[PVRCNC] FW: [rars-l] Interference complaint regarding Progress Energy Phase II BPL
Gary Ferdinand W2CS
[email protected]
Mon, 15 Mar 2004 15:49:58 -0500
I'm sure not all PVRC/NC members are also RARS members. Here's a great
rundown on a set of BPL QRM observations along with a formal complaint
letter.
Note early in the attached is a URL to use for info to file a BPL complaint.
Someone might wish to cc the main PVRC reflector (I do not subscribe). The
info on filing a complaint, particularly the FCC.GOV email addresses should
be constant regardless of the BPL intruder's location, I should think.
73.
Gary W2CS
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
> Behalf Of Gary Pearce KN4AQ
> Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 7:09 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [rars-l] Interference complaint regarding Progress Energy Phase
> II BPL
>
>
>
> This is a copy of my complaint of interference from the Progress
> Energy BPL
> site.
>
> For information on filing a complaint (IF you have heard interference
> yourself), go to this site:
> http://www.qsl.net/w4fal/smithchart/bpl.html
>
> 73,
> Gary KN4AQ
>
> =======================================================
>
> Len Anthony, Progress Energy Regulatory Affairs
>
> cc:
> Bill Godwin, Progress Energy
> Anh Wride, FCC
> David H.Solomon, FCC
> James R.Burtle, FCC
> Riley Hollingsworth, FCC (FYI)
> Ed Hare, ARRL
> Frank A. Lynch, ARRL
>
> Saturday, March 13, 2004
>
> This e-mail letter is a formal complaint of interference received from
> several Broadband over Power Line (BPL) installations operated by
> Progress
> Energy in the Wake County, North Carolina area.
>
> I am:
>
> Gary Pearce KN4AQ
> 116 Waterfall Ct.
> Cary, NC 27513
> 919-380-9944
> [email protected]
>
> I encountered all of this interference while mobile, or visiting the
> stations of other amateur radio operators. I do not hear any BPL
> interference at my home in Cary at this time.
>
> November 16, 2003. I first encountered BPL interference on this
> date, near
> the Wakefield subdivision in north Raleigh, along Falls of the Neuse Road
> near Wakefield Pines Rd. The interference appeared as a series
> of closely
> spaced RF carriers, approximately 1 kHz apart, covering the lower half of
> the 10 meter amateur radio band, from 28 to near 29 MHz (and some
> spectrum
> below that band, including the 40 CB radio channels near 27 MHz).
> Some of
> the carriers had a little "tik-tik-tik" sound at about a 2 Hz rate. The
> interference was strong - S-9 - for about a half mile along Falls of the
> Neuse Road, and obliterated several amateur radio signals that I was
> monitoring.
>
> I understand this was the Phase I trial area, and the test has been
> discontinued.
>
> January 15, 2004. On this and several subsequent dates, I received
> interference while driving along Holland Church road between 1010
> Road and
> Pagan Rd. in southern Wake County, specifically in the vicinity
> of Feldman
> Dr. The signature of the interference was the same: closely spaced
> carriers, about 1 kHz apart, some with a tik-tik-tik modulation, and
> occasionally a longer burst of what sounded like data. The interference
> covered two blocks of spectrum, from 23.44 - 26.08 MHz (including the
> amateur radio 12 meter band) and 27.9 - 31.7 MHz, (including the amateur
> radio 10 meter band). The interference was strong - S-9 - for
> about a half
> mile along Holland Church road, and audible in places along Pagan Rd. It
> obliterated several amateur radio signals that I was monitoring
> as I drove
> through the area.
>
> I also received interference with the same signature in several
> spots along
> Feldman Dr., in various other segments of the high-frequency spectrum -
> near 11 and 15 MHz in particular. The signals were weaker, but plainly
> audible. Onc caused a "beat note" against the 15 MHz WWV time and
> frequency reference signal.
>
> I have subsequently been through this area several times, and the
> interference is still present. My last visit was on February 28th.
>
> February 20, 2004. On this and several subsequent dates, I received
> interference while driving along NC Highway 55 and James
> Slaughter Rd, just
> north of the town of Fuquay-Varina. The interference was strongest along
> James Slaughter Road, opposite the Woodchase subdivision. Again, the
> signature of the interference was RF carriers, about 1 kHz apart, with a
> bit of digital modulation now and then, including the tik-tik-tik
> at about
> a 2 Hz rate.
>
> This interference was across 21.9-25.7 MHz (including the amateur
> radio 12
> meter band) and 27.5-30.0 MHz (including the amateur radio 10 meter
> band). The interference was S-9 along James Slaughter Road, and
> S-5 in the
> Food Lion parking lot at NC-55, and obliterated several amateur radio
> signals that I was monitoring.
>
> In the Woodchase subdivision, I also heard the "BPL signature" signals on
> several other points in the high frequency spectrum. The signals were
> weaker, but plainly audible. I also heard signals in the 7 and 24.5 MHz
> area about a mile further north on James Slaughter Road, near the
> Whitehurst subdivision. These signals were S-6 to S-9 for about 1/4 mile
> along James Slaughter Road.
>
> I most recently heard this interference on March 5th, 2004.
>
> Finally, on February 28, 2004, I personally visited the homes of three
> amateur radio operators who live in the vicinity of the Progress Energy
> Phase II BPL trials, and observed interference as received at their
> stations as follows:
>
> Mike Payne KM4UT
> 5813 HEATHILL CT
> Raleigh, NC
> Mile lives .7 miles south of the trial site on Holland Church
> Road. He is
> using a dipole antenna at about 30 feet. I observed that he was
> receiving
> a clear but weak BPL "signature" in the top half of the 10 meter band,
> above 28.8 MHz, and many smaller clusters of individual carriers in the
> band below that.
>
> Ted Root N1UJ
> 509 WYNDHAM DR
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> Ted is about a half mile southwest of the James Slaughter Road
> site. He is
> also using a dipole antenna at about 40 feet. He was receiving weak but
> clear BPL signature signals across the 25 and 28 MHz areas.
>
> Roland Erickson WA0AFW
> 201 WILBON ROAD 301B
> Fuquay-Varina, NC
> Roland is about a half mile south of the James Slaughter Rd. site. He is
> using a dipole antenna in the attic of a retirement village building. He
> has a very high ambient noise level (S-6) across the 25 and 28 MHz bands,
> but was receiving the BPL signature signals clearly above that
> noise level
> across those bands.
>
> You might ask if my complaint of interference while mobile, some distance
> from my home, is justified. I contend that it is, for several reasons.
>
> First, amateur radio is a very "mobile" service. Tens of thousands of
> amateur radio operators have and use high frequency mobile equipment, and
> we can be found anywhere, using all hf bands, at completely unpredictable
> times.
>
> Second, the Progress Energy Phase II trials are in very limited area
> tests. There are no amateur radio operators living inside the
> neighborhoods being served, though there are several within interference
> range - about a mile. We are justified in traveling to the sites with
> normal amateur radio equipment, operated in a normal manner, to
> observe and
> complain about interference we receive. This observation must be
> extrapolated to a wider geographic area to anticipate the kind of
> interference that would be received if BPL were to be widely deployed,
> especially in denser suburban and urban neighborhoods.
>
> You might also ask if weak BPL signals constitute harmful
> interference. I
> contend that they do. Amateur radio operation is unlike most other radio
> operation, in that amateurs tune across their band segments looking for
> signals. Often we are looking for weak signals from distant parts of the
> world. Our predominant modes are single sideband and cw. In
> those modes,
> a series of carriers 1 kHz apart presents a most irritating
> series of "beat
> notes" - tones that vary in pitch as the spectrum is tuned. At 1 kHz
> spacing, they are continuously present in a receiver using customary
> bandwidth filters. And even weak BPL signals can make weak amateur radio
> signals difficult or impossible to receive.
>
> The presence of any BPL signal of any strength at either a home or mobile
> station at any location is an unwarranted incursion in the amateur radio
> bands, and is also a problem for anyone tuning shortwave
> broadcast or other
> radio services.
>
> Thanks for your consideration. I look forward to hearing the results of
> the investigation into my complaints.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Gary Pearce KN4AQ
>
> __________________________________________________________________________
> Gary Pearce KN4AQ editor, SERA Repeater Journal
> Cary, NC www.sera.org
> 919-380-9944 [email protected]
> [email protected]
> AOL/Yahoo Instant Messanger: KN4AQ
> (send e-mail to be put on my "buddy list")
>
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