[Hallicrafters] Response to the BPL article

[George KB2Z]

Amen.

At 02:24 PM 3/28/04 -0500, you wrote:



>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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