New Threat to Clean Power

Posted by: NaimDropper on 10 July 2003

Broadband over Power Lines, if implemented, will surely throw "hash" all over our power. Maybe then Naim equipment would actually sound better with a line filter!
Yikes!
Read below from the American Radio Relay League (who has a vested interest in keeping this sort of noise off the power lines).

Subject: ARLB043 ARRL files comments, studies in Broadband Over Power
Line proceeding



SB QST @ ARL $ARLB043
ARLB043 ARRL files comments, studies in Broadband Over Power Line
proceeding

ZCZC AG43
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 43 ARLB043
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT July 10, 2003
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB043
ARLB043 ARRL files comments, studies in Broadband Over Power Line
proceeding

Pointing to a potential for interference to and from Amateur Radio,
the ARRL has called on the FCC to "take no steps" to permit
Broadband over Power Line (BPL). The League's 120-page filing, which
includes several lab studies, was in response to the FCC's BPL
Notice of Inquiry in ET Docket 03-104, published May 23.

ARRL said the Amateur Service should not be "gored with the
double-edged sword of an incompatible service" that will at once
cause widespread interference and preclude any future changes in the
amateur HF allocations.

Citing "diligent and exhaustive research," ARRL concluded that BPL
must avoid any and all amateur MF, HF and VHF allocations without
exception. "This interference potential, as a matter of both law and
fact, disqualifies access BPL as a potential future competitive
broadband delivery system," the ARRL said in its comments.

League studies show received signal levels of BPL broadband noise at
typical amateur stations would be anywhere from 33.7 dB to 65.4 dB
higher than typical ambient noise levels in worst-case situations.
NNNN
/EX
Posted on: 10 July 2003 by paul99
Does not sound like a good idea.

This reminds me of my long ago days as a radio amateur.

During the early/mid 70s there was a minor panic about the use of switched mode power supplies (SMPS) in consumer electronics such as TVs.

Such power supplies were coming into use on the grounds of much lower manufacturing cost than linear supplies with mains transformers.

The fear was that splatter (RF noise) from the switching circuit would be fed back into the mains, interfere with other equipment connected to the mains and furthermore than mains cables would act as aerials and radiate the RF noise and thus interfere with radio reception.

And now thirty years later we are using SMPS in HiFi kit and HiFi enthusiasts are having concerns about mains noise!

Regards,

Paul.
Posted on: 11 July 2003 by BLT
There is already a great deal of signalling done over the Power lines. When I spent some time as a student working for Scottish Hydro Electric they used something called SALOME (Substation Alarm Load Operating Something Something) to transmit data over the power lines.
Posted on: 11 July 2003 by John Luckins
Thankfully there are one or two government funded organisations whose work would suffer should High Frequency signalling over power lines be allowed. The BBC World Service for example uses HF to transmit to Eurasia, Africa and the Americas from the UK and would have some problems with such interference. Not only would it cause problems at the transmit end but should target countries use it (after initial rollout here),it would prevent locals hearing the BBC WS as well as oft used domestic HF services.Bit of an own goal!

Of course if there is money to be made then there is always a threat, but it does rather fly in the face of EMC regulations that have already forced filters onto PC's etc.

John
Posted on: 11 July 2003 by Chris Bell
Can someone explain how amateur radio uses power lines?
Posted on: 12 July 2003 by John Luckins
Chris

It's not that they use power lines, its the interference generated by the power lines if they are used to carry broadband data traffic that concerns them. Every pylon line will potentially act as a transmit antenna, adding a background hash of noise just in the wavebands where amateur radio and International Short Wave (SW) Broadcasters operate. This interference has the potential to travel very far indeed, just as SW and amateur radio does.There are many hundreds of millions of SW listeners worldwide, in fact many more people listen to SW in the world than listen to FM or have their own televisions! You'd be amazed at the demand for SW when their is a major international crisis or war. It is still the only way to guarantee getting your message across borders at such times.

John
Posted on: 12 July 2003 by NaimDropper
Well said, John.
If they start pumping this noise over the power lines, it will certainly get into your home power (it is designed to do just that!).
With all the high-speed infrastructure in the US I don't understand why this is attractive.
I was just out in very rural Nebraska and South Dakota and they had just buried fiber optic cables underground there. Amazing!
David