ARRL asks for fines and BPL shutdown in Texas

[va3css]

“The results of tests conducted by ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare are that this facility, which has been the subject of an unresolved interference complaint dating back to November, 2004, is still regularly causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio stations and must be required to cease operation immediately,” said the League’s complaint, signed by ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD. Hare visited the Texas site last October.

The ARRL said the levels of interfering BPL signals Hare measured and documented “are sufficient to obscure virtually all Amateur Radio received signals and preclude Amateur Radio communications in the areas and on the bands identified in the report.”

McIntosh personally documented some two dozen instances of harmful interference from the BPL test stand on 11 days between July and October 2004, the ARRL complaint noted. He logged serious interference on 40, 20, 17, 15, 10 and 6 meters.

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BPL will be the death of HF if allowed to continue. Sad to say that the dollar wins over the hobby most times.

[va3css]

PROGRAM CANCELLED!

NEWINGTON, CT, Mar 30, 2005--An Irving, Texas, BPL pilot project that was the target of an ARRL complaint two weeks earlier has shut down and removed its equipment. In mid-March, the League called on the FCC to shut down the system and issue fines for causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio communications. The ARRL's March 15 filing to the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, its Office of Engineering and Technology, system operator TXU and equipment manufacturer Amperion supported a complaint from ARRL member and North Texas Section BPL Task Force Chair Jory McIntosh, KJ5RM, who regularly commutes through the BPL test zone in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"I just got back from reviewing the site and can confirm that the BPL installation in Irving, Texas, has been removed and is no longer operating," McIntosh told ARRL this week. "Things are so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Definitely quite a change!" He said when the system was running, interference in its vicinity was 20 dB over S9 or stronger on all amateur bands from 40 through 6 meters.

The ARRL became involved after FCC failed to respond to a formal complaint McIntosh filed last fall. ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, also took measurements at the Texas site that verified McIntosh's observations. ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, thanked McIntosh for his help in bringing the situation to a head. "I hope your example inspires other amateurs facing similar situations to get involved," Sumner added.

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;D