[10m] call to action on BPL

[WORKSNTV at aol.com]

I submit the following for your  review==Congressman Kanjorski's e mail  is:
paul.kanjorski at mail.house.gov

If you live outside of the 11th  Congressional District your reps e mail can 
be found  at:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Also pass on to your contacts  in the Public Safety Community: why? Many fire 
departments still run  low  vhf---right in the middle of the BPL 
"interference"  band.

73'
Bob
WB3DYE


>US HOUSE RESOLUTION CALLS ON  FCC TO EVALUATE BPL INTERFERENCE, REVIEW
RULES

Rep Michael Ross,  WD5DVR, of Arkansas, has introduced a resolution in the US
House of  Representatives calling on the FCC to "conduct a full and complete
analysis"  of radio interference from broadband over power line (BPL). The
resolution,  H. Res 230, says the Commission should comprehensively evaluate
BPL's  interference potential incorporating "extensive public review and
comment,"  and--in light of that analysis--to "reconsider and review" its new
BPL rules,  adopted last October. If approved by the full House, the
non-binding  resolution, introduced April 21, would express the requests as
"the sense of  the House of Representatives."

"We are grateful to Congressman Ross and  his staff for taking a leadership
position in recognizing that the BPL  interference issue deserves more
careful consideration than the FCC was  willing to give it under former
Chairman Powell," said ARRL CEO David Sumner,  K1ZZ. The resolution has been
referred to the House Committee on Energy and  Commerce, on which Ross
serves.

The resolution's prime focus is on  BPL's potential to disrupt critical
public safety radiocommunication. It  cites National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA)  studies that "have determined that
broadband over power line creates a 'high  risk' of radio wave interference,
and that harmful interference to public  safety mobile radio receivers can be
expected at distances of 75 meters from  the power line where broadband over
power line is in operation, and at  distances of up to 460 meters from fixed
stations, such as VHF police or fire  dispatch communications facilities."

The resolution notes that the same  NTIA study determined that BPL
interference to aeronautical and airline  travel communications "could be
expected at distances up to 40 kilometers  from the center of the broadband
over power line system, and that  interference to outer marker beacons for
airline instrument landing systems  could be expected at great distances as
well."

Many public safety  agencies and support services, including emergency
medical services, fire,  and law enforcement, utilize Low-Band VHF (30-50
MHz), the resolution points  out. According to the resolution, at least 13
states--California,  Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi,
Missouri, Nebraska,  North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia
and Wyoming--use the  band for state police operations. It's the primary
public safety radio band  in nine states.

The resolution further notes that the Association of  Public Safety
Communications Officials Inc (APCO), and the National Public  Safety
Telecommunications Council (NPSTC), urged the FCC to withhold final  action
in the BPL proceeding for at least a year, pending a  "conclusive
determination" of BPL's potential to interfere with public safety  and other
licensed radio systems operating below 80 MHz. It also cites  comments filed
by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, which uses a statewide  radio system
with more than 1400 Low-Band VHF users. The Missouri State  Highway Patrol
commented that the overall effect of BPL implementation would  be "a
potentially significant increase in interference to the mission of  critical
public safety communications," the resolution says.

The  resolution recounts that the FCC has struggled for years to  resolve
widespread harmful interference to the radiocommunications of  first
responders on 800 MHz and "should not have proceeded with introduction  of a
technology which appears to have substantial potential to cause  destructive
interference to police, fire, emergency medical services, and  other public
safety radio systems" without first conducting a comprehensive  evaluation.

ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, has urged ARRL members to  contact their US
representatives to support the resolution. A sample letter  is available on
the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/hres230/HRes230-SampleLtr.doc
>.  Members are encouraged to express their support in their own words. If
you're  not sure who represents your congressional district, visit the United
States  House of Representatives Web site <http://www.house.gov/>.

To  expedite delivery, send all correspondence bound for Members  of
Congress--preferably as an attachment--to <hres230 at arrl.org> or fax  it to
703-684-7594. The ARRL will bundle correspondence addressed to each  Member
of Congress for hand delivery.

A copy of HRes 230 is available  on the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/filings/hres230/HRes230.pdf>.