Amateur radio enthusiasts send message to Industry Canada on BPL interference

Amateur radio service is once again under attack. While most recently some of its spectrum was being reallocated for other services (RoW, Dec. 14/05), interference from broadband over powerline (BPL) communications is being cited this time as a potential major inhibitor of continued amateur radio services. Clubs across the country and the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) have come out in force on the issue of broadband over powerline implementation in Canada: they say it will cause too much interference to amateur radio unless appropriate protection by Industry Canada is applied. In comments to Industry Canada’s consultation on BPL (SMSE-005-05), the RAC is particularly concerned about interference in the medium and high frequency band (MF and HF) from 1.7 to 30 MHz. "These frequencies are unique; they are the only part of the spectrum which supports worldwide communications without immediate infrastructure; they must be preserved. Amateur radio operators use these frequencies for long-distance weak signal communications on a daily basis," writes the RAC. Many of the provincial, regional and municipal amateur radio clubs submitted comments to the consultation, and almost all noted that their use of certain amounts of spectrum could be severely restricted without proper protection. Many of the amateur radio clubs’ submissions reflect the focus of the impact of harmful interference on their operations. "Having reviewed your paper and other available literature on the subject, we believe that the introduction of BPL with the proposed emission limits, will create harmful interference to authorized and legitimate uses of the radio spectrum. In its current state of development, wide-area BPL could have a devastating effect on radio users in the range 2-80 MHz and beyond, and deprive them of a legitimate use of this spectrum," read submissions from many of the clubs. The RAC notes that BPL access technology over low voltage (LV) power lines has been shown to reduce interference to existing radio services below 30 MHz to acceptable levels. The national amateur radio association singles out a deployment from Current Technologies in Cincinnati that uses frequencies between 30 MHz and 50 MHz to avoid causing interference. "This part of the spectrum has comparatively little occupancy, making it relatively easy to notch out locally used frequencies, while leaving enough bandwidth for future increases in speed," writes the RAC. Broadband over powerline has been tested in Canada with the first trial having been launched in Sault Ste. Marie nearly two years ago. PUC Telecom and Amperion partnered to use medium voltage powerlines in conjunction with Wi-Fi to bring broadband to the residence (RoW, Feb. 25/04).

Amateur radio enthusiasts send message to Industry Canada on BPL interference

News | January 25, 2006

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