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******* ATTENTION ALL TRANSKINETICS EMG SYSTEM (TKS) USERS ********
The Transkinetics EMG System is a multi-channel EMG telemetry system that
was sold throughout the world in the 80s and early 90s by Transkinetics
Systems Inc. of Canton, MA USA. The company ceased operation almost 9
years ago, but there has been a devoted group of users who have continued
to rely on these systems for clinical and research EMG recording. I have
personally found our system to be robust and very reliable, and have found
no reason to replace it with more recent technology.
Unfortunately, this may be changing. These systems, like many low power
medical telemetry units, use frequencies officially licensed by the FCC for
television broadcast. Our system uses 186.5MHz to 192MHz, the TV Ch. 9
spectrum. We selected this frequency since in the Dallas area, local
stations broadcast on ch. 8 and ch. 11, and the FCC would not allow any
other broadcast stations between these frequencies.
The advent of High Definition TV (HDTV) broadcasts as mandated by the FCC
this year, has led to a reallocation of the spectrum to permit HDTV
broadcasts. In our area, WFAA TV ch. 8 now owns ch.9, and will commence
full power, 24hr/day HDTV broadcast on July 1, 1998. We discovered this
quite accidentally, when we noticed that our receivers were showing full
power reception on all channels, even though our little EMG transmitters
were turned off, during a recent LOW power test of the main transmitter
prior to going online in July. The net effect is that these wonderful and
still quite functional systems will be unusable if a local HDTV station
begins broadcasting on your frequency.
I am looking for other brave souls who have persevered over the years and
still rely on their TKS system, (as we do) to consider a "channel swap."
Specifically, if you have a functional (or near functional) TKS EMG system
that uses TV ch. 10 (192-198MHz) or TV ch. 7 (174-180MHz), and live in one
of the 50+ cities in the US that will soon have HDTV broadcasts, please
contact me; you may soon have the same problem we have discovered.
Remember, while the transmitters are tunable, they can only be tuned within
the TV channel your system was designed for, and the receivers are single
frequency, and not easily modified. A swap, although perhaps a slim
possibility, could help us both. Our system is in excellent condition, and
completely functional if there are no broadcasts on ch. 9 in your area. We
are experienced in RF telemetry, and can potentially resurrect receivers
that may be non-functional, but are on the correct frequency.
I will respond individually to all inquires, and keep a listing of others
who may need assistance finding channels that will work in their area.
Thanks in advance for your assistance, and feel free to forward this
message to other TKS users you know who are not subscribers to this list.
-JJC
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| James Carollo, Ph.D., P.E. james.carollo@email.swmed.edu
| Senior Research Scientist
| Mobility Research and Assessment Laboratory
| The University of Texas
| Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
| 9705 Harry Hines Blvd., Suite 105
| Dallas, TX USA 75208 (214) 351-2041
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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The Transkinetics EMG System is a multi-channel EMG telemetry system that
was sold throughout the world in the 80s and early 90s by Transkinetics
Systems Inc. of Canton, MA USA. The company ceased operation almost 9
years ago, but there has been a devoted group of users who have continued
to rely on these systems for clinical and research EMG recording. I have
personally found our system to be robust and very reliable, and have found
no reason to replace it with more recent technology.
Unfortunately, this may be changing. These systems, like many low power
medical telemetry units, use frequencies officially licensed by the FCC for
television broadcast. Our system uses 186.5MHz to 192MHz, the TV Ch. 9
spectrum. We selected this frequency since in the Dallas area, local
stations broadcast on ch. 8 and ch. 11, and the FCC would not allow any
other broadcast stations between these frequencies.
The advent of High Definition TV (HDTV) broadcasts as mandated by the FCC
this year, has led to a reallocation of the spectrum to permit HDTV
broadcasts. In our area, WFAA TV ch. 8 now owns ch.9, and will commence
full power, 24hr/day HDTV broadcast on July 1, 1998. We discovered this
quite accidentally, when we noticed that our receivers were showing full
power reception on all channels, even though our little EMG transmitters
were turned off, during a recent LOW power test of the main transmitter
prior to going online in July. The net effect is that these wonderful and
still quite functional systems will be unusable if a local HDTV station
begins broadcasting on your frequency.
I am looking for other brave souls who have persevered over the years and
still rely on their TKS system, (as we do) to consider a "channel swap."
Specifically, if you have a functional (or near functional) TKS EMG system
that uses TV ch. 10 (192-198MHz) or TV ch. 7 (174-180MHz), and live in one
of the 50+ cities in the US that will soon have HDTV broadcasts, please
contact me; you may soon have the same problem we have discovered.
Remember, while the transmitters are tunable, they can only be tuned within
the TV channel your system was designed for, and the receivers are single
frequency, and not easily modified. A swap, although perhaps a slim
possibility, could help us both. Our system is in excellent condition, and
completely functional if there are no broadcasts on ch. 9 in your area. We
are experienced in RF telemetry, and can potentially resurrect receivers
that may be non-functional, but are on the correct frequency.
I will respond individually to all inquires, and keep a listing of others
who may need assistance finding channels that will work in their area.
Thanks in advance for your assistance, and feel free to forward this
message to other TKS users you know who are not subscribers to this list.
-JJC
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| James Carollo, Ph.D., P.E. james.carollo@email.swmed.edu
| Senior Research Scientist
| Mobility Research and Assessment Laboratory
| The University of Texas
| Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
| 9705 Harry Hines Blvd., Suite 105
| Dallas, TX USA 75208 (214) 351-2041
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
-------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe send UNSUBSCRIBE BIOMCH-L to LISTSERV@nic.surfnet.nl
For information and archives: http://www.bme.ccf.org/isb/biomch-l
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