Technical Topics, September 2003
NASWA Files Reply Comments to FCC BPL Inquiry
On August 20 NASWA filed reply comments to the FCC in response to comments that were made by BPL proponents during the initial phase of the inquiry. Here is the substance of that submission. If you have not yet read the July and August editions of this column, I suggest you do so before continuing with this one. It will make much more sense if you have the background information explained in those other columns.
NASWA represents the interests of people who choose to get their news and information about other cultures via shortwave radio broadcasts on frequencies internationally allocated by the ITU and the FCC for this purpose.
There are several common threads that have been expressed by multiple BPL proponents that deserve further comment. Many of the proponents of using HF frequencies for BPL transmissions have made the point that their systems work at currently authorized Part 15 signal levels and should, therefore, be immediately authorized for commercial deployment. They assert that interference, if it occurs, can be mitigated by providing notches in the spectral mask for frequencies that are used for amateur radio. Many proudly proclaim that no complaints of interference from their technology have resulted from their test demonstrations. NASWA addresses each of these assertions in this response.
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Technical Topics, August 2003
NASWA Alerts FCC To BPL Danger
For the first time in its long history, NASWA has publicly defended the interests of shortwave broadcast listeners in the USA. On June 30, 2003 NASWA submitted an 18-page filing to the FCC in response to Notice of Inquiry 03-104 concerning Broadband Power Line (BPL) communications. The Journal does not have the room to print the entire submission, but this month I will attempt to summarize many of the points made in that submission. Comments by AMRAD and the NAB also mentioned the impact to shortwave listeners and I have included part of their comments too.
As you probably already know from the Musings in the June NASWA Journal, there are well-funded interests who want to use the commercial power lines as a way to conduct high-speed data communications. Many of the proponents of this technology have chosen to design systems using frequencies that are between 2 and 30 MHz.
The number of shortwave listeners in the USA is hard to estimate accurately since Arbitron does not survey such listeners. The CIA Factbook says there are 575 million radios here. If only one percent of these radios have shortwave capability, that would be almost 6 million shortwave receivers. A reasonable estimate would be that hundreds of thousands of listeners tune in to shortwave broadcasts weekly.
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Technical Topics, June 2003
The Next Threat To SW Listeners
(And What You Can Do To Help)
It seems like every few years I feel obligated to warn NASWA members of a new threat to our ability to listen to shortwave radio. I remember my first Tech Topics column over a decade ago concerned the interference potential of RF excited light bulbs that GE was getting ready to market. As President Ronald Reagan said, "Well, there you go again."
The latest communications fad is a way of transmitting high data rate internet traffic over your house electrical wiring and the wires that connect your house to a nearby pole. There is a standard, developed by an industry consortium called the HomePlug Alliance, that plans to use the HF spectrum between 2 and 30 MHz for this connection. You plug your modem into a convenient power outlet. A similar modem near your service transformer picks the signals off the power line and converts them to a series of light pulses which travel via fiber optic cable to the internet interface. Because the power wiring in residential settings is unshielded, these signals will radiate and may cause interference to SW reception.
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Musings of the Membership, June 2003
Musings
These Musings, taken from this month’s Journal, deal with the FCC proposal to introduce broadband Internet service over power lines. This has the potential to destroy the ability to receive shortwave signals. Please read this, as well as this month’s Technical Topics column, and take appropriate action.
Paul Brouillette, 611 Illinois Street, Geneva, IL 60134
Recently, the FCC has issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking public comments on what they are calling Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) deployment in the US. BPL is also known as Power Line Communications (PLC) in Europe and elsewhere. With this system, electric power lines are used to transmit broadband services (Internet, etc.), instead of using coax or fiber optic cable. The logic is that power lines go everywhere without having to run expensive coax or fiber optic cable all over the country.
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