[Hallicrafters] Response to the BPL article

[Peter Markavage]

This is also an excellant response by Rich Moseson, Editor of CQ
Magazine:

>>March 25, 2004
>>
>>To the editor:
>>
>>As a journalist and an amateur radio operator (I am the editor of CQ
>>Amateur Radio, the world's largest independent amateur radio magazine),
I
>>was distressed at the number of significant inaccuracies in Ken Brown's
>>March 23 article, "In This Power Play, High-Wire Act Riles Ham-Radio
Fans":
>>
>>#1) "The nation's vocal but shrinking population of ham-radio
operators"
>>isn't shrinking. The number of licensed hams in the United States is
near
>>its all-time high (it peaked last summer at more than 685,000 and is
>>currently around 684,000, according to FCC statistics. In contrast,
there
>>were 673,000 licensed hams at this time five years ago; in 1980, there
>>were about 382,000. Far from shrinking, amateur radio in the United
>>States is growing and has nearly doubled its ranks in the past 25
>>years.). The American Radio Relay League's membership may have fallen
>>sharply in the past decade, but that has more to do with how the
>>organization is perceived by many hams than with the number or licensed
>>or even active hams.
>>
>>#2) While "a clash between the dots and dashes of the telegraph and the
>>bits and bytes of the Web" makes for nice copy, it doesn't paint a very
>>accurate picture. While Morse code certainly continues to be popular
>>among hams  it gets through in marginal conditions when virtually
nothing
>>else will, and you need only your brain to decode it, not a
>>computer  hams primarily communicate using voice, digital modes (we
>>invented wireless e-mail networks in the 1980s) and yes, even the
>>internet to connect with other hams around the world. I am currently
>>reviewing a device that generates and decodes digital voice signals
that
>>are sent through standard analog transmitters and receivers.
>>
>>#3) "Not too many decades ago, ham-radio operators were on the cutting
>>edge of communications technology ... They spread word of disasters
that
>>otherwise might have taken days to reach the public." No, not too many
>>decades ago at all  in fact, the correct number of decades is zero.
There
>>is a permanent ham station at the National Hurricane Center that's
>>staffed whenever a hurricane is near land. Why? Because when power
lines
>>and telephone lines go down in a storm, ham radio is STILL the only
means
>>of communication that reliably gets through in those critical early
>>hours. When the attacks of 9/11 destroyed New York City's
ultra-high-tech
>>Office of Emergency Management, officials relied on ham radio during
>>those critical early hours to relay vital communications between
>>agencies. One FCC official has correctly described amateur radio as
>>America's "fail-safe communications system."
>>
>>#4) As for suggestions that we are losing our edge in technology, how
>>many other hobbyist groups have their own fleet of communications
>>satellites ... that they've built themselves? Hams around the world
have
>>built and launched about 60 satellites since 1961, when we launched the
>>first non-government satellite ever placed into orbit. Hams today are
>>extending the distance limits of high-microwave frequencies, the next
>>"frontier" for wireless communications; and experimenting with laser
>>communications. Today's "hot ticket" technologies such as wide-area
>>wireless computer networking; and text-messaging and still-picture
>>transmissions via cell-phones, were pioneered by hams.
>>
>>#5) "To become a fully-licensed ham operator, people still need to
learn
>>Morse code..." ... not since 1991, when the code requirement was
dropped
>>for the Technician class license, which gives full privileges in the
VHF
>>and UHF amateur allocations. Hams with Technician licenses are
>>"fully-licensed." Other license classes with additional privileges
>>continue to require a code exam, but at only 5 words per minute, and
that
>>only because it was required by international rules until last summer.
>>The FCC is currently considering more than a dozen petitions to bring
US
>>rules into line with the new international regulations.
>>
>>#6) "Aging hams ... are dying." Yup, along with aging non-hams. Not
much
>>we can do about that, except to note that hams and non-hams alike are
>>living longer today so they're not dying quite as soon as they might
have
>>a couple of decades ago. "Fewer youngsters are replacing them." This is
>>hard to quantify since new privacy rules no longer allow the FCC to
>>collect and release birth dates of licensees. But there are two factors
>>at play here that skew the average age figures: a) there are fewer
>>youngsters, period. The baby boom created a huge population bubble that
>>is working its way into its 60s, and the average age for any activity
>>that includes baby boomers is inexorably rising; b) many of those
boomers
>>are becoming hams for the first time in their 50s and 60s, pushing up
the
>>average age. With today's advances in health care, these new hams often
>>have 20-30 years in which they can be active, contributing members of
the
>>ham radio community. And since many of them are retired, they have the
>>time to give to staffing emergency operating centers, etc., and
providing
>>vital communications in disasters. These older-newer hams are assets,
not
>>liabilities.
>>
>># 7) Hams "haunt a series of short-wave radio frequencies set aside for
>>them by the federal government in the 1930s." While some frequency
bands
>>were assigned to amateurs (internationally) in the 1930s, we have seen
a
>>steady growth in those allocations in more recent decades. Three new
>>allocations were made in the 1980s and one was made just last year. The
>>picture Mr. Brown paints of hams as ghosts of communications past
>>("haunting" frequencies since the '30s, for example), is just plain
inaccurate.
>>
>>#8) "One favorite game: trying to contact someone in each of the
>>3,000-plus counties in the U.S." As sponsors of the primary award for
>>contacting all 3,077 U.S. counties, we are proud that it's a favorite
>>activity. But it's much more than a game. Since many remote counties
>>don't have many resident hams, "county-hunters" often put them on the
air
>>by driving there and operating from their cars. This gives hams around
>>the world experience in communicating with stations whose signals might
>>be weak  signals Broadband over Power Lines would likely wipe out; and
it
>>gives the hams who drive to those counties a knowledge of places from
>>which they can operate and get signals out  essential knowledge in an
>>emergency or disaster. Better to take the hours you might need to find
>>those locations while pursuing the hobby aspect of amateur radio than
to
>>waste time searching for a spot in an emergency when every minute
counts.
>>
>>#9) Mr. Brown poses a question asked by FCC Chief Engineer Ed Thomas,
>>"Why is this thing a major calamity?" but he doesn't try to get an
>>answer. Here's the answer: One of the many things hams have discovered
>>over the years about the short-wave frequencies where BPL wants to
>>operate is that you don't need a lot of power to communicate over very
>>great distances. Under the right conditions, a few milliwatts might get
>>you a contact thousands of miles away. BPL signals are essentially
>>low-power radio transmissions. Under those same conditions, they may
>>bounce off the ionosphere like any other radio signal and come back
down
>>hundreds or thousands of miles away. Rather than enhancing
communication,
>>though, they will block it. Hams tuning around the short-wave
frequencies
>>searching for a weak signal from some remote corner of the globe won't
be
>>able to hear it  and they also won't be able to hear the weak distress
>>signal from a boat in the middle of the ocean somewhere that's in
danger
>>of sinking, something that happens at least once or twice a year.
>>
>>#10) Hams are not the only ones threatened by BPL interference. Every
>>other user of spectrum between 2 MHz and 80 MHz is at risk. This
includes
>>international short-wave broadcasters, the US military, the Federal
>>Emergency Management Agency, long-distance airline pilots, Citizens
Band
>>(CB), some radio-control airplanes and boats, some baby monitors and
>>cordless phones, and some police and fire departments. The FCC and BPL
>>industry say they'll avoid using certain frequencies where interference
>>occurs, but with so many spectrum users, and the possibility of
>>interference occurring hundreds or thousands of miles from the signals'
>>source, this "notching" technique will soon result in "all hole and no
>>doughnut." It just won't work. Someone inevitably will suffer
>>interference. And once BPL is widely deployed, it will be virtually
>>impossible to un-deploy.
>>
>>Perhaps a better question for Mr. Brown to be asking than "Why is this
>>thing a major calamity?" is "Why is BPL so important to the FCC?" It is
>>FCC policy not to promote any one particular technology, yet from
>>Chairman Powell on down to the staff level, this policy is being
violated
>>with regularity as the FCC has become cheerleaders for a technology
with
>>potential for massive interference to a host of long-distance radio
>>services and whose economic potential is unproven at best. Why is BPL
so
>>important to the FCC? It's a question that may well be worth the
>>curiosity of the Journal's excellent investigative staff.
>>
>>Thank you for the opportunity to correct the inaccuracies in Mr.
Brown's
>>article.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Richard Moseson
>>Editor, CQ Amateur Radio magazine
>>
>>
>>25 Newbridge Rd.
>>Hicksville, NY 11801
>>516-681-2922
>>w2vu at cq-amateur-radio.com

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