ARRL Renews Interference Complaint Against Ambient Corporation BPL
Installation
 An Ambient BPL power-line connection in Briarcliff Manor. The
yellow object is a tap off the medium-voltage primary. The gray cabinet holds
the electronics. [Alan Crosswell, N2YGK, Photo] |
NEWINGTON, CT, January 6, 2006 -- In the wake of continued FCC inaction in
response to several previous complaints, on January 5 the ARRL filed a renewal of the
complaint against the Ambient Corporation's Broadband over Power Line
system in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The BPL system is operated by Ambient, on
power lines owned and operated by Consolidated Edison, under an experimental FCC
authorization.
The latest communication points out that the FCC, without adjudicating
ARRL's repeated complaints about interference throughout the amateur 20 meter
band, renewed Ambient's experimental license for an additional term, from
August 1, 2005 to August 1, 2007. "The Briarcliff Manor BPL system currently
(still) causes harmful interference to Amateur Radio communications and it is
not compliant with applicable FCC part 15 regulations," according to the ARRL
complaint. "Neither," it continues, "is it compliant with the terms of the
experimental authorization granted by the Commission, most recently on August
1, 2005."
It continues: "ARRL reiterates its request, now more than a year old, that
the BPL facility...be instructed to shut down immediately; and that it not resume
operation unless the facility is shown to be in full compliance with Commission
rules regarding radiated emissions and with the non-interference requirement...of
the Commission's Rules and the terms of the experimental authorization.
Finally, information about it must be listed in the BPL publicly accessible
database."
Appended to the January 5 complaint letter was a 25 page engineering report
entitled Additional
Testing of BPL System in Briarcliff Manor, NY. ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed
Hare, W1RFI, wrote the report after conducting further tests at the site
December 5, 2005. The report points out that he had conducted similar tests
twice before during 2005, and three times during 2004. In this earlier testing,
Hare found significant violations of FCC rules regarding Part 15 emissions
limits.
The January 5 ARRL complaint, entitled "Continued Request for Immediate
Cessation of Operation," was signed by ARRL Counsel Christopher D. Imlay, W3KD,
and was sent to the FCC's Joseph Casey, Bruce Franca and James Burtle. Casey is
Chief, Spectrum Enforcement Division, while Franca serves as Acting Chief,
Office of Engineering and Technology, and Burtle is Chief, Experimental
Licensing Division. A copy was also sent to the counsel for Ambient
Corporation.
Page last modified: 03:44 PM, 06 Jan 2006 ET
Page author: awextra@arrl.org
Copyright © 2006, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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