Just when
you thought it was safe
to turn on your transceivers.
Guest article by
PopularWireless Reader, Rod Rosenbarger of Cottonwood, AZ
Editor's Note: Amateurs, CB operators,
GMRS licensees, FRS users, and SWL's should visit the Verde
Valley Amateur Radio Association website for more information.
The Citizens Radio Service, Amateur
Radio Service, and even the short wave listening hobby are in danger of
suffering severe interference on their radio receivers because of the FCC's
approval of a new information technology called Broadband over Power lines, or
BPL. (Ed note: Valley Verde Amateur Radio Association now reports BPL
interference to Amateur Radio licensees at their website.)
The FCC is allowing the BPL industry to
use a wide range of the radio frequency spectrum in 6 MHz segments. The
potential for interference from BPL to users of the radio spectrum as well the
potential of interference to users of BPL from legal users of radio
transmitters is particularly high.
Over 80 cities in the United States now
have BPL test sites. In Cottonwood Arizona where I live if you are within one
to two blocks of any of the three test sites the interference from BPL
overwhelms your CB radio receiver. I have registered S9 +60 DB of BPL noise
within a distance of two-blocks. Local CB radio signals cannot penetrate this
noise while I am in the BPL zone.
The local BPL provider is Mountain
Telecommunications Inc, in association with Arizona Public Service and Electric
Broadband LLC. MTI claims their interference testing reveals that the S9 + BPL
interference disappears within ten feet of the power lines. We believe their
test results are grossly in error and even defy the laws of physics! We have
found that they have notched out the Amateur Radio shortwave allocations but
the CB service is suffering horrendous interference.
There is a website that is devoted to
the fight against BPL. I urge everyone in the radio community to visit this
site and do everything they can in the fight for BPL-interference-free radio
bands. Please visit: www.vvara.org
The interference from BPL is
overwhelming. We must protect our radio bands now.
Frequencies where we found BPL. We
checked all three test sites in Cottonwood Arizona on December 20, 2004. We
believe if someone would take a Part 15 measurement they would be in violation,
that's how loud they are in low VHF.
4.000.00mhz, through 6.5000.00 mhz S5
to S9 very strong in places
11.000mhz to 12.000 mhz S3 to S 6
14.450.00 mhz to 17.000.00 mhz S1 to S6
20.800.00 mhz, loud S8+ 21.700.00mhz to
23.000.00 mhz, loud S8+
25.400.00 mhz through the C.B. band to
28.000.00 mhz very loud s5 to S 8+
33.000.00 mhz to 37.800.00 S 8 to S 9
very loud.
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