is an ideal method to cover streets in a city with large buildings on either side. An extended cell system 240 is illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A an omni or quadrant broadcast transmitter system 60 located on a first hill 232 produces a vertically or horizontally polarized signal from antenna 62. A typical direct subscriber receiver system 10 located in first valley 234 receives the signal through its antenna 12. So far the system thus described is identical to the system disclosed in FIGS. 1 through 4B. However, an indirect subscriber 230 located in a second valley 238 behind a second hill 236 is shielded from the signals of transmitter 60 and under normal conditions would not be able to receive its signals. By placing a repeater 224 on top of second hill 236 it is possible to relay signals from transmitter 60 to the indirect subscriber 230. Signals from omni-transmitter 60 are received by repeater antennas 226 and retransmitted out of antenna 228 to antenna 12 of the indirect subscriber 230. In this manner the effective range of omni-directional transmitter 60 is substantially increased by the use of complimentary polarization repeaters 224. Repeaters 224 may be independent stand alone units or may be incorporated into the receiver system 10 of the subscriber. Theoretically the range of an individual transmitter cell 214 can be extended by the use of a large number of repeaters 224 limited only by the noise reproduction at each repeater. Low power HEMP devices should enable in the multiple rebroadcast of a single central mode transmitter. FIG. 5B illustrates in a schematic top plan view how an omni-directional transmitter 60 can be located at the center of a mixed cell node including direct subscribers 10, indirect subscribers 230 and subscriber repeaters 224. The ability to extend a mixed system 240 depends significantly upon the terrain and population characteristics of the environment. For example, in a major urban area it would probably be desirable to have a closely packed array having omni-directional low power transmitters 60 alternating between vertically and horizontally polarized signals regularly spaced throughout the system. Alternatively, in more rural areas it is probably desirable to expand the area of an individual mixed cell node thereby spreading out the size of the overall system 24. Repeaters 224, utilizing high gain antennas, are preferably of the low gain variety which provide ducting of the omni-directional radiated signal along paths to receiver sites 230 which do not lie on a straight line with the omni-directional antenna 62 of the transmitter system 60. In the process of providing the signal repeat function, the repeater transmitter antennas 226 and 228 will preferably alter the polarization of the output signal to prevent multi-path fading as might occur when the repeat signal mixes with a direct signal from the omni antenna site 60.
Because of the inherently broad bandwidth capability of the multifunction cellular system 200, it may be desirable to distribute and routinely upgrade a unique set of customer authorization codes by which user sites can be authorized to receive any desired set or subset of programming and two way transmission system services. For example, once per day or even once per hour a new set of codes could be radiated to all individual users enabling those who subscribe to qualify them to receive special broadcasts or to participate in special system services such as video conferencing and so forth. Effective two way capability is not readily provided in prior art cable systems because of the need for numerous two way cable system amplifiers. However, this function can be achieved with the present invention economically in millimeter wave cellular system 200 because each site 10, 224 and 230 can have its own low power transmitter in the range of approximately 50 to 100 milliwatts. That power combined with the high gain of the receiver site antenna, typically in the range of 30 to 40 db, and narrow noise bandwidth gives them an effective radiated power (ERP) commensurate with that of the omni-directional transmission site 60. Thus two way high quality transmission and reception of signals between the master site 60 and the user sites 10, 224 and 230 is possible on a simultaneous basis.
A variety of other uses for the capabilities of the system 200 can be envisioned. For example, while receiving any selected television channel a user 10 could simultaneously be transmitting digital data back to the central site 60 containing orders for purchase that the subscriber may wish to make from stores and other vendors who subscribe to the system 200. Alternatively and simultaneously the subscriber might be transmitting digital data to the subscriber's bank or broker with specific banking and stock purchase orders. The relatively narrow beam width of the receiver antenna 210 directed toward the central transmitter 204 will minimize the interference from cell 214H. Finally, the subscriber might be communicating via telephone, carried by the system 200 rather than twisted pair telegraph wires, to the central node 60 which in turn could be patched to the public telephone network. Again, because of the frequency, polarization and space diversity aspects of the system 200, full two way communicative capabilities exist in a simultaneous fashion between any and all users 10, 224 and 230 and each central node 60 of the cellular site 200.
In summary, the system 200 is a means for providing communities, subdivided into approximately 10 mile diameter cells 214, a variety of two way communication services including television, both for public and private programming, digital two way transmission, special video teleconferencing, radio programming, and telephone services. This variety of simultaneous communication services is possible because of the broad bandwidth available in the 27.5 to 29.5 GHz millimeter wave bands, the unique method of providing very high Q filtering, ghosting reduction and the ability to transmit and receive numerous simultaneous signals with little or no intermodulation distortion or interaction with a moderate cost receiver.
The characteristics of the present system 200 have overcome prior art difficulties through a unique combination of separate techniques.
Polarization diversity is employed within individual cells to provide a measure of isolation between the omni-directional broadcast signals from stations 60 and the signals which return from the user sites 10, 224 or 230. For example, polarization might be used for omni-directional transmission and horizontal polarization used for signals returning from individual receiver sites 10, 224 or 230 to the omni-directional broadcast site mode 60. Adjacent geographic cells then use the reverse order of polarizations, in this case horizontal polarizations for transmission from the omni-directional transmission site 60 and vertical polarization for the signals returning from individual subscriber receivers 10, 224 and 230 to the omni site 60. In this manner polarization diversity has been used to provide maximum isolation between transmitted and received signals within a given cell 214 as well as to isolate adjacent transmission sites 60 from each other. Moreover, rebroadcast low gain repeater amplifiers 224 with reverse polarization can be strategically placed throughout the system 200 to redirect and strengthen signals to those areas 238 with less than normal minimum signal levels. Accordingly, there is not only polarization between adjacent transmitters 60, but also between the transmitters and subsequent repeaters 224 within the same individual cell 214.
Modulation diversity provides a level of decoupling between omni transmitted signals and the signals received at the omni site. Thus, for example, frequency modulation might be used for transmission from the omni site 60 while amplitude modulation or digital transmission can be used for signals returning to the master node 60 of the system 200.
Frequency diversity can be used both to separate different signals being simultaneously broadcast from the omni-directional site 60 as well as to separate signals returning from individual users 10, 224 and 230 as, for example, telephone channels, back to the master node 60.
Space diversity provides an added measure of isolation between the omni-directional radiating antenna 62 and the receiving antenna 66 located at the omni-directional site 60. As shown in FIG. 4A this can be accomplished by locating the high power transmitting antenna 62 physically in front of the low power receiving antenna 66 at the master node 60. The fact that the receiver antenna 12 has approximately 2 degrees of reception width further spacially isolates individual subscribers 10, 224 and 230 from neighboring antenna systems. Moreover, the narrow band of the receiving antenna 12 further enhances the separation effectiveness of the transmitter node antennas 62 and 66. In other words the dual ring design allows for maximum isolation. The intrinsic isolation of the transmitting antenna 62, in addition to the polarization diversity also employed, helps to prevent high power transmitter signals and noise from being received in the return channel of the receiver antenna 66 at the transmitter site 60. Additional interference reduction capabilities is provided by the input level control at each receiver.
The entire system 200 employs a self-synchronizing frequency reference, thereby obviating the need for an expensive crystal controlled master oscillator at either the omni-directional 60 or receiver sites 10, 224 and 230. The self-synchronizing method employs the use of a low frequency tone modulation at the omni-directional high power transmitter site 60 designated as L.sub.1 in the input 72 of FM multiplexer 70. All receiver sites 10, 224 and 230 include a local oscillator 26 which is tuned through the use of the reference tone L.sub.1 to remain in synchronism with the master oscillator of the omni-directional transmitter system 60 as part of a phase lock loop system. Accordingly, all transmit and receive frequencies are synchronized within a covered cell 214. The random frequency variation of the master oscillator frequency 61 in each cell 214 coupled with the high directivity of the receiver antenna 12 provides the final degree of high isolation required for satisfactory system performance.
Lastly, the use of differential phase shift filters 75, 91 and 107 is employed throughout the system 200 to provide very high frequency isolation at low cost. This technique allows for the precise signal filtering necessary to take fullest advantage of the multi-channel capabilities of the communication system 200. These filters could have rejection capabilities as deep as 60 dB (typically 40 dB). Whereas normal band rejection filter would yield only 15 dB (Q=100).
While the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made to the structure and function of the individual parts of the system without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as a whole.
1. A low power, multi-function cellular television system including a plurality of low power cell node transmitter and a plurality of receivers comprising:
- a plurality of substantially omni-directional transmitting antennas connected to cell node transmitter stations; and,
- a plurality of directional receiving antennas connected to subscriber receiver stations and directed to receive a television signal from only one of said omni-directional transmitting antennas.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said receiving antennas have a signal pick-up angle of approximately 2 degrees.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein said transmitting antennas include:
- a first group of transmitting antennas for transmitting a signal with a first given transmitted polarity; and,
- a second group of transmitting antennas for transmitting a signal with a second given transmitted polarity different from the polarity of the signals of said first group of transmitting antennas.
4. The system of claim 3 wherein said receiving antennas include:
- a first group of receiving antennas for receiving signals of said first transmitted polarity; and,
- a second group of receiving antennas for receiving signals of said second transmitted polarity.
5. The system of claim 4 further comprising:
- subscriber transmitter means for transmitting a signal from a subscriber receiving station to a cell node transmitter station, and,
- cell node transmitter station receiving means for receiving said signals from said subscriber transmitter means,
- wherein said signals transmitted by said cell node transmitter stations are different in frequency from the signals received by said cell node transmitter stations.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein at least some of said transmitted frequencies from said cell node transmitter stations are different from each other.
7. The system of claim 6 wherein at least some of said receiving frequencies from said subscriber receiving stations are different from each other.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein the modulation mode of at least some of said transmitted signals from said cell node transmitter stations are different from the modulation mode of at least some of said received signals of said subscriber receiving stations.
9. The system of claim 2 wherein said transmitting antennas of said cell node transmitter stations are located in an array such that the polarity of the transmitted signals of adjacent transmitting antennas of said cell node transmitter stations are different.
10. The system of claim 9 further comprising:
- repeater means for receiving signals from said omni-directional transmitting antennas and retransmitting said signals to the directional receiving antennas of individual subscriber receiving station.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein the signals transmitted by said repeater means are of a different polarity from the signals received by said repeater means.
12. The system of claim 9 wherein said cell node transmitters include a transmitting antenna for transmitting a signal with a first given polarity and a receiving antenna for receiving signals of a second given polarity different from said first given polarity.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein said subscriber receiver stations include a receiving antenna polarized to receive the signal from said first antenna of said cell node transmitter, said subscriber receiver station also including a transmitter antenna polarized to transmit signals back to the receiving antenna of said cell node transmitter station.
14. The system of claim 13 wherein the transmitting and receiving antennas of the cell node transmitters are physically separated so that one is in front of the other.
15. The system of claim 13 wherein said central node transmitter stations include:
- a master oscillator;
- wherein said subscriber receiver stations include a phase lock loop for locking onto the frequency of said master oscillator in said cell node transmitters stations,
- wherein the phase look loops in said subscriber receiver stations synchronize the receiver with the frequencies of said cell node transmitter stations.
16. The system of claim 15 wherein said subscriber receiver stations include:
- differential phase shift filter means for filtering out unwanted frequencies.
17. The system of claim 16 wherein said cell node transmitter stations include:
- FM multiplexer for multiplexing a plurality of signals;
- a first converter for converting the output from said FM multiplexer;
- a first differential phase shift filter for filtering the output from said first converter;
- power amplifier means having a first and second input for producing an amplified output;
- digital multiplexer means for digitally multiplexing a second plurality of signals;
- second converter connected to said digital multiplexer for converting the output frequency from said digital multiplexer;
- local oscillator means for providing a second input to said first converter;
- phase shifting means connected to said local oscillator means and to said second converter for providing a second frequency input to said second converter;
- second differential phase shift filter connected to the output of said second converter, the output of said second differential phase shift filter providing the second input to said power amplifier means;
- first antenna coupling means attached to the output of said power amplifier means, said coupling means having an output attached to the transmitting antenna of said cell node transmitter station.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein said cell node transmitter stations further include;
- a second antenna coupling means connected to the receiving antenna of said cell node transmitter station;
- third differential phase shift filter connected to the output of said second antenna coupling means;
- first frequency converter connected to the output of said third differential phase shift filter;
- demultiplexer means connected to the output of said first frequency converter;
- second frequency converter having an input connected to the output of said first frequency converter;
- feedback means forming a second input to said second frequency converter;
- discriminator means connected to the output of said second frequency converter, the output of said discriminator means being coupled to the output of said cellular node transmitter station; and,
- third converter having an input connected to said local oscillator means and an output connected to said first frequency converter.
19. The system of claim 18 wherein said subscriber receiver stations include:
- a first frequency converter connected to the receiving element of said antenna of said subscriber receiver station;
- coupler means connected to the output of said first frequency converter;
- first oscillator means having a frequency control connection connected to said coupler means, the output of said first oscillator means connected as a second input to said first frequency converter;
- second frequency converter having an input connected to the output of said coupler means;
- discriminator means connected to the output of said second frequency converter;
- second oscillator means having a control input terminal thereof connected to the output of said discriminator means, said second oscillator means further having an output terminal thereof connected as a second input to said second frequency converter; and,
- manually tunable means connected to said second oscillator means for tuning said second oscillator means, wherein the output from said discriminator means forms the input to a conventional television set.
20. The system of claim 19 further comprising:
- an offset mixer connected to the output of said first oscillator means;
- third oscillator means connected as a second input to said offset mixer;
- a second mixer connected to the output of said offset mixer, said second mixer having a second input connected to a source of audio digital data,
- wherein the output from said second mixer is connected to the transmitting antenna of said subscriber receiver station for transmitting signals back to said cell node transmitter stations with a polarity different from the signals received from said cell node transmitter stations.
|July 1942
|Hammond, Jr.
|July 1961
|June 1962
|February 1975
|May 1975
|December 5, 1978
|September 2, 1980
|Pelchat et al.
|October 14, 1980
|January 26, 1982
|Lo et al.
|February 23, 1982
|March 23, 1982
|January 18, 1983
|Cerny, Jr. et al.
|January 22, 1985
|April 23, 1985
|June 4, 1985
|June 25, 1985
|July 9, 1985
|March 25, 1986
|December 30, 1986
|April 21, 1987
|November 3, 1987
Type: Grant
Filed: Mar 13, 1987
Date of Patent: May 24, 1988
Assignee: Suite 12 Group (Freehold, NJ)
Inventor: Bernard Bossard (Medfield, MA)
Primary Examiner: Robert Lev
Attorney: Richard C. Woodbridge
Application Number: 7/25,720
International Classification: H04B 110;


text:
Talk:Elizabeta Torres
| This talk page is for discussing the Elizabeta Torres article.
This includes commenting on the article, questioning whether it is correct, or adding suggestions for improvements
Questions about GTA games, not about the wiki page itself, should be asked at Community:Questions.Remember to always add your signature to the end of your comments/replies using four tildes:
Elizabeta's car
In Have a heart mission for Elizabeta, after she kills Manny and his camerman, she says that Niko that they have to get bodies in HER CAR. The bodies are in white-blue VOODOO so think that her car is a voodo.
uhh... Is Liz arrested after Buyer's market? because i rhink that she gets arrested at the snow storm
I think she definetly gets arrested after manny gets killed.Andrew nicholson 17:42, June 18, 2010 (UTC)

subset: commoncrawl


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World's Most Progressive MSPs in Information Technology
Bakersfield, California – Grapevine MSP Technology Services ranks among the world's most progressive 501 Managed Service Providers (MSPs), according to MSPmentor's 10th-annual MSP 501 Worldwide Company Rankings. The top MSP 501 companies ranked this year include organizations from around the world and from diverse technology and business backgrounds. Collectively, they amassed $14.48 billion in total revenue (based on 2016 results), up more than 15 percent from a year earlier.
The complete 2017 MSP 501 list is available at MSPmentor.net. In addition to honoring Grapevine MSP Technology Services, this year's MSP 501 list and study showcases the top ranked MSPs worldwide. Over the next few weeks, MSPmentor will unveil additional lists showcasing:
• The top MSPs in Europe, Middle East and Africa
• The top MSPs in Asia, Australia and New Zealand
• The top Small Business MSPs' list, comprised of organizations with 10 or fewer employees
• The top vertical markets pursued by MSP 501 companies
• The leading tools they leverage to run their businesses
• And the top technologies they provide to customers
"Grapevine MSP Technology Services is very honored to be recognized as one of the top Managed IT Service Companies in the world today," said Joe Gregory, President, Grapevine MSP Technology Services. "We have an incredible team of IT experts that truly care about providing our clients with the best service possible."
"On behalf of MSPmentor, I would like to congratulate Grapevine MSP Technology Services for its recognition as an MSP 501 honoree," said Aldrin Brown, Editor in Chief, MSPmentor. "The managed service provider market is evolving at a rapid pace and the companies showcased on the 2017 MSP 501 list represent the most agile, flexible and innovative organizations in the industry."
The 2017 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by MSPmentor and its partner, Clarity Channel Advisors. Data was collected online from Feb. 16 through May 15, 2017. The MSP 501 list recognizes top managed service providers based on metrics including recurring revenue, growth and other factors.
About Grapevine MSP Technology Services
Grapevine MSP Technology Services is a Managed IT Services Provider located in Bakersfield, CA. Grapevine MSP Technology Services specializes in providing managed IT services, proactive IT support, infrastructure management, strategic IT consulting services, 24×7 help desk services, NOC services, backup services, disaster recovery, staff augmentation, and powerful managed cloud services & tools. Grapevine MSP Technology Services mission is to provide its clients with the best possible technology solutions that reduce costs, downtime, and help streamline business operations.
More information available at: www.grapevinemsp.com
About Penton Technology's Channel Brands
Penton Technology's channel brands define emerging IT markets and disrupt established IT markets. They are a division of Informa. The channel brands include: MSPmentor (www.MSPmentor.net), The VAR Guy (www.TheVARguy.com), Talkin' Cloud (www.TalkinCloud.com), the WHIR (http://www.thewhir.com) and WebHostingTalk (http://webhostingtalk.com).
About Informa
Penton Technology, Think Tank, MSPmentor, The VAR Guy, Talkin' Cloud, the WHIR, WebHostingTalk, Channel Partners Online, Channel Partners Conference & Expo and Channel Partners Evolutionare part of Informa, the international business intelligence, academic publishing, knowledge and events group. Informa serves commercial, professional and academic communities, helping them connect and learn, and creating and providing access to content and intelligence that helps people and businesses work smarter and make better decisions faster.
Informa has over 7,500 colleagues in more than 20 countries and a presence in all major geographies. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.
Media Contact
Company Name: Grapevine MSP Technology Services
Contact Person: Joe Gregory
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: (661) 377-2992
Address:2251 Orpheus Ct
City: Bakersfield
State: California
Country: United States
Website: www.grapevinemsp.com/


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The continuing downturn in the housing market is forcing Pella Corp. to lay off seasonal - or flex - workers at its headquarters plant in Iowa.
The continuing downturn in the housing market is forcing Pella Corp. to lay off seasonal - or flex - workers at its headquarters plant in Iowa. The layoff news comes on the heels of an announcement earlier this month when Pella said it would close its Story City, Iowa, plant in March, leaving 244 workers without jobs. At that time, the company said it also would lay off 40 season workers in Pella, Iowa. The job cuts won't affect the Pella plant in Macomb. "Plans are to continue to operate our Macomb facility," company spokeswoman Kathy Krafka Harkema said. The new round of 14 layoffs for Pella will take place Feb. 11. The Pella headquarters factory will employ about 3,600 workers after the layoffs. "All sectors of the housing economy from lenders to Realtors to builders, suppliers and manufacturers are experiencing the impact of the declining housing economy," Harkema said in a prepared statement. "Flex' or flexible positions are designed to help adjust to the seasonality of our cyclical business. which is influenced by the housing economy and favorable weather conditions." Pella Corp. manufacturers and markets wood, fiberglass and vinyl windows and doors. The company also has factories in Sioux Center, Carroll and Shenandoah in Iowa. After the layoffs, the company will employ about 5,300 people in Iowa and 9,800 nationally. Contact Chuck Gysi at email@example.com.


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BOSTON (AP) Kevin Garnett scored 18 points before he was ejected for a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter, and the Boston Celtics snapped a four-game losing streak by beating the Indiana Pacers 94-75 on Friday night.
Rajon Rondo added 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Boston, which had lost eight of 10 to fall a season-worst three games below .500. Garnett also had seven rebounds.
Tyler Hansbrough scored 19 points and David West and Roy Hibbert had 10 rebounds apiece for the Pacers. The Central Division leaders had won six of seven and nine of 11.
The Celtics used a 17-3 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. There was plenty of intensity, though, with the Pacers drawing three technical fouls before Garnett was given a Flagrant 2 foul for flailing at Hansbrough in the fourth quarter, hitting him in the face.
Paul Pierce scored 13 for the Celtics, and rookie Jared Sullinger had seven points and 10 rebounds before fouling out for the fourth time in seven games.
The Pacers shot 31.8 percent from the field, a season low, with West and Paul George each going 4 for 18.
Indiana led 16-15 after one, with Hibbert collecting five points and six rebounds in the opening quarter. The Celtics trailed 20-19 early in the second when they scored 17 of the next 20 points to open a double-digit lead. Boston made it a 15-point game before the end of the half but led 47-35 at the break.
The Pacers cut the deficit to 10 points with the first basket of the third quarter but Boston soon went on an 11-2 run to make it a 19-point game. It was 24 in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Indiana's Lance Stephenson was called for a technical foul for taunting after hitting a 3-pointer in the first quarter. Pierce missed the free throw. ... Pacers coach Frank Vogel was called for a technical in the second quarter and West picked one up for shoving in the third. ... Pierce converted a four-point play in the second quarter, his first since 2008, according to Celtics.com. ... The Celtics used their ninth different starting lineup this season in 32 games.


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Meet Jeremy Abelson! We met him thanks to the ever-life-affirming Page Six Magazine. (Thanks to also-affirming P6M contributor Josh Stein!) If "Crap Email From A Dude" generally serves to remind you why you made that pledge never to date another bartender/bike messenger/Sad Aging Literary Man, the role of such Douche Du Jour types as Paul Janka and Mike Cherico and John Fitzgerald Page and now Jeremy Abelson - the 28-year-old promoter behind that Fashion Meets Finance party - is to forgive you for relapsing with that unemployed two-timing performance poet or whatever because oh, my God, it gets so much fucking worse when you start dabbling in the sort of dudes who control assets more valuable than their record collections.
Anyway, Jeremy is a 28-year-old University of Michigan grad who claims he makes $300,000 a year hosting such events as "Rich Guys & Hot Girls" — for which interested gentlemen submitted W-2s and women submitted five pictures. He claims his defining influence was the movie National Lampoon's Van Wilder. He drives a Segway. And he has an alterego, Richard Nouveau, who he claims is a "mockery of the white upper class." A mockery, eh? See if you can tell the Nouveau quotes from Jeremy's own, below!
1. "Society has taught us to not publicly acknowledge the obvious. Women want money in a man, men want beauty in a woman-this is a factual force of nature."
2. "It's sad and disgusting and it's superficial. [But] the only victims are the poor and the ugly."
3. "This genetic cleansing is how the wealthy stays beautiful."
4. "There are no more powerful things in our culture than wealth and sex. It's a female's best asset and a male's best asset."
5. "I started sleeping with a girl on the student council — not the most attractive girl, but she had an incredible libido."
6. "I lifted my dating embargo on Orientals. (I've decided to overlook the constant squinting.)"
7. "I'm here for the eye candy."
8. "I'm not looking for anything long-term, I don't think you'll find anything too high-caliber in fashion."
Confession: I added a quote from a 27-year-old investment banking intern attending Fashion Meets Finance, just for fun. Do you see the point? You wouldn't date a dude who said any one of these things, except maybe #7 in the context of escorting a nephew to a Magic The Gathering convention or something. Because nothing is more depressing than listening to the stillborn attempts at humor of people whose percentile in the ranks of relative social/educational/cultural/financial privilege is rivaled only by the score they got in "How Unexamined A Life Can I Lead." Well, nothing except the thoughts of a 20-year-old handbag designing attendee of "Fashion Meets Finance":
"You might ge a nice dinner out of it, so why not?"


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Before there was edamame in this country, there were hot boiled peanuts, which according to my Southern friends, are a staple in much of the South.
Boiled peanuts are just raw peanuts that have been boiled in salted water for hours. Great with beer or a cold soda, these salty soft peanuts are totally addictive!
A little messy too, given that the shells absorb some of the water which can squirt out at you when you bite into them to get the nut out. People usually eat them outside where you can toss the shells and not worry about the salt water dribbles.
The season for raw peanuts is May through November; my pal Garrett picked these up for me this week at the local farmer's market.
Now every time I post a traditional Southern recipe I get a little pit in my stomach because I'm not Southern and I'm sure I'm going to mess up how I write about the recipe. So here to help me with this one is my very Alabama BFF Steve-Anna Stephens:
I can't even hear the words "hot boiled peanuts" without hearing 'em doled out in a thick Southern drawl. When Elise told me she was experimenting with a boiled peanut recipe, I immediately conjured up an image of a 50 gallon drum, situated over a fire pit in the dirt on the side of the road in Alabama – filled with steaming saltwater, and peanuts in the shell.
You used to could get (yes, I meant to write that) a bag of peanuts for about fifty cents. I like to crack the boiled shell between my teeth and slurp the peanuts into my mouth. There's usually a little saltwater left in the shell, so, believe it or not slurping is the more polite option over squirting saltwater on an innocent bystander.
Now I can't decide which is better, Elise posting a grits recipe or a recipe for hot boiled peanuts!
So there you have it, from a true lady of the South.
Most people I talked to just boil their peanuts in plain salt water. Some add seasonings, I think a traditional seasoning (if you are going to use anything in addition to salt) is shrimp boil seasoning.
I used a combination of smoked paprika and Old Bay which was quite tasty.
Boiled Peanuts Recipe
You can easily double or triple or quadruple the recipe ingredients.
The longer the peanuts cook, or sit in the salty water, the saltier they will become. Also the longer the peanuts cook, the softer the shells will become. Some people prefer their peanut shells soft and almost chewy, some prefer a little firm so you can pry open the shells.
If you are making boiled peanuts for the first time, work with a small batch (like the one pound recipe that follows). If they end up too salty, use less salt the next time. If you like them softer, cook them longer. The inside nuts themselves should be completely soft. If crunchy or crisp, they need to cook longer.
- 1 pound of raw "green" peanuts (not the color green, but fresh raw peanuts which are called green peanuts)
- 1/4 cup kosher salt (or 2 Tbsp table salt)
- 4 cups water
Optional seasoning
- 2 tablespoons Old Bay Seasoning, smoked paprika, shrimp boil mix, or even star anise
1 Thoroughly rinse raw unshelled peanuts in water.
2 Put water, salt, seasoning, peanuts in a large stockpot. Bring to a low boil. Cover and reduce the heat just enough to maintain a low boil. Boil for 2 to 3 hours or longer (some boil their peanuts all day), until peanuts reach desired level of softness.
3 Drain. Eat up within a couple of days. Boiled peanuts don't save as well as dry.
Hello! All photos and content are copyright protected. Please do not use our photos without prior written permission. Thank you!
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Simply Recipes. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.


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Somalia: Extreme concern over the deteriorating drought situation
TitleSomalia: Extreme concern over the deteriorating drought situation
The situation in Somalia is now rapidly deteriorating, according to the UN Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) for Somalia Mark Bowden, who gave a press conference in New York on 29 June. Calling on the international community to take action now, HC Bowden stressed that "If we are not able to respond rapidly and effectively to the situation in Somalia, there will be many more lives lost to malnutrition."
The OCHA Humanitarian Bulletin #25 shows that the number of people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance has reached 2.5 million due to the worst drought in 60 years. Currently the Horn of Africa is experiencing the highest rate of malnutrition. Some 30 per cent of children are suffering from Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM). HC Bowden said that recent reports from parts of Somalia suggest that the rate is still increasing.
Another critical indicator of the level of distress facing this area is the increase in movement to refugee camps and the condition of people arriving in those camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. In her interview with Minnesota Public Radio yesterday, ERC Valerie Amos noted that the situation is particularly difficult for Kenya. Kenya has one of the largest refugee camps in the world, but the number of people now housed in the Dadaab camp is more than three times the amount it was built to accommodate.
"Over the years we have been trying to help countries become much more resilient in terms of the cyclical droughts that happen. But the lack of rains this year has made the situation much worse," said ERC Amos.
The humanitarian community is extremely concerned by the situation. HC Bowden explained that one of the key problems facing humanitarian partners is that the epicentre of the crisis is in south Somalia, an area that is held by rebel group Al-Shabaab. "One of the things we are trying to do now is to make sure that they (Al-Shabaab) let us get to the people who need help. And that is an ongoing negotiation," said ERC Amos in her interview.
Another challenge is the inadequate resources humanitarian communities have to deal with the problem. "Resources are woefully inadequate. We have an appeal that is at the moment only 40 per cent met. Some of the key sectors that are needed to protect and save the lives of people in Somalia are not being addressed at all. So we find ourselves as the humanitarian community in a position that we want and are able to do more but just don't have the resources with which to do it," said HC Bowden.


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Our Hybrid lighthouses are made of wood with a poly top, wood center and a poly base. The Hybrid lighthouse is a perfect choice for those who love the striped and painted color scheme, but also prefer the maintenance free poly. Since the top & bottom are the first to feel the effects of the weather, the Hybrid gives you a product that will endure the test of time.
Sizes Available:
2', 3', 4', 5', 6', 8', 12' sizes
Call for shipping quote on 8' & 12' lighthouses.
Shown with base. Available with base or without.
-Light options are electric and solar. Electric lighting is standard.


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Out here in Silicon Valley, you can't cross the street without bumping into an engineer. And what you find is that three our of four of them are men. As Shankar Vedantam once reported in Slate:
The gender distribution of engineers at top Silicon Valley companies is similar to the gender distribution of the audience at your average strip club.
Creepy, but not surprising. According to stats out of the U.S. Department of Labor, women make up only one quarter of the workforce when it comes to jobs related to computers or math. Some folks call it the leaky pipeline: Women drop out of math and engineering programs before they ever hit the job market. I should know. I started college as a math major. By sophomore year, I bailed.
One theory that's out there suggests that women opt out because of the perception that careers in engineering, by their very nature, are not compatible with future mommy-hood.
Another one, most odiously put forth by erstwhile Harvard president Lawrence Summers, former head of President Obama's National Economic Council, is that women, by nature, just don't have the mental chops for science and math. Ugh, right?
Turns out, neither of the above are true. According to a new study published in the American Sociological Review, one of the crucial reasons women opt out of careers in engineering before they've ever opted in is confidence. Or, more precisely, lack of same. It's not that these women can't make the grade, the study found. It's that, when it comes to venturing out into the workplace, they don't think they'll fit.
You don't have to be an engineer (and odds are pretty good that you're not) — or ever have had dreams of being one — to find some resonance in what the study found.
The researchers surveyed 288 students who entered engineering programs in 2003 at MIT, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, and Smith College. They found that the women students took the same classes, took the same tests and earned the same — or higher grades — as the male students. And yet, they ended up feeling less confident in their abilities — or in the idea that a career in engineering was right for them.
One thing that's interesting to note is that the prospect of parenthood had nothing to do with it, at least for the women. "We find that women's desires to have a family do not influence whether they continue in an engineering major or plan to go into the engineering workforce," said the study's lead author Erin Cech, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University's Clayman Institute for Gender Research. In fact, she told us, "The study found that men, rather than, women, were more likely to perceive that engineering was likely to interfere with raising a family."
That settles that. What undermines the female students' confidence, and persistence, Cech says, is what she calls micro-biases, or those subtle stereotypes about what men and women are naturally good at. "In engineering, for example, men are often thought to be "naturally" good at the "technical" aspects of engineering, where women are through to be "naturally" good at the "social" aspects of engineering, like teamwork and communication. If men engineering students are subtly though to be more competent at engineering tasks than women, then men and women engineering students will be treated slightly differently by their peers and their professors." All of which snowballs in women, leading to a gradual erosion in confidence that they'll ever fit in.
This new study seems to be right in line with an older one on that we've riffed on before. That one suggested that women avoid math and science, not because they lack the aptitude, but because they don't feel welcome. Call it identity threat: women may avoid situations — like math or engineering — when they feel outnumbered. Researchers Mary Murphy, Claude Steele and James Gross found that when women math, science and engineering undergrads simply watched a video that pitched a fictional conference where men outnumbered women, the women showed the physical signs of threat — faster heart rates and sweating — and reported a lower sense of belonging, and less desire to participate in the conference at all. The researchers also found that the women who watched the gender unbalanced video were more vigilant of their surroundings overall.
Point being, it's the threat, as much as the reality, that often keeps us out of the game. And not just when it comes to science or math.
A recent post on the Harvard Business Review noted that confidence was likewise one of the issues that kept women out of the corporate suites. As writers Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt — nationally recognized experts on women's leadership — wrote:
Having combed through more than a thousand 360-degree performance assessments conducted in recent years, we've found, by a wide margin, that the primary criticism men have about their female colleagues is that the women they work with seem to exhibit low self-confidence.
They writers cite a 2011 study out of Europe's Institute of Leadership and Management that quantifies the gender confidence gap (half of women managers admitted to self-doubt about their performance and career, for example, versus less than a third of men) and suggest that this lack of confidence leads to too much modesty; the inability to make the big ask; avoiding attention; and remaining silent, especially at business meetings.
All of this confidence gap comes at a cost. (Seventy-seven cents on the dollar, remember?) That which keeps us out of the labs and out of the boardrooms, often keeps us out of the money, right? But back to Erin Cech and her would-be engineers.
"The root of the problem are biases that are deeply embedded in people's cultural beliefs about of gender and the nature of the work in science and engineering professions," she told us. "The ultimate solution would be to change those beliefs. Such cultural change is maddeningly difficult and slow. So, perhaps the next best thing is to actually talk about the way that science and engineering fields are gendered within engineering and science classrooms. Such talk is considered "political" and thus "irrelevant" in most science and engineering classrooms, and so is never discussed. But, what could be more relevant than the retention of students within those very professions?"
Or, for that matter, any others. (Oh, for the record: It wasn't lack of confidence that prompted me to change my major. Sigh. It was calculus.)


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Fox News Anchor Is Officially Dumber than Random Guy
Fox News Anchor Greta Van Susteren started a poll on her blog asking if she was dumber than a guy who sent her hate mail. She "won." "havw [sic] some fun!" she wrote today, "the poll was a joke!"
Our long national nightmare is finally over: Greta Van Susteren is officially dumber than "Brian," a guy who sent her an email and misspelled the word "sieve." Greta received 77.9 per cent of the votes of the 55,575 votes cast. Voting is now closed.
The intrepid Scientologist remains unbowed, however. "Someone has gotten cyberspace all rev'd up about me in the last 18 hours!" she wrote on Friday. "Of course this is now a cyberspace game and I think it funny. I lost." She also plugged her show, twice.
Unfortunately, some people seem to have missed the hilarious conceptual cyberspace joke Greta was playing on her blog, "GretaWire." So she posted this today:
Do you hear that, cyberspace? Greta is pleased that the poll "went viral," due to how it brought in "tons of new bloggers." So what if Greta is maybe not 100 per cent clear on what a "blog" or a "blogger" is? It's not like she's the only one. "Bottom line - we all need a sense of humor," she writes. That is certainly one bottom line! The other bottom line, obviously, is that Greta Van Susteren is dumber than Brian, according to cyberspace.


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Melges 20: A Healthy Addiction
Thursday, February 2, 2017 5:14 PM
Craving warm sun, steady sea-breeze and solid competition, Melges 20 sailors have once again descended on Biscayne Bay for the second stop on the 2016/17 Miami Winter Series (MWS) to get their sailing fix. With several strong veteran teams returning to the fleet and kicking off the inaugural Melges 20 World League, the action on the race course will be strong, matched only by the fun, relaxed vibe at Coconut Grove Sailing Club.
Melges 20 teams participating this weekend will not only be competing for the event title and Winter Series standings, they will also be fighting for crucial World League points in the North American Division. Serving as the first stop in a six-event, season-long Series, the Melges 20 World League will determine which Division is the strongest, and which team with reign supreme.
Winning the first event of the current MWS and the 2016 World Ranking, Drew Freides and his Pacific Yankee team will be marked men while sporting a new bow number '001' signifying their season standings victory. Challenging Freides will be a strong pack of veteran teams including the father/son coalition of Jason and Alexis Michas on Midnight Sun and Midnight Blue, and the Kilroy's - John and Liam on Samba Pa Ti and Wildman.
In addition, 2016 North American Ranking Champion Daniel Thielman on Kuai from California, Canada's Rhonda Joyce on Grinning Streak, Drew Weirda's Merga, Jim Wilson at the helm of Oleander, Wes Whitmyer racing SlingSHOT, Paul Reilly's Red Sky Sailing Team and a fierce Igor Rytov on Russian Bogatyrs representing Russia is guaranteed to add to heat to the mix.
Joining the Melges 20 Class for the first time is longtime Grand Prix sailor Bob Moran and his Bobsled 2.0 team. The Bobsledders will have a steep learning curve, but with plenty of opportunities to get up to speed with a welcoming fleet and daily debriefs, it won't be a surprise if they find themselves at the front of the fleet throughout the regatta.
Another fleet newcomer that the Melges 20 Class is thrilled to welcome is Timothy Pitts sailing Cruzan Rhode from Newport, RI.
In contrast to the blustery conditions seen in December, the forecast for Event No. 2, the Miami Winter Regatta is a glamour with a carbon copy each day of sunshine, 80 degrees and 8-13 kts of breeze.
Stay tuned to the Melges 20 Facebook Page for live coverage and colorful moments from beautiful Miami. Racing begins on Friday, Feb 3rd and continues thru Sunday, Feb 5th.


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Families of gun violence victims, faith leaders, gun owners, elected officials, and advocates gathered at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta this week to voice their continued support for comprehensive and enforceable background checks that help keep guns out of the wrong hands.
Participants also called on U.S. Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss to reconsider their position on this life-saving measure and take another look at bipartisan background checks legislation.
Participants included: Lucy McBath, whose 17-year-old son Jordan Davis was murdered with a gun in November; John Starbuck, whose 19-year-old daughter Meleia was murdered with a gun in 2005; State Senator Vincent Forte; State Senator Nan Orrock; Pastor Gary Charles of the Central Presbyterian Church; Alice Johnson of Georgians for Gun Safety; and Piyali Cole of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.


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Action News investigation: Colleges profiting from student meal plans (Part 2)
WTAE investigator Jim Parsons reports
The price of college keeps going up, but it's not just tuition running up the bill, it's meal plans, too.
In Part 2 of a Channel 4 Action News investigation, Jim Parsons continues his look into how colleges are profiting from dining dollars at the expense of students and their families.
Related link: Read Part 1 of Jim's Report
"A young man or young woman's future should not begin with a mountain of debt," Gov. Tom Corbett said earlier this month.
Corbett's words should resonate with college students and their parents, as should these words from the head of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
"Many of the students who attend our universities are the first members of their families to attend college. They come from working families where parents often work multiple jobs, so their sons and daughters have this opportunity. We owe them our best effort," said Guido Pichini, PASSHE Board of Governors chairman.
But Parsons' investigation found those working families are losing some of their hard-earned money every semester in the form of dining dollars, known as flex dollars at some schools.
Dining dollars are paid for at the beginning of a semester and placed on a debit card. Trouble is, if students don't use them, they lose them.
"Anything you save that you don't use is left in the bank, if you will," explained Slippery Rock University President Cheryl Norton.
And that bank is actually the university.
"I don't really like it," said student Scott Bowman of the "use it or lose it" policy.
"It would be a lot better if it carried over or you could get the money back," said Tyler Myers, of Albany, N.Y.
"I think it could definitely be improved so that it carries over into the next semester," student Sarah Pomfret echoed.
At four local state-owned universities between 2008 and 2011, students who failed to spend all of their flex dollars forfeited more than $366,000.
Norton said students do have an opportunity to use up flex dollars.
"We know that at the end of the year, we try to provide students with the sale of products if they would like to buy additional provisions," said Norton.
"To use up the flex dollars?" Parsons asked.
"To use up the flex dollars, if they would like," Norton continued.
But the price of those provisions can be high.
At the University of Pittsburgh's Quick Zone convenience store, students rush in at the end of each semester to use up their dining dollars.
They'll pay $6 a box for Kashi GoLean cereal. At a nearby CVS, the same cereal was on sale at two for $6. QuickZone charged $3.49 for a quart of Silk almond milk. It costs $3.09 at CVS.
While Quick Zone charged $3.89 for a box of Tampax, they were 60 cents cheaper down the street at 7-Eleven.
But students aren't allowed to use their dining dollars at 7-Eleven or CVS.
When asked if she was leaving any unused money on her cards, Slippery Rock University student Lindsay Werkheiser told Parsons, "Oh yeah, definitely, 100 percent."
Slippery Rock students said they have no idea what they forfeited in flex dollars last semester, but it was a lot.
"I left a bunch of meals on there, a bunch of flex," Werkheiser said.
"Why don't you go use up your flex dollars?" Parsons asked.
"Because that would be so much money that I have to use up, like, I would have to buy so much food to use it up," Werkheiser explained.


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This is an event for all the geeks and geeklings to get together in a public area and chat about Ubuntu and life.
We will meet at Mugg and Bean in The Mall of Rosebank.
Bring the kids, your netbooks, laptops, tablets etc. and money for drinks and maybe something to eat.
Hope to see you all there.


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News & Notes: Game 66
Follow the Herd:
Listen to the Game Live: CLICK HERE!
Bisons Baseball Network: CLICK HERE!
Email the Broadcast Team: CLICK HERE!
Everything about the Herd: CLICK HERE!
Get to a Bisons Game: CLICK HERE!
TODAY'S GAME: This afternoon, the Buffalo Bisons take on the Charlotte Knights in the third game of a four-game series from Knights Stadium (2:15 p.m.). The Herd has won the first two games of the set by a combined score of 15-4. Buffalo is now on a season-high four-game win streak and has also won seven of nine games. After tomorrow, the Bisons will travel to Gwinnett to face the G-Braves for the first time ever, June 23-26.
vs. THE KNIGHTS: The Bisons are 2-0 against Charlotte this year and have won six of their last eight games against the Knights, dating back to last year. Since rejoining the International League in 1998, the Bisons are an even 45-45 against the Knights.
OH NELLY: RHP Nelson Figueroa has been the Bisons most consistent pitcher all year. The veteran has allowed more than two runs in only two of his 10 starts this year. In his last three outings, Figueroa is 2-0 with a 1.69ERA, having allowed just four runs in his last 21.1 innings of work. In his last performance, Figueroa struck out a season-high nine in a 126-pitch effort against Durham on June 13. Figueroa's 2.90ERA is the 11th lowest in the International League.
F-MART RETURNS: OF Fernando Martinez picked up right where he left off yesterday. In his first game since a three-week big league promotion, Martinez was 2-4 with two runs scored. He also hit his team-leading 16th double on the season. With 26 extra-base hits, Martinez's .556 slugging percentage is 3rd in the IL. He also enters today's game on an eight-game hit streak (.383, 13-34).
CLUTCH ADDITIONS: Some recent roster additions have really boosted the Bisons clutch hitting. Since joining the Herd, OF Emil Brown has hit .429 (3-7) with a homer and four RBI with runners in scoring position. INF Javier Castillo has hit .444 (4-9) with a homer and five RBI and OF Chip Ambres has averaged .308 (4-13) and three RBI in the same situation.
METS CLAIM LOPEZ: The New York Mets have claimed LHP Arturo Lopez off waivers from San Diego. Lopez had a 2.77ERA in 20 games with the Portland Beavers (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League (31.0IP, 27H, 23K). He also pitched four games with the Padres, posting a 19.29ERA in 2.1 innings of work.


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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — A watershed-protection group wants the West Virginia Environmental Quality Board to throw out a Potomac River pollution permit that state regulators gave a federal facility in Shepherdstown and instead impose Maryland's tougher sampling requirements.
Potomac Riverkeeper said Monday it has filed an administrative appeal challenging the discharge permit that the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection issued last month to the National Conservation Training Center.
The DEP didn't immediately comment on the appeal, which argues that sampling effluent just once a month "renders the permit's limits toothless."
It also argues that Maryland has legal jurisdiction over the Potomac, a drinking water source for nearly 6 million people.
The training center is just one of several West Virginia facilities that discharge directly into the Potomac and is not being singled out, the group said.
"Each one of these treatment plants should be held to the highest standards," said spokesman Brent Walls, "and currently that would be Maryland's."
The training center is a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service educational complex that offers courses, conferences and workshops for conservation professionals from throughout the country. It also hosts regular community lectures and panel discussions with writers, historians, scientists, filmmakers and educators on a variety of environmental, ecological and conservation issues.
Director Jay Slack said his facility has run a small wastewater treatment plant since the campus opened in 1997. The complex has about 300 part- and full-time employees, he said, and 226 guest rooms that are primarily used during the work week.
"As a unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, we are by the very nature of our agency's mission, focused on the conservation of fish, wildlife and their habitat," he said in an email. "Water quality in the Potomac River is serious matter to us."
Slack said his agency has worked diligently with the West Virginia DEP to ensure it complies with all regulations.
"We take great pride and focus considerable effort to ensure that our facility is as environmentally sound as we can make it," he said.
But Potomac Riverkeeper contends the infrequent effluent sampling required under West Virginia's permit doesn't even produce a monthly average for pollutants, the complaint says, "just a single data point each month."
That effectively means the DEP and the public are getting no useful information in determining whether the training center is complying with its permit limits, the group argues.
Because the Maryland Department of the Environment has more stringent standards, West Virginia should follow its protocol, the complaint says. That means replacing once-a-month sampling with weekly eight-hour sampling for substances such as nitrogen, phosphorous, chlorine and total suspended solids.
The appeal also demands weekly samples for e. coli bacteria, which currently isn't required, and daily sampling of pH, dissolved oxygen and residual chlorine levels.
Potomac Riverkeeper has nearly 3,000 members in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and the District of Columbia. They include fishing guides and others who rely on the river for their livelihoods.
The Environmental Quality Board has not yet scheduled a hearing.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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In late August, the northern Indian state of Bihar experienced massive flooding. The water reached unprecedented levels in several locations and displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
A handful of the babies born amid the floods were given baby names inspired by the Ganges river:
- Gangesh, a baby boy born in a relief camp. His mother said, "I named him Gangesh as we have been displaced by the river. The name will always remind me that my first child was born in a relief camp."
- Gangaputra Bhism, a baby boy born aboard a rescue boat. The word putra means "son," so his full first name means "son of the Ganges." In Hindu mythology, the character Gangaputra is also known by the name Bhishma.
- Namami Gange, another baby boy born aboard a rescue boat. The word namami refers to bowing or prostration. Namami Gange is also the name of government program launched in 2014 to decrease pollution in the Ganges.
One of the babies born during last year's flood got the particularly unique acronym-name NDRF, which honors India's National Disaster Response Force. His last name was Singh, so he immediately reminded me of Skylab Singh.
Sources: 'Namami Gange' To 'NDRF Singh', Floods Rule Bihar Baby Names, In Flooded Bihar, Baby Born On Boat Is Named 'Namami Gange', India Ganges floods 'break previous records'
P.S. One of the sources of the Ganges is Nanda Devi…


text: Taken from the ancient Roman and Greek word for owl. Strix means the keenest hearing and sharpest eyesight. Strix means feeling your environment so that you detect and react to the slightest movement. Strix means survival on the very edge of instinct. Strix is in your blood, as it is in ours. ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE *Performance is tested on Strix GTX 780, results will vary by system configuration and model Game Cool. Play Silent. DirectCU II with 0dB Fan Technology 30% cooler. Silent gaming. The all new Strix series drives ASUS DirectCU technology further with its 0dB-fan technology. In games like, League of Legends®, StarCraft®, Counter-Strike Online, you can play in complete silence because the fan stops completely when the GPU temperature remains below a set level*! During heavy loading, Strix fires up the fan to keep the card cool, performing 30% cooler and 3X quieter than reference. GAME SMOOTH DIGI+ VRM with Super Alloy Power 30% less power noise and 2.5X greater durability Acclaimed DIGI+ VRM with exclusively-formulated alloy components boost performance by reducing power loss, enhancing durability, and achieving cooler operation. Choke concrete cores eliminate buzzing sound under full load while capacitors assure a 50,000-hour lifespan: equivalent to 2.5 times longer than traditional capacitors. *Photo taken from Strix GTX 780. Specifications vary by model. GAME YOUR WAY GPU Tweak with Streaming Real-time intuitive graphics tuning Shows detailed specs and actual card status with GPU-Z Monitoring widget provides real-time detailed multi-parameter info Automatically checks and updates drivers and BIOS versions Stream online instantly GPU Tweak streaming tool that lets you share on-screen action in real time – so others can watch live as games are played. It's even possible to add to the streaming window scrolling text, pictures and webcam images. Game YOUR WAY User Friendly Design Installation at a glance Two bright indicator LEDs glow red as a reminder to attach the power cables and then shin a brilliant white to indicate success Top-facing power sockets Gives ease of access to clips Pick your Strix gaming graphics card: NVIDIA AMD STRIX-GTX980-DC2OC-4GD5 STRIX-R9285-DC2OC-2GD5 STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5 STRIX-R9285-DC2-2GD5 STRIX-GTX960-DC2OC-2GD5 STRIX-R9280-OC-3GD5 STRIX-GTX960-DC2-2GD5 STRIX-GTX780-OC-6GD5 STRIX-GTX750TI-DC2OC-4GD5 STRIX-GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 STRIX-GTX750TI-2GD5


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Nearly seven years after problems with wait-time data were uncovered, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) still has a patient-scheduling system that is "broken," according to Linda Halliday of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG). And on April 25, Halliday testified before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee (SVAC) at a hearing that focused on VA's mental health care.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., opened the hearing as committee chair and quickly drew attention to an OIG report released April 23 that found VHA's data on waiting times for mental health care patients was grossly inaccurate. Murray said the OIG findings "show some serious discrepancies in what VA has been telling this committee" and that "the existing scheduling system is hopelessly insufficient and needs to be replaced." She said VA "is failing to meet its own mandates for timeliness, and instead is finding ways to make the date look like they are complying."
While VHA reported, for fiscal year 2011, that 95 percent of first-time patients received full mental health evaluations within 14 days, Halliday testified that OIG's analysis "projected that VHA provided only 49 percent (approximately 184,000) of first-time patients their evaluations within 14 days." The report also noted that VHA completed only 64 percent of new patient appointments within 14 days of their desired date.
"We found VHA's mental-health performance data is not accurate or reliable," Halliday told the committee. "VHA's measures do not adequately reflect critical dimensions of mental health-care access." She said that inaccuracies in data collected by VHA on mental-health staffing and productivity made it less useful for VHA decision-makers to "evaluate productivity across the system, and establish mental-health staffing and productivity standards."
American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong said the hearing "shines a bright light on the problems VHA continues to have with its data collection on waiting times for our veterans being treated for mental-health issues. We can understand a four- or five-percent margin of error in these statistics, but they were off by almost 50 percent. How does one account for such wild inaccuracy by a federal agency? Especially one that is responsible for treating our veterans?"
Wong said the Legion has urged VA to increase its mental-health care staff and facilities. "Adding 1,900 more positions in mental health care is a step in the right direction, but it now appears they may be in need of some new data analysts at VHA." They should have gotten the message by now. We saw this problem crop up in two previous OIG audits — one in 2005 and another in 2007. And their patient-scheduling problem still isn't fixed. The American Legion is asking the same question as Congress asked at the hearing: Why?"
The SVAC held two previous hearings on VA mental health care last year in July and November. Murray said the committee was finding "a discrepancy between what VA was telling us, and what the providers were saying" and called upon the VA's OIG "to investigate the true availability of mental health-care services at VA facilities."
William Schoenhard, testifying for VA, agreed with OIG's assessment that the patient-scheduling system needs to be revised. He also said mental-health services must continue to be further integrated into primary care, and that stigmas associated with mental health care need to be addressed. "Madame Chairman, we know our work to improve the delivery of mental health care to veterans will never be done. We appreciate your support and encouragement in identifying and resolving challenges, as we find new ways to care for veterans."
VA has been working to develop a new scheduling system for its patients. "VA officials told us that their new scheduling package would be open-sourced and could take up to two years to put into place," said Jacob Gadd, deputy director of health in the Legion's Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division. "We most assuredly applaud VA's addition of 1,900 additional mental health-care workers, but without an accurate and effective scheduling system, how will optimal use be made of all those new clinicians and support staff?"
While the committee members asked many tough questions during the hearing, Murray made it clear that "while we have discussed a number of problems with the system at large, none of this reflects poorly on VA's providers. I believe I can speak for all of us in thanking VA's many mental health providers for the incredible job they do. Let there be no mistake, these individuals are incredibly dedicated in their mission."


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