ARRL responds to FCC’s BPL re-load

The ARRL has reacted to the Federal Communication Commission’s new proposal on BPL emission limits and does not believe it provides the fix to the radio interference potential of the technology.

The ARRL only made comment after carefully examining the proposal which incuded ‘800 Mb of previously unseen internal reports and videos’.

ARRL Laboratory Manager and BPL expert Ed Hare, W1RFI said that while the FCC continues to downplay the work of its staff by labelling it as being opinions of an individual, that is not really the case.

Ed Hare says the FCC technical people have strong experience in measurement techniques and interference assessment.

“This is generally good engineering, with a clear objective of providing the Commission with accurate technical information about BPL,” he said on the ARRL website.

The FCC's own technical findings clearly spell out that BPL operating at the FCC limits has a very strong potential to cause interference to licensed radio users.

A major difference between the ARRL and the FCC is how to measure radiation at a distance from BPL energised powerlines. While the FCC is offering a compromise this is not being accepted.

The FCC’s proposed new rules and its accompanying documentation, that is in part a response to an adverse court ruling against it in a case mounted by the ARRL, has escalated the debate to a new level.

The BPL industry, as acknowledged by the ARRL, has taken some action itself going beyond what the current FCC rules require, including filtering and not using the amateur bands in their systems.

Ed Hare states that the industry and ARRL have shown that it is possible to operate BPL systems without widespread interference problems.

The debate over complex technical issues surrounding BPL technology continues.

An initial story on the FCC proposed new rule making can be found in the news section of the Amateur Radio Victoria website www.amateurradio.com.au

(Amateur Radio Victoria)