ARRL repeats call for shutdown of
Arizona BPL field trial
The ARRL again has asked the FCC to immediately shut down a broadband
over power line (BPL) field trial in the Cottonwood, Arizona, area that
it says is interfering with Amateur Radio communication.
The League's second shutdown request, sent October 11, accuses the FCC
of doing "absolutely nothing" to enforce its rules or to protect
licensed services from interference.
In an accompanying 12-page technical analysis, the ARRL also cast serious
doubt on the accuracy - and possibly the integrity - of the BPL system's
FCC-required six-month report, filed more than two months late.
Its review of the report from system operator Electric Broadband LLC
(EB), the League said, indicated inconsistent test results demonstrating
that ambient noise conditions at the test sites "were clearly misstated."
"To be blunt, as can be easily determined from the EB report itself,"
ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, wrote in a cover letter to the
ARRL's technical analysis, "one of two things occurred: either (1)
EB altered the data to suit its false conclusion that the system is operating
in accordance with FCC rules; or (2) its technical consultants were not
qualified to conduct the tests and glaringly misinterpreted, among other
things, the source of noise generated internally in their own test equipment."
Imlay called the EB test results "completely compromised" and
said they can't be used to determine whether or not the system is operating
legally.
"ARRL has previously established that the system is operating substantially
in violation of Part 15 rules," he said, "and is causing actual
interference" on ham bands.
The ARRL said that EB's report further indicates that in the low-VHF
Public Safety allocation at 30-50 MHz, "the BPL system is operating
at radiated emission levels significantly in excess" of Part 15 limits.
In its report EB claimed to have spent "significant time and effort"
looking into interference complaints from hams, running tests and "taking
steps to mitigate any possible interference" the system was causing.
It even invited the FCC to come and see for itself.
EB and utility APS have been operating the BPL experiment at two Yavapai
County, Arizona, sites since June under a Special Temporary Authorization
(STA) the FCC granted EB in March. The League pointed out that the STA
now has expired "but the system apparently continues to operate nevertheless."
In its technical analysis, the ARRL said EB continues to deny any interference
issues associated with its system, despite continuing complaints and "detailed
and accurate" technical showings submitted by Cottonwood-area amateur
licensees. Testing done in early September shows clearly "that BPL
signals were present at various sites on frequencies where APS and EB
claim it was not," the ARRL analysis asserted. The League also charges
that EB's test methodology was flawed and not up to industry or regulatory
standards.
The FCC prompted release of EB's six-month report in a September 1 letter
that took note of "several complaints" alleging interference
to amateur operations from the experimental system. It also mentioned
ARRL's August
request, filed on behalf of Cottonwood-area amateurs, that the FCC shut
down the system, revoke its STA and fine the system's operators.
The first Amateur Radio complaint, filed in June, cited testing by the
Verde Valley Amateur Radio Association (VVARA) in the 1.8-30 MHz range.
It asserted that BPL interference makes attempts at ham radio communication
useless. VVARA submitted a comprehensive report to the two companies and
the FCC in late July detailing interference issues.
In late September, the VVARA BPL Interference Committee met with representatives
of APS and Mountain Telecommunications (MTIO, which handles system operations.
According to VVARA, APS and MTI indicated that
the BPL system operators had decided to proceed with "notching"
amateur HF frequencies. A representative from Electric Broadband was not
at the meeting, VVARA says.
Source: ARRL Letter - courtesy of The
American Radio Relay League
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