[KCDXC] Fw: BPL in Missouri

[Bruce Frahm KØBJ]

OK -- 4th try. Think I got this figured out (kept getting bounced; it was
going as html....)

Guys, if any of you are in Lees Summit or could do mobile sniffing there,
W1RFI at ARRL Hq. could use reports in building a case.
73 Bruce

----- Original Message -----
From: Hare, Ed W1RFI
To: Bruce Frahm KØBJ
Cc: Bagley, Dale (SM, MO) ; Walstrom, Wade, W0EJ, (DIR, MW)
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 2:50 PM
Subject: RE: BPL in Missouri


Bruce,

Could you please forward this to any hams or groups that you know in the
Lees Summit area:

There is a BPL system being operated by Aquila in Lees Summit, MO. Amperion
systems operate on about 10 MHz of spectrum somewhere between 2 and 50 MHz,
generally, typically with S9+ carriers and digital modution across the
entire several MHz. This usually means that one or more ham band or
international shortwave broacast bands will have severe interference to
mobile stations and to fixed stations along the route where BPL is deployed.
Each leg of their system, typically 500 to 2000 feet, will be using a
different 10 MHz of so of spectrum.

There may be software notches programmed into various parts of their
operating frequency range, sometimes attempting to notch the ham bands. What
we have seen in many cases involving Amperion equipment is that not all
areas of the installation are notched in the ham bands, or the notching is
not adequate, especially at the band edges.  "Full legal limit" BPL
emissions will typically be S9 to S9+20 dB to nearby mobile or fixed
stations.  The notching is typically about 25 dB, so a "notched" signal in
the ham bands would be about S8.

The system was last reported in operation in the following area:
http://tinyurl.com/cezbb

All I know about the system is at
http://p1k.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/MO_Lees_Summit

BPL has been heard as much as two miles away from the source. If any hams
live in the area, or hams who can operate HF mobile can go to that area and
tune around, that could tell us if the system is causing interference.

In other systems, if no interference reports are filed from the initial
smaller installations, we have seen the companies involved expand the area.
Let's see what we can learn about this before it actually gets into a ham's
backyard.

If you are willing and able to help, contact me at ARRL HQ at the
information below and we can discuss how to proceed. We do NOT want to
create interference reports unless there really is interference to Amateur
Radio, but we do want to accurately assess these BPL systems.

Ed Hare, W1RFI
ARRL Laboratory Manager
225 Main St
Newington, CT 06013
Tel: 860-594-0318
Internet: W1RFI at arrl.org
Web: http://www.arrl.org/tis
Member: ASC C63 EMC Committee
   Chairman: Subcommittee 5, Immunity
   Chairman: Ad hoc BPL Working Group
Member: IEEE, Standards Association, Electromagnetic Compatibility Society
Member: IEEE SCC-28 RF Safety
Member: IEEE EMC Society Standards Development Committee
   Chairman, BPL Study Project
Member: Society of Automotive Engineers EMC/EMR Committee
Board of Directors: QRP Amateur Radio Club International

-   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
Bruce Frahm  KØBJ
Note my new email address:
bfrahm at st-tel.net