Fw: [South Florida DX Association] BPL Interference
Fred Kleber
[email protected]
Thu, 7 Aug 2003 10:15:54 -0400
As a follow-up to W2CQ's/NA2Ms earlier messages regarding BPL, and the field
tests of W1RFI, a video has been posted on the ARRL's website showing test
receiver audio & video. The result of BPL (Broadband over Power Lines)
would be disastrous for ALL amateur enthusiasts, including DXers.
The direct link to the video is:
* High speed connection - http://216.167.96.120/BPL_Trial-web.mpg
* Dial-Up connection - http://216.167.96.120/BPL_Trial-small.mpg
If you would prefer to click on the video link from the article:
* Go to the article http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/08/08/2/?nc=1
* Scroll down a page or so to the blue box in the center of the screen.
* Click on high speed or dial-up link to video.
If this gets your attention PLEASE, PLEASE let the FCC know how you feel
about it. (As of typing this e-mail, 2138 others have filed their comments)
Here's how to file a comment on BPL.
* Go to the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System page at
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/
* In the "EFCS MIAN LINKS" box in the upper right hand corner click on
"SUBMIT A FILING"
* In Box #1 type in "03-104", the number assigned to the BPL Proceeding
* (No need to check box #11)
* In Box#12, "DOCUMENT TYPE" is be "COMMENT", which should be the default.
Comments may be typed into a form or you may attach a file containing your
comments. Do not include links to information not contained in your
document as the server will reject your comment.
It would be a sad day for amateur radio if BPL were allowed to move forward.
I have submitted my comments to the FCC. HAVE YOU?
Very 73,
Fred, K9VV
----- Original Message -----
From: Bill Marx
To: aSFDXA
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 6:18 PM
Subject: [South Florida DX Association] BPL Interference
Here is an interesting note sent to me by Bill NA2M of the NNJDXA
-Bill W2CQ
This may be a repeat of the message I sent this past weekend.
Bill - NA2M
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From: Joel Gilly
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:41 AM
Subject: BPL in Emmaus, PA and My Meeting with Ed Hare.
Gentlemen,
As I had mentioned previously, Ed Hare W1RFI and ARRL Lab Manager, was
stopping over in the Lehigh Valley, PA on Wednesday as part of a three
state
sweep to monitor and collect data about BPL. I had the pleasure of meeting
and spending time with Mr. Hare on Wednesday morning and had the
opportunity to witness the effects BPL has on the Amateur HF bands.
On Tuesday night, my cell phone rang and when I answered, it was Mr. Hare.
He was in the Valley, in Dorneyville, and wanted to touch base with me
before our meeting the following morning. I was in West Chester at the
time
visiting my son, but Mr. Hare had mentioned that he had already swung
through Emmaus that evening to make a preliminary assessment of the area.
On Wednesday morning, I met Mr. Hare at the Comfort Suites in Dorneyville.
After the introductions, during which he presented me a copy of the "ARRL
RFI Book", we discussed a rough agenda, then loaded into his well-used
Subaru wagon replete with measuring equipment and a Buddi-pole portable
compact dipole strapped to the roof rack, and headed off towards Emmaus.
The area in Emmaus that is being used by PPL for the BPL test is in the
area
of Pine St. just behind Emmaus High School and the East Penn School
District
Administrative building. We drove around to find a spot were we could
setup
to do some measurements. Mr. Hare had selected a spot the previous evening
that he thought might be a good area to listen to and measure BPL's radio
signature. We parked outside a residence and he began setting up his
equipment.
Mr. Hare is using a very simple set-up in order to make an estimate of the
field strength of signals that he is interested in. Strapped to the back
seat of the Subaru was a wooden palette that contained a deep cycle
battery,
an inverter, a step RF attenuator, an ICOM PCR-1000 receiver, and his
laptop
computer running custom data acquisition and processing software that Mr.
Hare
authored. As mentioned before, he used a Buddi-Pole compact loaded
dipole mounted in a tripod strapped to the roof rack as the antenna. The
measurement process involves using the sound card in the laptop PC as an
audio voltmeter. It is first desirable to calibrate the system by first
measuring the noise generated by the soundcard and the receiver without the
antenna attached. The antenna is attached, and the attenuator is adjusted
until the desired signal is audible just above the noise floor. The
software is then
used to sample the audio an that is processed to determine the RMS value
based
on the 9 kHz bandwidth that the FCC specifies for emissions from Part 15
devices
in the HF band. A calculation is then performed against this value taking
into account the
parameters of the receiver system (radio, feed line, and antenna) to
determine the dbuV/M
fields strength of the signal. It is a simple and elegant system that Mr.
Hare feels will
produce the consistent and high quality data that will be needed to address
the Amateur Radio
communities about BPL to the FCC.
The real eye-opening part of the day was to listen to BPL in action on the
HF bands. Mr. Hare disconnected the PCR-1000 and replaced it with a
Kenwood TS-440 and we listened to several amateur bands. The type of BPL
used
in the Emmaus area (there are several "flavors" which Mr. Hare showed
later) creates an impulse type noise on the bands. It sounds very much
like a
Geiger counter. The noise generated is very broad banded and can be
heard continuously up-and-down the bands. It seemed to be strongest on 21
MHz
and faded below 5 MHz and a little above 24 MHz, but this may have been due
to our receive antenna not being optimized for those frequencies. BPL
created
a consistent S5 to S7 noise level on the bands. We listened for a while
to 14.060 Mhz to hear what it would sound like on a popular frequency.
Some faint CW stations in the background could be heard, but the opinion
was
that they would be "un-copyable" under the circumstances. We then got back
in the car and began driving around the area listening to the radio and the
noise. As we got farther away from the test area, the noise faded
dramatically. A few blocks from our initial location, the noise level had
dropped dramatically to S1 to S2, the typical "quiet band" conditions.
We then drove to an area that had BPL, but had it's electrical service
delivered through underground feeds. In this case, we pulled up outside
a residence that was owned by an engineer Mr. Hare had contacted about BPL
and who had an Amateur Radio operator living near him. In this case, the
noise generated was somewhat reduced, but still around the S5 level outside
the residence. It was clear from this example, that if you were a ham
living next door to this person, your operating conditions would be greatly
compromised.
Later, we drove around again to attempt to find a "hot spot". In the areas
that had BPL, it was interesting to note the changing profile of the noise
as we roved around the area. Every time we passed a utility pole, the
noise
level peaked dramatically. We arrived at one area that exhibited a
significant increase over neighboring areas. This area happened to be a
pole that contained a BPL injection point. The noise present at this
location was unprecedented. On the Kenwood, I noted a consistent S9 to
S9+10 noise level. I tuned up to around 14.200 and found a 5 call area
station in QSO with CY9A. The five was copyable, but CY9A was much
weaker, and the noise would have rendered a QSO with the station
unmanageable.
Mr. Hare then disconnected the TS-440 and made some field strength
measurements. His measurements revealed field strengths well in excess of
FCC limits.
We then packed up and stopped for lunch. During lunch, we discussed the
ARRL ARIA project and BPL. Mr. Hare explained that while the aim of the
ARIA project is much broader than BPL, it will be instrumental in gathering
evidence to support the ARRL's position on BPL. He also touched on some
ancillary issue regarding BPL. On of the interesting points regarded the
limits on conducted signals versus radiated signals from BPL. He explained
that some BPL systems are looking to use very high power levels and that
these levels could exceed the design limits of other devices plugged into
electrical outlets. Another point was that the FCC mandated field strength
levels were specified under certain conditions. The vagaries of the
various
BPL schemes and implementations can provide "wiggle room" for BPL
implementers pass the FCC requirements while still creating systems that
will adversely affect amateur communications. As Mr. Hare pointed out,
an overhead electrical line is just a large radiator of an arbitrary size.
The radiation pattern developed by such a line could take the main lobe
outside of the test measurement area, but still present a significant
problem
for amateur radio signals. Therefore, an integral part of the project is
to
gain "real world" experience about the affects of BPL on amateur
communications. Still another question is how BPL will affect other users
of the HF radio spectrum. Right now, the Amateur Radio community is the
only organized response to BPL. Mr. Hare hopes that when the data he and
others are gathering is made public, other organizations will come on-board
and voice their concerns about BPL.
After lunch, we went out to the parking lot of the hotel and talked some
more. Mr. Hare showed me a video tape he had made of his visit to Briar
Cliff Manor, NY (near White Plains), another BPL test site. In that
video, he is shown driving around with the TS-440 tuned to the 20m amateur
frequencies. As he drives around the area, he tunes around the band.
It can be heard clearly that on frequency after frequency, block after
block, the band is filled with extremely loud "birdies". It almost made
the
Emmaus experience seem bearable. The frightening thing about what I saw
was
that the situation will only get worse. The interference that I heard in
Emmaus is directly related to the amount of internet activity. As more and
more users come on-line, the crackling of the "Geiger counter" will get
more
and more persistent. We saw BPL in the day at low usage levels. I can
only
imagine what it might be like at peak usage hours.
All-in-all, it was on of the most enlightening experiences I have ever had.
I am extremely thankful to M. Hare for inviting me along. I hope that
in the near future, I can organize my material for the purposes of making a
presentation to the DLARC and possibly the LARC.
If you have any comments or questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Thank you for your time.
Regards,
Joel M. Gilly
AKrion, LLC.
(610) 530-3213
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