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![Previous (earlier) Story](/images/sty-down.gif "ISS Crew Pleases Field Day Crowd with Ham Radio "First""){kind=small} Previous: ISS Crew Pleases Field Day Crowd with Ham Radio "First" |  Next: Getting ready for July 1 General question pool changeover |
 ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP. |
NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 29, 2004--ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, says a remark the United Power Line Council (UPLC) made recently about Amateur Radio shows that the League's BPL message is getting through. In its reply comments on the FCC's BPL Notice of Proposed Rule Making the UPLC's Brett Kilbourne claimed that members of the BPL industry are the real experts on the technology, "not a misinformed set of armchair amateurs that still use vacuum tube transmitters." A subsequent UPLC press release repeated the swipe, drawing a storm of protest from the amateur community. Haynie said this week that he took comfort rather than offense at the intended affront.
"I thought that the comment was a good indicator that the work that the League has been doing on multiple fronts is beginning to pay off," Haynie said. The League's FCC filings, technical studies and information on BPL, he said, have made it "very embarrassing" for the BPL industry to keep insisting "that the emperor is wearing clothes," so it's resorted to name calling instead.
Haynie said he remains puzzled that the BPL industry appears unwilling to support its claims that "the risk of interference from BPL is extraordinarily low, because it produces only minimal radio frequency energy at a few points in the system," as the UPLC's press release asserts. Any harmful interference that does occur, the UPLC claims, can be "mitigated" using a variety of techniques, "including frequency notching or frequency shifting."
"Just saying 'We said it's not going to interfere' is not going to cut it," he said. Haynie challenged the BPL industry to sponsor independent, professional engineering evaluations of the technology's interference risk. "Let's see what they've got."
 A BPL extractor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Alliant Energy has shut down its BPL pilot project there. [Alan Erickson, WB0OAV, Photo] |
Haynie said that while he found the UPLC's "armchair amateurs" remark amusing, its severe criticism of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Phase 1 BPL report and comments in the proceeding raised his eyebrows a bit. In its press release, the UPLC said "NTIA's recommendations and ARRL's naysaying are misguided" and that the UPLC has "forcefully replied" to interference concerns.
"For Mr Kilbourne to come out and say they [NTIA] don't know what they're talking about, he might as well shoot himself in the foot," Haynie said, pointing out that the White House, which is promoting BPL, is putting a lot weight on the NTIA's recommendations.
In its comments, the UPLC characterized the NTIA's recommendations as "highly prescriptive and unreasonable." It said the NTIA's approach was "fundamentally at odds with the Part 15 rules" and "unjustified by the interference potential of BPL operations."
In response to the criticism leveled from the amateur community, the UPLC declared its "support for Amateur Radio remains unabated," but expressed concern for "uninformed armchair quarterbacking by a small number of amateurs." The UPLC also said it has "sought to work with ARRL," citing its offer to help resolve "a complaint in Cedar Rapids, Iowa."
Alliant Energy last week prematurely shut down its BPL pilot system in Cedar Rapids. Interference complaints from amateurs were a factor in the utility's decision.
For additional information, visit the "Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) and Amateur
Radio" page on the ARRL Web site. To support the League's efforts in this
area, visit the ARRL's secure BPL Web
site.
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