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Spectrum Allocation
Rumor has it that they're finally auctioning off the zeppelin navigation bands, but everyone is worried that the scary boat captains will express interest.
Title text: Rumor has it that they're finally auctioning off the zeppelin navigation bands, but everyone is worried that the scary boat captains will express interest.

    Explanation

    Radio waves have a spectrum of frequencies that can be used. To help prevent electromagnetic interference, various parts of the spectrum have been isolated into 'bands', each with a specified use. This comic contains a chart with humorous names for some of them, some that are made up, and yet others that are real but would have to be misplaced relative to other real ones (though there is no marked scale, so any actual positions are purely speculative). It may be that the format of this diagram shows lower frequencies at the top and higher frequencies at the bottom. The higher the frequency, the more data a channel can typically carry, but it also makes the signal easier to be blocked by anything it tries to pass through. A more serious chart, in a different orientation, can be found here.

    The title text claims the Zeppelin block will be auctioned because no one uses Zeppelins, but people are worried that the scary boat captains will buy it and make their block bigger.

    Radio (shouting)
    Possibly an AM radio band. Such a band may be mainly used for spoken radio rather than music because AM can have a notably lower fidelity, conveying music less well than the spoken word. Any given AM radio station may therefore be currently broadcasting talk and/or sports radio, both of which tend towards excitable and earnest shouting, especially where they invite audience participation and discussion. The biggest purely AM-allocated band in the USA is from 535 to 1705 kHz.
    TV test patterns
    Test patterns are static screens, typically with specific areas to enable easy checking of different aspects of analogue TV signal reception. They are transmitted on TV stations during hours when there is no programming being broadcast (which is now very rare), so these are, in real life, transmitted within the same frequencies as the regular programming, not as a standalone service. The comic is implying that these are a dedicated service with its own reserved band of frequencies, despite the fact that such a service would be completely pointless.
    1G cellular
    First-generation cellular channel. Voice only, no SMS, no data.
    Radio (music)
    Associated more with the FM radio band (as opposed to the shouting radio). Likely 88 to 108 MHz.
    Radio static
    A fake block. Implies that background noise, which is always present but particularly noticeable when tuned to a frequency where no strong enough signal exists, is a dedicated service, rather than the unwanted result of other sources of electromagnetic activity. This could be referring to bands which are currently unallocated, where you should not expect to hear any actual transmissions.
    Reserved for Zeppelin navigation
    This may be related to the (long-decommissioned) Telefunken Kompass Sender. The idea that a large band of radio frequencies is required for the operation of Zeppelins, which are a niche vehicle in modern times, is absurd. The hope that Zeppelins would become relevant again was referenced in 3298: Aerospace Flowchart.
    TV channels 2, 5, 7-13, 16, 17, and 28
    A reference to large block allocations for specific TV channels. Channel 7-13 is a real block (174 to 216 MHz), while the others would be part of the 2-4, 5-6, 14-20, and 21-36 blocks and not normally allocated separately/together in this manner.
    2G cellular
    Second-generation cellular channel. Better voice, SMS, rudimentary data (speed in kbps).
    Interference
    Many forms of broadcasting use specific channels with a small gap between them, and sometimes signals can bleed across into adjacent channels, interrupting them. Since interference is signal (or noise) in a band where it is unwanted, by definition a band reserved for interference is nonsensical.
    WKRP in Cincinnati
    A reference to the eponymous sitcom. The frequency was never stated on the original sitcom, but according to the spinoff series The New WKRP in Cincinnati, the frequency was 1530 kHz on the AM band. An actual station in Cincinnati now uses the call sign on three FM frequencies: 94.5, 97.7, and 106.7.
    Spaceship beeps
    Possibly data channels emitting a series of tones, as you could hear at the edge of the FM band, and which sound like R2D2/spaceship beeps (see Eurosignal, VOR, etc.). The first ever manmade satellite, the Soviet Union's Sputnik, contained only a battery-powered radio transmitter that transmitted quick, short beeps on two frequencies, 20.005 MHz and 40.002 MHz. These gave information about the satellite's position, atmospheric conditions, and the propagation of radio waves; however, there was much incorrect speculation about what data it was transmitting and what this meant about its capabilities.
    All other TV
    All other broadcast TV channels, probably analogous to the current UHF band (470 to 680 MHz in the US, corresponding to broadcast channels 14-36), but it could also include television services transmitted by satellite.
    Car dealership ads
    A fake block. Television commercials for local franchised car dealerships in the United States, are generally humorous and have low production values. It would make little sense to have these confined to their own broadcasts, as their entire point is to exploit the attention of audiences of other programs (though shopping channels may provide a counterexample to this).
    Numbers stations
    Shortwave radio stations which broadcast strings of numbers that are presumed to contain coded messages. There are no specific frequencies allocated for this purpose (in fact most numbers stations are unlicensed and often clandestine) other than they usually appear somewhere on or around the shortwave bands.
    Weather balloons
    Presumably the frequency weather balloons use to communicate the data they gather about the weather.
    Amateur radio
    Non-commercial radio broadcasts, often used by enthusiast hobbyists to contact each other. In real life this consists of numerous specific bands across the radio spectrum, and it requires a license to use it in most countries. Another term for ham radio (see below).
    "Weather balloons"
    The scare quotes imply that these frequencies are used by some other services or organizations, which are falsely claiming to be 'weather balloons' in order to hide their true nature. Presumably a reference to the 2023 Chinese balloon incident or the Roswell incident.
    Ham radio
    Another term for amateur radio (above). Since these are the same thing, it makes no sense to allocate one block to one name and one to another (unless there is a deep schism in the community, with adherents of each name being unwilling to talk to each other). In reality, there are numerous relatively narrow frequency bands across the spectrum allocated for this purpose (they only get two here). It is also possible that this is where particularly large hams, that are too big for the 'shouting' talk-radio band, broadcast, or perhaps it refers to radio stations focused on ham, the meat.
    Choosing Texas 24/7
    A fake block. Choosin' Texas is a popular country song by Ella Langley. When this comic was published, it was in its record-breaking 24th week at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, a chart that often reflects the music played repeatedly on American radio stations. 24/7 implies that an entire block has had to be allocated to stations that are literally playing nothing else because it's so popular. This may have been how it felt to many at the time. Occasionally a radio station will pull a stunt broadcast (often to promote a format change) during which they literally do play a single song 24/7 for a period of a few days in order to gain publicity, but as of the publication of this comic, it doesn't appear anyone has done it with Choosin' Texas.
    Boat captains say they need this for something and we don't ask what because they're scary
    The marine band in the US runs from 156.000 to 162.025. However, the block identified in the comic appears to be fake. It is also implausible that boat captains could obtain a band of frequencies without explaining its purpose to anyone at all. In practice, they use it to discuss things like why their large container ship is blocking a tenth of world trade, which they might understandably get scary about.
    The secret radio waves that make planes stay up
    This is likely a reference to Nikola Tesla's World Wireless System, a concept to transmit mains electric power over the air. Art associated with the World Wireless System depicted aircraft flying using power drawn from its transmitters, however the WWS proved impractical due to the massive transmission losses compared to wired electricity. This could also refer to radar or the radio bands used for airplane transponders and navigation.
    Defunct satellite phone company
    A fake band. Presumably previously allocated to a company that tried to offer satellite phone services and went bankrupt (e.g. Iridium Communications) and, for some reason never reclaimed — perhaps because it remains an asset on the books of some successor company that is not exploiting it.
    Radioastronomy
    Presumably the bands radio telescopes use, or bands reserved for their use.
    Radioastrology
    Fake block. Presumably the counterpart of radioastronomy for astrologers, though it is not clear what use they would have for radio signals.
    All modern wireless infrastructure
    Due to the pre-existing large blocks, when technology like WiFi and Bluetooth was developed it was crammed into very small blocks that were left over, despite some MASSIVE but mostly wasted blocks. In the US, much of this infrastructure is now on frequencies that used to be part of the UHF television band, and even on some currently allocated television frequencies in areas where the channel is not occupied.
    Death rays
    It is unlikely that anyone developing death rays is going to be overly concerned with not causing interference to other radio users. Another fake block, unless it's a reference to microwaves.
    Lofi hip hop beats to relax/study to
    This is the title of a popular, long-running YouTube livestream of lofi hip-hop music run by the YouTube channel Lofi Girl. Lofi is short for low fidelity, as opposed to high-fidelity, heavily produced music.
    Security guard walkie talkies
    Presumably a band used for hand-held radio units frequently used by security guards. There is no band allocated solely for this purpose, so this is a fake block.
    Amateur military satellites
    Yet another fake block. While there are military satellites and amateur satellites, the two do not usually combine. Amateurs that managed to launch a satellite would most likely use a ham band frequency for their telemetry.
    Left open in case aliens try to call
    Yet another fake block. It's unclear how aliens would know to use this block, and why they wouldn't just use the radio astronomy/astrology block, although there are certain frequencies that are considered potentially more likely to be broadcast and listened to by aliens trying to deliberately communicate with other civilizations.
    One brand of garage door openers with a lot of political pull
    Hopefully a fake block allocated exclusively to garage door openers of a specific brand that bribed or otherwise influenced the FCC, the US agency that regulates the radio spectrum. The band is shown as being ludicrously wide for accommodating the extremely narrow bandwidth generally required by garage door openers, never mind just those of a single manufacturer. The FCC has in fact been accused of politicization.

    Transcript


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    Edit this week's pick!

    This Week's Explanation for Improvement

    As part of the Explanation Improvement Project, each week the community selects one older, stagnant, or otherwise neglected explanation to expand and polish together. This week's pick is comic 186: Console Lines, you can help us by editing its explanation!

    To get involved with the project, you can also nominate an explanation that you think should be improved, or vote on current nominations!

    Console Lines
    If I get a Wii, it will be the first game console I've owned.
    Title text: If I get a Wii, it will be the first game console I've owned.

      Explanation

      Welcome to This Week's Explanation for Improvement! Anyone is encouraged to help explain comic 186: Console Lines; click here to get started! If you are new to wiki editing, you can read our editing FAQ for guidance. Here are some suggestions for improving this explanation:

        Why are the Nintendo people more kind than the Sony/Microsoft people?
        Why does Randall say that a Wii will be the first game console he will ever own? Are there other comics posted after this one where he says he owns a different console?
        Improve the explanation of the double meaning of "console" in the comic.
        Better explain the necessary historical context. How is the world different now compared to November 2006?

      This comic relates to video game consoles. At the time this comic was published, there were three major competing products: the Playstation 3 by Sony, the Xbox 360 by Microsoft, and the Wii by Nintendo. The Wii was released on November 19, 2006, the day before this comic was published. It was Nintendo's 5th generation home console, succeeding the GameCube.

      When a game console gets released, fans are often seen queueing outside the stores or camping on the pavement in order to be among the first to get their hands on a console. The comic shows such a console camp and points out the differences between the fan communities. While the fans waiting in line for a Sony or Microsoft product are very rude, the Nintendo fans are apologetic and try to comfort (that is to say, console) those who arrived too late to obtain a package. The cliché that Nintendo fans are nicer and more polite may be attributed to the fact that the Wii is targeted at children and families with children, while the PS3 and the Xbox are targeted at the more "serious gamer" crowd.

      The comic may also contain a subtle pun on the fact that 'console' has two meanings. A game console (noun) is a device that allows you to play video games, taking control input from one or more users and displaying the progress of the game as video output. However, to console (verb) means to make someone feel better when they are upset, as those in the Wii queue are attempting to do for the latecomers.

      The title text primarily expresses Randall's distance from the console wars (he has never owned a game console before), but also indicates an inclination towards the Wii, which was known for its (at the time) innovative motion controls. The fact that he indicated that alongside this comic suggests that he may have been influenced by how he perceives the Nintendo fan community. Then again, maybe Randall is just unable to get a PS3 or Xbox because of the line situation illustrated here.

      Transcript

      Fans turning away latecomers to all-night game console campouts:
      [Two lines, presumably leading to video game stores, are shown, where the same two people just arrived, behind other people]
      [In the line labeled Sony/Microsoft:]
      [Cueball, Megan, and another Cueball are in line, while Cueball and Hairy are just outside of the line]
      Cueball: The line is full, asshole! Fuck off!
      [In the line labeled Nintendo:]
      [Cueball, a chair, another Cueball, a third Cueball, and Ponytail are in line, while Cueball and Hairy are just outside of the line]
      Cueball: I'm so sorry, all the consoles are spoken for.
      Cueball: Do ... do you want a hug?

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