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5G and the History of Cellular Networks

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There is a conspiracy theory floating around, and being circulated by people who should know better, that 5G causes [insert ailment here].  Some people take this conspiracy so far as to blame 5G for COVID-19. We need to talk a bit about RF history here.  I've been interested in radio frequencies and technology for most of my life, both personally and professionally.  When I was a teenager, I became interested in radio scanners and found the radio spectrum fascinating, in terms of all of the information that was literally in the air around us, and the different behavior of different frequency bands.  Using my scanner, I could pick up all kinds of signals from police, fire, corporate radio systems, security, and even cordless phones and cellular phones, not that I did so.  This led to obtaining my amateur radio license in 1996.  As an amateur "ham" radio operator I learned to use VHF and UHF repeaters, direction finding, and volunteered with the county Emergency Manage