Draft interim PLT standards to go to ICASA board

The Standards Liaison committee (SLC) last week approved the draft interim Power Line Telecommunications standards for South Africa.

The SLC agreed that only class B limits will apply as the minimum requirements. The class B limit for conducted disturbance is some 10dB more stringent than class A. The PLT industry had asked that class A limits apply in industrial areas and at sub-stations, a request that the SARL opposed at the committee stage,

The SARL is however not satisfied that compulsory notching of the Amateur HF bands has not been included in the draft standards which will now be considered by the ICASA board before being published in the Government Gazette for comment.

At the comment stage the SARL will make further representation and submit documentation in support of the SARL position that all amateur HF bands must be notched and the 10dB notching level be increased to a higher value.

The interim PLT standards will be in force until international standards have been agreed on. One of the arguments the SARL is putting forward is that as limits in the interim PLT standards are based on the FCC limits, installations approved now may not meet the final international standards.

The main stumbling block to get international agreed standards is agreement on the interference limits and method of testing. Many European players do not accept the FCC limits as satisfactorily.

Source: The South African Radio League