VK7 Electricity Regulator Rules BPL Breach

Tasmania's electricity provider, Aurora Energy, has been found to have breached the state's Electricity Code.

The breach relates to high levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI) from powerlines being used for a broadband trial in the Hobart suburb of Mount Nelson.

The electricity regulator, Andrew Reeves, has upheld a resident's complaint relating to the EMI levels recorded by the ACMA in January 2007.

However, Mr Reeves will not take any action against Aurora because the broadband trial ended five months ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/21/2222408.htm

http://www.auroraenergy.com.au/news/default.asp?file=27-november-2007.txt

Justin, VK7TW has just released a new video on YouTube of his experiences of BPL enablement in his street in South Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Titled "Are you ready for BPL in your Neighbourhood" and demonstrates the levels you can expect if BPL is installed in your area.

There is no notching evident at this stage.

This video accompanies the popular North Hobart and Mt Nelson Virtual BPL tours!

The web addresses can be found at:

http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php#bpltours

73, Justin, VK7TW

BPL NEWS - with VK2DKN Phil Waite

In last week's broadcast I mentioned that the WIA was attending the international CISPR BPL working group meeting in Sydney.

The aim of this Working Group is to set measuring methods and propose emission limits in order to protect established radio services in the frequency band 1.6 to 30 MHz from interference from BPL.

The meeting was attended by about 40 people with several representatives from countries such as France, Germany, UK, USA and Australia. The WIA attended as an observer.

At the last Working Group meeting in Geneva (which Australia did not attend) those present agreed to submit a draft proposal to change the test method for measuring conducted emission from BPL modems.

The Australian group presented three papers to this latest meeting in Sydney which suggest that, without modification, the proposed change would relax the emission limits for BPL modems by at least 20dB.

Following spirited technical discussion a sub-group of 10 technical experts was formed to investigate the issues and report back to the next CISPR BPL Working Group meeting in Washington, late January.

CISPR is where the rubber meets the road as far as BPL is concerned, and as CISPR's charter is to protect radio communications services the outcome from the BPL working group will be very interesting. We believe it will be very
difficult for CISPR to adopt methods and limits which both allow BPL to operate and also protect HF radio communications services.

Phil Wait VK2DKN

The EMC regime prevents equipment being imported or sold in Australia which exceeds the allowed emission levels, and protects the electromagnetic spectrum we all use against widespread electromagnetic pollution. That includes BPL equipment.

However a proposal has been presented for consideration by CISPR which, by changing the test methods, will effectively increase the permitted emission limits for BPL equipment.

A Standards Australia BPL Working Group report identifying serious deficiencies in the proposed changes, and measurements showing the potential for interference from a typical BPL modem in various residential premises, was presented to the CISPR meeting.

The WIA attended the 3 days of BPL meetings as an observer. If possible, I hope to have more to say about this important meeting in next weeks broadcast.

Phil Wait VK2DKN

VK7news says Owen Duffy VK1OD has prepared some notes on his interpretation of the ACMA Mt Nelson report that was recently released.

Owen suggests that the background measurement are most likely the reporting instrument's internal noise as they do not match expected ambient noise levels.

The BPL emission levels are up to 55dB above the expected ambient noise levels and even within the notch on the 20m band emissions are 37dB above the expected ambient noise level.

Notch depth is on average about 22dB less on 20m band, 21dB on average in the 17m band and on average about 18dB on the 15m band.

Owen concludes that the measurements taken using Conrad's 20m quad once you take into account the difference in test receiver and amateur receiver bandwidth results in a noise floor degradation in the order of 11.4dB within the 20m notched segment.

It is an interesting read and I encourage everyone interested in BPL to take a look. The notes can be found at the address on the email and internet editions of this broadcast.

http://www.vk1od.net/bpl/HobartBPLTrial.htm

The Australian Communications and Media Authority released their report from their testing at Mt Nelson, Tasmania, Australia in January 2007.

The report presents the findings using three antennas connected to their test receiver at VK7HCK's QTH - the ACMA's calibrated flat response loop antenna, VK7HCK's 20m quad loop antenna and VK7HCK's 80, 40, 20 & 15m vertical antenna.

Testing was also undertaken outside the notched area and there are clearly higher levels of BPL emissions evident in these measurements. Measurements where also undertaken in Tolmans Hill where the power is underground and levels were nderstandably lower.

In a number of the charts measurements were also included that were taken at Quoin Ridge (ITU Region 3 Monitoring Station - 20km away) for background comparisons.

The ACMA also included the US FCC levels in most charts for reference purposes and make the comment that if the FCC standards were in place then the levels detected in these tests would meet these limits. This raises the question. Is the ACMA seriously considering using the FCC BPL emission levels? If so, then this is a disturbing trend as it is
clear that the FCC levels do not protect amateurs from potentially harmful BPL emissions.

An examination of the notches was also performed and at lower bandwidth (300Hz) it was found that the suppressed carriers from the BPL system were still evident at relatively high levels within the notched area.

The report also raises another disturbing issue in relation to the testing. The standard bandwidth that was used in the testing was 10kHz which is close to the CISPR22 standard of 9kHz. However, a standard amateur transceiver has a nominal bandwidth of around 2.7kHz, which will enable amateurs to detect BPL emissions much more easily than the test receiver which uses the wider bandwidth.

If the standard that the ACMA adopts does not take into account this difference in equipment bandwidth, then the ACMA testing will not be getting a true picture of what amateurs will be experiencing from BPL interference.

The report suggests that the powerline segments either side of the affected amateur should be notched at all applicable amateur bands as this may help reduce the BPL interference that would be detected by the amateur.

The report can be found at:

http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD//pc=PC_2846

73, Justin, VK7TW

Jerrabomberra is the latest site for an Australian trial of BPL technology. The area is residential land use, and uses underground power distribution, so the emission characteristics can be expected to be quite different to those previously observed with aerial power distribution.

The report of a preliminary visit to Jerrabomberra is now available at http://www.vk1od.net/bpl/JerrabomberraBplTrial01.htm.

Take a look at http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php#bpltours

(Info via the "Spectrum" mailing list 28 March 2007)

The 8 minute virtual tour video of the Mt Nelson BPL trial area has been released on DVD and YouTube streaming video.

This tour shows a visual and audible representation of the interference potential of the BPL technology deployed in the Mt Nelson area. The video contains commentary about the trial, technology, issues and background information on BPL.

There is also a virtual tour of the North Hobart trial area that will soon be released.

Take a look at http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php#bpltours

(73, Justin, VK7TW)

VK7 BPL NOISE FLOOR REPORT RELEASED

On the morning of 17 February 2007 a lightning strike caused the loss of power in the Mt Nelson area. With power and BPL systems non-operational, background noise level measurements were taken around the QTH of VK7HCK and VK7HK.

Measurements were taken on 20m using Owen VK1OD's Field Strength Measurement Software.

Comparisons between the previous noise floor measurements taken in January, March and July 2006 and measurements taken with no power and no BPL, show a noise floor that is between 10.9dB (12 times lower) and 12.6dB (18 times) lower than the previous noise floor measurements taken outside the BPL trial area.

The most likely explanation for the lower measured noise floor level is the lack of power in the previously BPL enabled area. This would mean that all mains power devices including BPL equipment would have ceased to operate and therefore ceased to emit any contributory radio frequency noise.

The key conclusion from this report is that the initial impact of BPL emission levels are understated.

The report is available on the VK7 BPL Watch Page.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) performed background noise and emission measurements at the Mt Beauty BPL trial in Victoria, over the 20th-21st February 2007. The measurements were in response to an interference complaint lodged with ACMA by Ian Paul VK3LJJ.

Gary Smith - Manager BPL Projects Team Regulation and Compliance Branch, and Colin Payne – Regulation and Compliance Branch Melbourne, represented ACMA. Yoram Apter - Project Manager BPL, represented SP-Ausnet, and WIA Director Phil Wait VK2DKN represented the WIA.

Background noise measurements were performed in various locations around the township of Mt Beauty, following deactivation of the BPL equipment by the service provider SP-Ausnet. BPL emissions and the effectiveness of notching the BPL signal in amateur bands were measured after system re-activation.

As expected high level BPL emission was measured in the trial area. The maximum notch depth measured within amateur bands was about 35dB. Background noise was higher than expected, highlighting the need for a series of noise measurements over many days to accurately determine typical background noise levels at any location.

Observations of BPL emissions received on Ian Paul’s amateur transceiver and G5RV antenna were recorded by Phil Wait. Those observations confirm that, in the vicinity of Ian Paul’s QTH, SP-Ausnet has notched all affected HF amateur bands except for 10 metres. However due to the higher than expected level of background noise on all amateur bands at the time of the observation, notch depth could not be adequately determined.

SP-Ausnet demonstrated new network control software that allows remote notching of frequencies or bands of frequencies, in any segment of their trial BPL network, from an office anywhere. It now appears relatively easy for SP-Ausnet to quickly notch amateur band frequencies in response to an interference complaint from an amateur.

As the maximum notch depth was measured at about 35dB, the WIA is of the opinion that both software and hardware notching will be required to adequately protect amateur radio operation from substantial interference from BPL emission, and that should be the focus of further development by BPL equipment manufacturers.

This measurement event also provided an ideal opportunity to compare real-world data from ACMA’s measuring equipment and the FSM technique developed by Owen Duffy VK1OD and Ed Hare W1RFI. We were able to demonstrate close agreement between the two measurement systems, thus confirming our confidence in the FSM measuring technique and our own FSM measurement Jump-kit.

The WIA has now attended ACMA measurement events at Mt Nelson (TAS) and Mt Beauty (VIC) BPL trials. It is apparent that all stakeholders involved in BPL trials are now taking interference complaints from radio amateurs very seriously, and are making changes to their BPL technology and systems to improve the outcome for radio amateurs.

We would like to thank ACMA for their invitation to attend these measurement events, and for their constructive working relationship with the WIA.

Note : A picture is viewable online at the WIA website
http://www.wia.org.au/news/2007/20070227-01.php

WIA has performed field strength measurements on the Mt Beauty BPL trial using the WIA's new interference measuring kit.

Measurements were taken outside the home of Ian Paul VK3LJJ, and at other locations in the BPL trial area.

The measurement results show very high levels of RF emission from the BPL enabled power lines, between approximately 33 and 49 dB above the expected ambient noise conditions.

We did some calculations to determine the expected level of interference in S-units using a dipole antenna. We calculated the interference level at between S9+10dB and S9+20dB.

Stations experiencing this level of interference would be prevented from transmitting, as they would be unable to determine if the frequency was in use by another station, as required under the terms of their licence.

The BPL interference we measured will mask all but the very strongest of HF radio communication signals on 40, 30, 20, and 15 meters at various locations within the trial area.

The WIA report has been forwarded to ACMA and the Standards Australia working group on BPL. The full measurement report is published on the WIA website at www.wia.org.au.

This is Phil Wait, VK2DKN, for the WIA.

BPL INTERFERENCE - THE BATTLE CONTINUES

The substantial interference resulting from a trial of Broadband over Power Lines in Mt Beauty in north-east Victoria continues to be experienced by at least two radio operators.

In addition to Ian Paul VK3FIOP now VK3LJJ, a CB radio operator is plagued with the interference. He too has so far been unable to get the BPL operator SP Ausnet to solve the problem.

The CBer wants to become a radio amateur and shares Ian VK3LJJ's disappointment at the loss of HF radio communications.

The evidence is stacking up against this BPL trial. The latest is an observations report by a former ACMA BPL Project Team Manager, Peter Young, who reports interference on five amateur bands, 27MHz CB band and the adjacent Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band.

He found that the BPL emissions, in addition to amateur radio and CB radio, create a potential for severe interference to medical alert alarm devices, some remote control devices such as door openers, cordless telephones and radio controlled model aircraft.

Meantime, Ian VK3LJJ is continuing to deal with SP Ausnet and the ACMA, with help from the WIA and Amateur Radio Victoria. He also, through this broadcast, sends a sincere "thank you" to those who have let him know they support him.

To send a note of support, Ian can be contacted on email vk3ljjatamateurradiodotcomdotau

From WIANEWS 5 November 2006 Edition and Jim Linton VK3PC

The extremely high level of interference experienced by radio amateur Ian Paul VK3FIOP at Mt Beauty in north-east Victoria is now the subject of a written complaint to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

He has exercised his right as the holder of an apparatus licence to lodge a formal written complaint to ACMA about the interference.

Ian has a firm ground for doing so. The interference was confirmed as BPL, its source known and substantial and harmful impact to this licensed amateur service communications well documented.

The latest is that the BPL system operated by SP AusNet radiates 60dB over S9 signal emissions over the entire 3.5 MHz to 30 MHz spectrum.

Ian VK3FIOP appears to be the first VK radio amateur to actually lodge a formal complaint of interference to ACMA.

The amateur service, being a licensed radiocommunications service, is protected from substantial interference under sections of the Radiocommunications Act.

ACMA is the Authority responsible for administrating the provisions of the Act and is required to investigate cases of interference when they are reported.

Without complaints, BPL operators may be able to claim that the technology is not cited in any formal way to have caused interference to radiocommunications.

It is vitally important that any radio amateur affected by BPL interference first verify that the interference is in fact caused by a BPL system, and secondly lodge an effective interference complaint with ACMA.

Without a valid and effective interference complaint lodged with ACMA little can be done.

The WIA provides a BPL interference advisory service to all radio amateurs - whether they are WIA members or they are non-members.

Check out http://www.wia.org.au click on BPL

Amateur Radio Victoria has added a new section to their website, dubbed "BPL Watch VK3".

Details on what's happening with the BPL trial at Mount Beauty have been posted to there.

BPL radiation from the Mt Beauty power lines ". . . was S9 +60dB across the entire HF spectrum from 3.5 MHz to 30 MHz. This is even before the system begins to carry traffic. BPL deployment through the issuing of free modems to households is running at least three weeks behind schedule."

Check it out at http://www.amateurradio.com.au/bpl/index.html

An MP3 audio file has been posted, too.

From WIANEWS 15 October 2006 Edition

Justin (VK7TW) and his team at REAST have measured the susceptibility of the Aurora Energy BPL service in Hobart to nearby HF radio transmissions.
http://reast.asn.au/2006/VK7_BPL_RF_Susceptibility_Tests.pdf (262 Kb pdf)
The Mt Nelson RF Susceptibility Report, demonstrates a very high degree of disruption from very low power radio transmitters.

In some cases Aurora's client was required to re-enter their username and password and log back into the service.

In fact, less than 5 Watts power output from a mobile station within 60 to 80 metres of an Aurora clients modem adversely affected their BPL service. This represents an effective radiated power (EIRP) of less than 1 Watt due
to the inefficiency of the mobile antenna.

Remember, mobile HF radio equipment normally operates with an output power of 100 watts so severe disruption from an amateur mobile station to a nearby access BPL service is probable.

This degree of susceptibility to electromagnetic interference (EMI), and the apparent inability to deliver quality customer service in the presence of nearby radio transmissions, should be of great concern to BPL equipment
manufacturers, BPL service providers, and their end-user clients.

According to news posted on the Wireless Institute of Australia website (11 Oct 2006), a new BPL trial by SP-Ausnet has recently been activated in Mount Beauty, Victoria.

"Internet service provider SP Ausnet is partnering with Schneider Electric, which is providing all hardware components," says the WIA report.

Full story here: http://www.wia.org.au/news/2006/20061011-02.php

DEMAND FOR HF RADIO STRONG

ASX-listed communications equipment manufacturer, Codan, revealed this interesting fact in its full year results released, 17 August 2006.

"Demand for HF radio arising from world security concerns remained strong. Sales revenue was less than FY05 but was the second highest annual sales ever achieved."

"Global security concerns were expected to deliver higher sales of HF equipment during the 2007 financial year.", the company said.

Makes you wonder how BPL deployments may impact "global security concerns".

BPL proponents have been pushing the line that demand and use of HF radio is low and declining.

"Didn't you notice the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room?", said Big Daddy from Tenessee Williams' play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Get the facts from the Codan website here: http://www.codan.com.au

Select "Corporate", then "Investors" then get the top document (pdf) in the table, titled "Announcement 2005/2006 Full Year Results". Posted in the interests of shedding light in the dark.

The nightmare continues.

73, Justin, VK7TW

23 July 2006 (Used with permission from VK7ZYZ)

I like your comment about BPL being a seriously flawed technology. This applies technically, economically, financially as well as environmentally.

I do not understand why Aurora (Tas Tel) is so wedded to it in this state. I can only assume poorly considered and dubious contractual obligations or undertakings or possibly cushy jobs for those involved.

Economically it would be far cheaper, easier and rewarding for power reticulation companies to leverage 11g technology. Costs would be insignificant compared to BPL and performance far better. As their 11g based system is developed costs would plummet and service delivery capacity increase exponentially. Reliance on 3rd party co-providers would also fall.

The key that no one seems to realize is that power reticulation companies already have microwave lines of sight over the last mile and beyond and most probably the last hundreds of miles and beyond. No one else has this apart from possibly road authorities and they don't have all those convenient posts to mount the antennas out of everyone's way. Tree removal would also add to their costs. If Aurora won't play ball then perhaps I could approach local councils?

The use of a combination or passive and active repeaters on existing poles would be an almost insignificant cost. Passive repeater cost of a few dollars would basically amount to the cost of bolting the unit to a pole and using a simple rifle sight. (Webmasters comment: For aiming of the repeater antenna correctly for strongest signal)

Active repeaters would often double as trunking node. But in any case we are still talking in the low tens of dollars in commercial volumes for a simple active repeater.

Costs to consumers would be reduced with their modem cost amortised by their local network router.

One downside would be reduced reliability (in our state at least) unless active nodes were fitted with battery backup. Solar might be a viable option despite power being immediately available 9x% of the time.

Why are power companies continuing to flog a dead horse that they are unlikely ever to be allowed to use?

Wireless Institute of Australia BPL Interference Advisory Service

http://www.gmdss.com.au/bpl.htm

The second round of measurements have just been released from the Tasmanian BPL trial from the Mt Nelson, Tolmans Hill, North Hobart and Mount Stuart trial areas.
http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php#emissionmeasurements

The methodology behind the measurements is one of measuring the background noise outside the trial area and comparing this to the measurements taken within the trial areas using Owen Duffy's FSM software.

The conclusion reached in the report shows that there is continuing to be a degradation of the noise floor in the trial areas. In the un-notched areas this is caused by emission levels ranging from 15dB (32 times greater) to 41dB (12,600 times greater) above the measured ambient noise floor (level). In the notched areas this is caused by
emission levels ranging from 5dB (3 times greater) to 15dB (32 times greater) above the measured ambient noise floor (level).

Measurements were also taken at Mt Nelson on 20metres (14MHz) where notching is being used around the amateur radio operators who have complained.

The conclusion reached in this report is that the notching as measured at the street is variable, whilst some parts of the notched spectrum may be 20dB (100 times) or lower in strength, the notch does not reliably achieve better than about 10dB (10 times) reduction.

Safety Concerns Continue over New Technology ( 57 Kilobyte pdf)

PC World, reported this week that Canberra telecommunications provider TransACT is to commence a trial of BPL in its own head office in Canberra.

TransACT CIO and general manager Carsten Larsen said the company is looking at delivering the Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) service to office buildings. Larsen said. "The engineering is being drawn up. If we go from
here to a connected environment, we can take the lessons from here to a live site.

Should the trial prove successful, TransACT propose a commercial rollout of BPL later this year.

For more information on these BPL stories please visit the WIA website at www.wia.org.au

And remember if you hear anything on the media concerning BPL, if you can record it, and in any case please let the WIA know.

Comment from Roger Harrison BPL ON ABC GOULBURN MURRAY It's very disingenuous of Paul Budde to make the claims that he did. "No interference": BPL, wherever installed anywhere in the world, still causes interference, including Australia. It's documented - in Australia (by ACMA & others), in the UK (by Ofcom) Europe (by ETSI & others), Japan (by MPHPT and others) and USA (by NTIA, FCC and others). "BPL not banned . . . anywhere in the world": BPL is not permitted (read "banned") in Japan, the UK, and Norway for starters. Radio amateurs aren't the only objectors to BPL. Many Australian organisations that use HF are concerned about protection against interference from BPL and have raised objections with the ACMA. They include: Air Services Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC!), Australian Federal Police, Australian National 4WD Radio Network, Codan (HF transceiver manufacturer), Department of Defence, St John Ambulance, Personal Emergency Response Services Association, Optus, Telstra and the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA). Worse, Paul Budde - posing as an independent telecoms analyst - *failed* to disclose his conflict of interest: he's behind the "Utilitel" consortium (members include Aurora Energy, Country Energy, Energy Australia, ETSA & others), which is promoting BPL; he earns money from promoting BPL. Posted in the interests of balanced reporting. Roger Harrison

Tasmania, and we have already had reports from the Burnie area that strong interference has been heard along Malonga Drive and amateurs are keeping a close ear and eye on activities.

Conrad, VK7HCK even invited technical representatives from Aurora Energy in to his home to experience first hand the level of interference he has to put up with.

Conrad demonstrated to the Aurora engineer and technician the interference across the HF amateur bands showing them the S9+ noise level experienced.

To prove it was BPL, Conrad also showed them the spectrogram of the interference using the Spectran which showed the regular carrier pattern across the spectrum being monitored.

What was their reaction, I hear you ask?

The Aurora engineer denied that the interference was caused by BPL even after being shown the spectrogram of regular carriers.

Suffice to say, the meeting ended abruptly after this!

The matter was put in the hands of the ACMA and it is understood that a representative from the ACMA took another round of measurements a day after the Aurora meeting.
(via Justin, VK7TW)

Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania understand that the ACMA has been taking BPL measurements over the past weeks in the Mt Nelson area following the BPL system being switched back on.

Reports are that there are substantial technical issues being experienced with the deployment at Tolmans Hill.

I encourage every amateur and 11m CB operator with mobile/portable equipment to head up to Mt Nelson or North Hobart and take a listen at what BPL sounds like and what it is doing to the HF spectrum. It is currently affecting the upper HF bands and is easily detected from the top of the bends through to Olinda Grove and beyond and Federal
St between Argyle and Letitia Sts.

The WIA does not wish to enter into debate about what we should and should not do. Over the last couple of years we have attended 3 paid Buddecomm conferences and several industry demonstrations of the technology.

We have met with ACMA representatives and politicians, and visited BPL trial sites.

We are more than willing to co-operate with the BPL industry if that co-operation will result in an improved outcome for our members.

However conferences are not cheap, and we are using members money here, and the WIA will make it's own decisions based on what we see as the benefits.

From WIANEWS 20 November 2005 Edition
WIA DIRECTOR Phil Wait VK2DKN Reports

This week the Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) announced further BPL commercial trials by Aurora energy in Tasmania.

The new areas affected are: Burnie, (postcode 7320) and Hobart (postcode 7000).

These trials are in addition to the existing commercial trial at Hobart suburbs, Mount Nelson and Tolmans Hill, (postcode 7007).

The new trials will involve up to 500 users, and the timeframe stated is 9-12 months.

The frequency band of operation is stated as 3 - 34 MHz, but it remains to be seen what particular frequencies within this range will be activated.

Aurora Energy is using its telecommunication arm, Tastel, to sell and promote the broadband products that will be carried by the BPL technology, including Voice over IP and data services. The success or otherwise of the trial will be judged on the number of subscribers that Tastel can attract.

However, reports are that Aurora may be experiencing a number of technical difficulties with their current trial, especially with the Voice over IP phone service.

Justin Giles-Clarke, VK7TW, Phil Thomson, VK7SS, and myself met with Minister Brian Green MHA, his Advisors, and a representative from Aurora early October to ensure the Minister was aware of the interference issues
with BPL. Will Hodgman, the Shadow Minister for infrastructure was also visited and brought up-to-date with our concerns.

In other BPL news, the WIA wrote to ACMA in August expressing our concern that ACMA's own guidelines for Access BPL trials were not being followed by BPL operators. The guidelines are intended to notify licensed radio users of upcoming trials in their area and to provide an interference resolution procedure.

We are still awaiting ACMA's response to that letter.

The WIA is attending a Buddecomm BPL conference next week, along with representatives from the ACMA and BPL proponents, and may hear more about how ACMA intends to manage BPL interference issues.

Mr Simpson concluded: "BPL in its present form is a very bad idea. It might at first appeal to the non-technical populace but when the true ramifications take hold, there will be hell to pay."

I have been following with interest the various discussions on BPL for some time with much interest.

I have been a licensed ham for some 45 odd years, having held calls in VK, ZL, C21 et al and have a background as and engineer predominantly in electronics and communications although most of my career has been in the computer industry with a few years of inorganic chemistry to balance it!

Unfortunately there have been many spin doctors touting benefits without looking at the wider pictures. This is probably motivated by that all pervading evil, money. I must agree that there are many benefits in making internet and similar information readily available to the masses but there are problems in the methods of delivery, or more correctly, the carrier methodology.

More recently, I have been exposed to an excellent system here in Wellington, NZ, where the central city is covered in a fibre backbone to almost every commercial building. Clients in each building tap off routers installed in that building and links are available starting at 4MB/s and going through to gigabit! The costs are very low for this grade of service, comparable to ADSL and extremely reliable. The fibre rollout is being extended to major suburban areas and is planned to go much further. I would suspect there is little chance of BPL surviving economically in such a climate.

More to the point of the note, my own personal experience with small signal communications is that I have successfully made good contacts over thousands of kilometres on HF using 1-2 milliwatts into very long (2+ Km) wire antennas. The BPL signals are low level but they are fed to rather large unbalanced line systems thus become radiating antennas. I am sure you have observed the signals radiated! Also there are many "transmitters" and the power / bandwidth figures also become multiplied to the stage where the total signal in a comparatively small section of HF bandwidth as used by a single communication channel becomes even more significant.

The point I raise that I have not seen elsewhere is that as currently, the radiated signals are generated and fall within the HF spectrum, i.e. 1-30 Mhz, this frequency arena is where the longer distance communications occur. So then, one would reasonable expect that the BPL signals may well, under suitable ionospheric conditions, have an effect well away from the immediate BPL generated area, and can affect communications in other countries.

I raise the question as to whether Australia, the ACMA, the BPL operators etc, have acknowledged the fact that they are part of a larger world and must recognise communications users of the HF spectrum in other countries. The situation is somewhat akin to the Indonesian farmers burning off large scale and causing climatic problems within the southern hemisphere.

Without sounding emotional, I really wonder if the backers of BPL are sufficiently well funded against possible lawsuits where BPL HF band interference is responsible for communications failures in a disaster situation of the scale of the recent tsunami or Katrina episodes. I am sure that there are lawyers around in the world who would take it on, after all, other major companies have been brought to their knees.

As an alternative technology, perhaps we should be looking at providing power over the existing telephone lines. I am sure the spin doctors could be convinced of the advantages to be gained there.

On the other hand, BPL operators don't want to take responsibility for the pollution they make. Indeed, it would appear as if they want to seek legal protection to be permitted to cause interference to certain parties, rather than rectify problems ('Stateline' ABC TV Tasmania, Friday 23rd September, comments by Mr Peroni again).

Doing so would set a dangerous legal precedent: to place the interests of commercial ventures ahead of the interests of incumbent minority groups to the point where they are decidedly disadvantaged.

http://reast.asn.au/vk7bplwatch.php

Real Audio player required!
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/brkfast/stories/m1117924.ram

Here in VK6, we have proved the usefulness of WIA News. This news service has been pushing the warnings on BPL for some time, and on Tuesday the 30th of August 2005, on ABC 720 AM (6WF in old speak) it was announced that the subject of BPL would be discussed. A quick and impromptu telephone tree alerted many. Those who could, listened in, and tried to callback to the talkfest after. The talk was by an American who works for a company which peddles the equipment. Strongly favourable of course.

However good air time was given to Geoff VK6NX who managed to get some words of wisdom on the callbacks, and at least two items of e-mail were addressed to the presenter of the program. A sound file was captured, and whilst we
cannot play that over air - for legal reasons - we can keep it for posterity. We do wonder if the presenter was even aware of the submission the ABC made to the BPL discussions....

BPL INTERFERENCE - THE BATTLE CONTINUES

From WIANEWS 28 August 2005 Edition

Today we speak with Conrad Kley VK7HCK probably the first VK Amateur directly dis-advantaged by a BPL system in his area.

Main points from the audio interview are:

Has been living in the Mount Nelson area for a few years.

An active amateur and has been a very keen HF Listener.

Noise levels were previously quite low in the area. Since access BPL switched on noise levels are now +40 over 9 on 80 and over S9 on 40/20/15.

VK7HCK can now no longer operate on HF and has effectively been put out of business in HF amateur radio.

Has made an interference complaint to the ACMA through the ACMA website andthe local Hobart office. Also made a complaint to Aurora Energy.

Made the complaint himself as soon as BPL switched on without any contact with WIA. The WIA has since offered to assist Conrad in his efforts.

Conrad is also involved in a local community FM radio station ......and hasbeen on the receiving end of interference complaints??????....says that if he causes interference to others he is quickly shut down but....with BPL interference caused to him, no action seems to be taken against the interferer.

Bytecan is a member of the Wommera Consortium operator of the Morouya BPL trial in NSW.

Bytecan is the first from any entity involved in the promotion of BPL to acknowledge the impact of BPL interference on radio communications services. They essentially say that BPL works only at levels high enough to cause interference to radiocommunications services - and if the BPL signal is "notched" enough to avoid that interference then there is insufficient bandwidth remaining for the BPL system to operate.

A link to the full list of submissions - including those from CB Radio, Model Aircraft enthusiasts, Outback Radio users, and Equipment Suppliers is on the WIA website at www.wia.org.au or visit http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.2163012:::pc=PC_9240

(02) 8281 3810
guyathoworth.com.au
Claireathoworth.com.au

FSM (for Field Strength Meter) is a software application that extends a conventional SSB receiver to allow measurement and calculation of field strength of radio signals or interference.

FSM has its origins in a method devised by Ed Hare (W1RFI) of the ARRL for making reasonable measurements of radiated field strength using conventional receivers and commonly available test equipment, and described in an article published on the ARRL web site in August 2004. Ed Hare is to be congratulated for his innovation and continuing hard work in the struggle against BPL interference. Ed also devised software known as ARIAMAN to automate some of the measurement and calculation. I contributed a suite of improvements to ARIAMAN, but regrettably, the ARRL restricts its use to personal use only.

In the belief that it is in Amateur Radio's best interest that tools that we use are open and verifiable, I have developed FSM to implement the method in Ed Hare's paper. Though FSM uses improvements that I wrote and contributed to
ARIAMAN, FSM does not use any of the ARRL's code, which allows me to release FSM as free, open source software.

FSM relies on the fact that the audio output from an SSB receiver is linearly related to the RF input power, from about the receiver noise floor to the onset of AGC gain compression, typically about 20 odd dB above the receiver noise floor. By keeping the measured signal within that range, with a known external attenuator, and allowing for the attenuator, we can measure the received power with respect to the receiver noise floor, which can itself
be easily determined to calibrate the system. Additionally, given the antenna system gain, FSM will calculate the field strength in dBuV/m.

So, FSM is a Windows application that automates a substantial part of the measurement process. It measures the receiver audio output power, performs the associated calculations in a reliable and consistent way, and documents
the measurement results. The measurement results can be saved locally in a file, appended to a file of results, sent by email, and filed on a central statistics server.
You can read more about FSM on my website, go to www.vk1od.net, you will find a prominent link on the home page. FSM will run on Win98SE or later, and can be downloaded from the website.

From WIA News 27 February 2005
Owen Duffy joins us with a quick update on BPL activity.

As you know, the Radiocommunications Act makes it an offence to recklessly engage in conduct that causes substantial interference to radiocommunications services. Some people have peddled notions that amateurs are not protected from interference, but aside from the specific provisions in the current LCD regarding LIPD interference, the Radiocommunications Act does protect amateurs from "substantial" interference.

It may become incumbent on us to build a convincing case of what constitutes "substantial" interference.

To that end, some of us are considering the feasibility of a survey of ambient noise levels, particularly on the lower HF bands. Such a survey will provide us with current knowledge of background noise levels in the Australian context, a baseline for arguing cases of "substantial" interference, and a "before" observation in a "before and after" scenario
where interference sources such as BPL, inverter air conditioners etc. are installed.

This is a significant challenge, as we don't have, and can't afford laboratory EMI receivers and antennas for a full CISPR compliant measurement. However, amateurs are known for innovation, improvisation, and achieving results with limited equipment.

Ed Hare (W1RFI) and myself have been collaborating on development of a software tool to assist in the task of making measurements, calculating the results, and consolidation of the results from measuring stations on a
central database. Phil Wait (VK2DKN) and I have been working on tools for calibration of receiver bandwidth and noise floor, and calibration of the software of which I have spoken. I hope to bring you news of this project in the next week or two.

Meanwhile, we expect that the ACMA is on the ground in Queanbeyan, NSW where Country Energy is conducting a trial of Mitsubishi 45Mb DS2 based equipment. We look forward to publication by the ACMA of those measurements on their BPL Portal, hopefully in the coming weeks.

In VK7 Aurora Energy are planning another "Major Commercial Trial", this around mid year using the 200 Mbit chip technology from DS2 in Spain. Justin VK7TW says in Aurora's Annual report for 2004 claims are made that
the trial conducted in April was described as "highly successful".

"Highly Successful"?

Well it did only target their office and 4 homes.

This new trial we understand will involve about 1000 homes.

A sound recording of the BPL interference that Eric, VK7TAS recorded during the first Aurora BPL trial to give people an idea of the type of interference that may be experienced exists, this at http://reast.asn.au/soundfiles/kirkswaybpl.wav

If you have thoughts or comments, feel free to contact ACREM, contact details can be found on the above website.

From WIA News 21 November 2004

BPL - AT THE WAR FRONT

There are strong indications that the introduction of broadband over powerlines, BPL, is getting closer in Australia. The technology could be available to consumers in Tasmania within a few months, and two companies are trialling it in New South Wales. With the very latest, here is Jim Linton VK3PC.

Tasmania's electricity distribution and retail company, Aurora Energy has announced it will have a major commercial trial of BPL by mid-2005.

It has hailed as a success Australia's first pilot trial of the technology conducted in May this year that involved four houses and part of the company's office building in Hobart.

In its annual report, Aurora Energy claims very competitive Internet data rates for the technology accessed via power points when compared to that available through the telecommunications network.

Meanwhile an industry newsletter reports that another company, Energy Australia, ran a BPL trial in Newcastle, making it Australia's second serious trial of the technology.

A third power company, Country Energy is expected to run a trial in Queanbeyan, near Canberra, before the end of this month.

The power industry believes that BPL is ready and now only awaits a decision by the Australian Communications Authority.

The ACMA's current review of its "Regulatory Philosophy and Compliance Policy" and recent work through the Radio Consultative Committee, are all moving towards an announcement on Australia's regulatory approach to BPL.

In breaking news, WIA's Phil Wait VK2DKN and Barry White VK2AAB were invited to a demonstration of that BPL technology in Queanbeyan.

A three person team from the UK Open University (Power Line Communications Group) lead by Professor John Newbury discussed the development of international standards and stressed the variability of the power network, the importance of measuring the interference risks, and the need for developing technologies which allow a range of solutions to different field situations. In particular they stressed the variations in the power distribution network, the interference issue, and the signal attenuation variation between old and new houses. They also mentioned possibility of ionospheric propagation.

The equipment used in the test saw levels of interference is so severe (S9 + 50db outside the premises) that filtering or notching out by only 20 - 30dB will have little effect on reducing its interference potential.

In Phil Wait's opinion it will be hard to see how cooperation and goodwill between US amateurs and the BPL industry (as recommended by the FCC) will be possible as the interference levels are just so high and so widespread. Amateur operation in urban areas with BPL access will be impossible.

Owen Duffy, VK1OD has developed a very useful tool to assist in evaluating the effects of BPL on a radio receiving installation. The tool allows you to determine (using your own antenna and receiver installation parameters) the effect that BPL might have on your installation.

Broadband over Power Lines is technology for carriage of high speed data, principally for Internet Access, over the existing power line network.

Current BPL technology works by conduction of signals in the radio frequency spectrum up to about 100 MHz. Existing power lines networks are not ideal RF transmission networks, they will radiate radio frequency energy causing interference to radiocommunications services, and they will be susceptible to interference from nearby transmitters (radio or otherwise).

The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation, CENELEC, are developing a standard for "Electromagnetic emissions from access powerline communications networks". Access powerline communications networks are commonly termed Broadband over Power Lines or BPL.

The proposed CENELEC standard does not automatically apply globally, though countries like Australia draw heavily on international standards, such as CENELEC's for their own jurisdiction.

This proposed standard would set limits for the conducted energy and radiated energy of BPL systems. The radiation limit is specified for example as a field strength in dBuA/m in a measurement bandwidth at a specified distance on particular frequency, and its impact will not be immediately apparent to most radio users.

Do you know what the impact of +4dBuA/m in 9KHz at 3m is on your receiver?

The BPL Interference Evaluation Tool allows evaluation of the impact of BPL interference under the proposed CENELEC standard given a set of location / application specific parameters.

Go to the BPL Interference Evaluation Tool at www.vk1od.net/bpl and enter the details for your site and discover the impact.

If you understand the potential impact, you will understand that BPL is the most serious risk that faces Amateur Radio and HF Radio Communications today. We, as a community seem absorbed with local level issues and small minded parochial thinking when a concerted national and international level approach is needed, and needed now.

VKS737 AUSTRALIA'S HF RADIO NETWORK HOME PAGE

AUSTRALIAN CITIZENS RADIO EMERGENCY MONITORS BPL PAGE

Australian "CommsWorld" questions Pro-BPL government report!

The following links will take you to web sites featuring excerpts from current International Telecommunications Union (ITU) radio regulations. Please visit NASWA, and DXING.COM, as well as references in documents for BPL interference submissions to the FCC in the United States of America.

The FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between the USA and Australia is likely to be or already law by the time you read this. Here is a section from the telecommunications chapter of the agreement. If you read it carefully, you could drive a road train (ie truck) through it. Here comes BPL!!!!!

http://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/negotiations/us_fta/final-text/chapter_12.html

Article 12.15 : Flexibility In The Choice Of Technology
Neither Party may prevent suppliers of public telecommunications services or suppliers of value-added services from choosing the technologies they wish to use to supply their services, including packet-based services and commercial mobile wireless services, subject to requirements necessary to satisfy legitimate public policy interests.

ZDNet: Tasmanian BPL Powers Up

If you are concerned about developments and the debate on Broadband Over Power Lines (BPL) / Power Line Communications (PLC) in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, join the Spectrum Issues Group Australia (SIGA).