August 2003 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[ARRL-ODV:9250] A Spy in our Camp?
by Sandy Donahue,W4RU 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

Hi Gang. On page 30 of the just arrived Sept QST is an excellent article about electrolytic capacitors by a local Atlanta ham, Jim McClanahan, W4JBM. Last weekend this very same W4JBM spoke at a regional Air Force Mars meeting and in a 30 minute talk defended the use of BPL by the power companies and discounting the noise (as demonstrated by Ed Hare's video)as ordinary power line noise. I was not there but Frank Butler, W4RH, was and can give some more details. It appears that W4JBM is a consultant to several power companies including the Southern Company and its affiliates, Ga Power, Alabama Power and others. Perhaps this is the start of a campaign by the utilities to use amateurs with an economic interest in energy companies to offset the excellent work of Pres Haynie and Ed Hare in calling attention to the "Pandora's Box". In any event he was not greeted warmly by the audience. According to Frank, he was heckled several times, and after his Power Point presentation, abruptly left the room without taking any questions. 73 Sandy, W4RU __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com

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[ARRL-ODV:9249] Re: BPL - A View From The Other Side
by Jim Weaver 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

Kay, As I once heard it said, "When one intends to be a burr under someone else's saddle, it is nice to see his/her horse buck!" Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9248] Re: BPL - A View From The Other Side
by Kay Craigie 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

Since we are investing so much time, money, and work on the campaign, isn't it good to know that we're getting on their nerves? That video clip of Ed's is really effective in convincing people that we are not crying wolf. 73 - Kay N3KN

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[ARRL-ODV:9247] FYI
by W5JBP＠aol.com 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

http://www.rac.ca/news/msurvey.htm

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[ARRL-ODV:9246] IN-News
by Kustosik, Lisa, KA1UFZ 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

IN-Newsletter Vol. 26, No. 32 August 13, 2003 Development The Broadband over Power Line campaign has reached nearly $223,000 from 3970 donors. Based on emails and phone calls there is more coming in. The average contribution has reached a high of $56. Participation in The ARRL Diamond Club has reached 774 representing more than $106,000 in revenue. The renewal application and budget for Year Two of the CNCS Emergency Communications grant has been submitted, requesting $181.900. The third quarter Progress Report for Year One activity is underway, and the next survey of course graduates is in the mail. That data will be included in the final progress report. The ARECC program funded by CNCS reached its primary goal of training 1416 hams in Level 1 during the third quarter of the grant year. We are awaiting confirmation of the site of the Sept 15 major donor reception in Washington. Once confirmed, invitations will be mailed Media Relations The Public Relations Committee held its monthly conference call on August 5. PRC Board Liaison Woolweaver and President Haynie joined the call and gave an overview of the issues discussed at the July Board meeting, including PR Committee items brought before the Board. Much of the discussion focused on the committee's plans to increase outreach to ARRL PICs and PIOs. Further work on the agenda items for this call will be conducted via the committee reflector or between individual committee members. At Jennifer's request, John Marino, KR1O, of the National Association of Broadcasters completed a ham radio piece for Executive Update magazine. The magazine is published by the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, and editors were looking for a ham radio operator who worked for an association to write about his or her experiences in Amateur Radio. Marino reported that his article would go into the September or October issue. Jennifer received an inquiry from a freelance writer (also a ham and an ARRL life member) who is writing a piece on BPL for the online news outlet Telecom Direct. The author wanted input on the ham radio angle. Jim Haynie agreed to do the interview. One completed McGan nomination has been submitted since the re-solicitation was announced. One additional nomination form was requested. Several nomination forms for the Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award have been requested. Production/Editorial The Sep/Oct issue of NCJ and VHF/UHF Antenna Classics have been released to the printer. Rick Lindquist reports The ARRL Letter (Vol 22, No 31) circulated to 67,242 members, which represents a very slight drop--51--from last week's all-time record distribution. Rick wrote/edited a story to follow up on Ed Hare's field trip to BPL trial sites (with help from Ed Hare and from Pres Jim Haynie). The story referenced Ed's video presentation, put together by Dan Wolfgang, and it (and other ARRL coverage of the topic) generated a mention on Slashdot. The overall effect of all this publicity was a huge number of requests--more than 16,200 and climbing--to see the video clip. Rick also wrote/edited stories on the NCVEC annual meeting, a new 136-kHz experimental beacon in Alaska, an ARISS contact for students at the International Space School, the Oct 1 SM election cycle results (no contested elections), and several brief items for the Web site. He produced ARRL Audio News with voiceover assistance from Jennifer Hagy. Brennan Price received the second of two reviews for the October column and very little opposition from the nation's frequency coordinators to adopt an accelerated submission deadline of Jan 5, 2004, for the 2004-05 ARRL Repeater Directory. Dave Hassler, K7CCC, edited four feature articles for the ARRLWeb site, completed a monthly Web report on the Corporation for National Community Service emcomm grant activities, and began work on his column for QST. Sales & Marketing Product Fulfillment was not able to process orders from the Seibel system for approximately a day and a half last week due to unforeseen computer problems. We are happy to report Information Services Department fixed the problem as quickly as they could. We were back up and running before our order backlog piled too high. Advertising welcomes back former advertiser Computer International beginning in QST October 2003. A new company, QRP J-38, also intends to come on board in the October 2003 issue. They manufacture a ½-scale J-38 key that should be particularly attractive to portable/QRP operators. (See www.QRPJ38.com for preliminary information.) We have supplied New Mexico Section Manager Bill Weatherford, KM5FT with materials to support ARRL membership promotion. The items sent include membership applications, Repeater Directories (to use as inducements for signing new members), table signs, and a 'tip' sheet. The items are regularly offered and available to all Section Managers. Retired New Mexico SM Joe Knight, W5PDY, was regularly one of our top membership recruiters. Thanks go to Jon Bloom for adding a new web site search feature that includes catalog matches in the results. We are hopeful that the additional exposure will bring more customers into the online catalog for resources. A handful of dealers were supplied a CD-ROM that includes images and product descriptions for our entire publication line. They use this information in their catalogs, web stores and other promotional venues. RSGB is wrapping up production on the "International Antenna Collection." The book includes contributions from ARRL, and will be available in late-September. Now available from ARRL: The Complete DXer, 3rd Ed, ARRL Order No. 9073 Theory and Practice of Transmission Line Transformers CD-ROM, ARRL Order No. 9088 Membership Services Awards Branch WAS QSL Cards Checked 400 L/T Member Inquiries 2 A-1 Operator Noms. 4 VUCC Backfill Apps. 1 Grids 354 VUCC Initial Apps. 5 Grids 215 VUCC End. Apps. 9 Grids 343 Awards Mailed 7 Also did the data entry for the fifty-five 25- and 40-year member award letters. Processing Status: Current or up to four weeks. For the coming week-More WAS QSL card checking, Basic WAS awards for July, continued VUCC awards processing/mailing, compile the latest VUCC award recipient list for October QST, and 25-and 40-year member awards (if the new supply of certificates comes in), and work on budget matters. DXCC Branch For the week of: August 10, 2003 Beginning Cards 117,399 Cards Received 14,564 Cards Processed 27,918 Ending Cards 104,045 Applications Pending 712 Processing Time 6.2 Weeks Year-to-date (2003) Cards Received 365,768 Cards Returned 468,204 DXCC is currently mailing applications received on June 27, 2003. (This is the date the applications from Germany were logged. It is expected that we will be hung up here for a bit as there were about 30,000 QSOs checked.) DXCC is currently entering cards received on June 27, 2003. Contest Branch Data entry for Field Day logs continued. Plates for special order plaques came in and the plaques were shipped. Mailing of certificates for the 10-Meter contest continued. The DX Phone write-up for QST was received back from Production and edited to allotted space. Revisions to the On-Line results for the DX Phone contest were made and the write-up is in preview to be opened to the membership soon. To date, 140 logs for the 2003 IARU HF World Championships have been received at HQ that required conversion, corrections or manual processing by HQ staff. QSL Bureau QSL Service Status: Current. Cards mailed as of 08/10/003: 915,725. Cards mailed on 08/08/2003: 70,350. Heather Dzamba spent 6 hours conducting tours around HQ. W1AW Scott worked on slow and fast code practice files for the latter part of the month of August. He also handled some evening phone sales calls in the 5 PM to 8 PM time slot. W1AW Telephone Sales year to date (2003): $18,302 Field & Educational Services Rosalie planned logistics and prepared materials for a talk to be given at the upcoming APCO International Conference for police, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders. Regulatory Information John Hennessee reports assisting amateurs with local government zoning matters in Bellevue, WA (K3MH) and N. Las Vegas, NV (Bill Austin, no call yet), and with covenant problems in Fredricksburg, VA (W1ZFB); Kennett Square, PA (W3WBD); Brunswick, NC (N3ZYI); and Springfield, IL (N9YAY). He is also working on revisions to the ARRL Regulatory Web pages, including an FAQ addressing various regulatory topics. Thanks to Chuck Skolaut and Steve Ewald for helping cover phone calls while John goes on vacation next week. Field Organization/Public Service Team Steve Ewald was in touch with Montana Section Leaders about ARES response to Glacier National Park (and other) fires. He learned from Jack Goldfarb, W8WGO, that their Cleveland QCWA Chapter was invited to set up a ham station at the area VA Hospital. The hospital was encouraged by the VA at the national level to seek ham assistance for emergency communications, and will provide space, all equipment, and an antenna on the roof. W8WGO is contacting Ohio Section Leaders to interact with ARES. Leona Adams and Steve submitted details for ARRL Web and QST stories about the Class of SMs who take office on October 1. (There are no on-going SM elections this summer.) Mark Wills, AG4OA, has submitted a petition to run for Tennessee SM. SM petitions for the January 2004 term are due at HQ September 5. Leona sent new ham names to SMs. Chuck Skolaut has been compiling and reviewing reports of repeater interference and inappropriate operating practices in several locations including Idaho, Pennsylvania, San Francisco, and Maine. He forwarded these tapes and CD-ROM documentation to the FCC. Field & Educational Support Team Linda Mullally updated 76 club records with 9 reactivations and 1 deactivation. She registered 12 Volunteer Instructors, and sent 13 Exhibit kits, 3 JOTA Kits, and 7 initial supply packages to new appointees. She completed the F&ES Monthly Inventory and The F&ES Revenue Report for the month of July, and reports revenue for July to be $1,462.13. Jean Wolfgang has begun to send award plaques, checks or gift certificates, and congratulations letters to F&ES annual award winners. She has completed the next segment of Ham-ster Adventures which should appear on ARRLWeb youth pages, soon. Jean has also compiled statistics to assist in the Budget process. Margie Bourgoin reports one set of club affiliation paperwork sent out for Director approval, and she processed 3 SSC renewals. She also has received positive feedback from a Section Manager about the Active Club Online Primer. Gail Iannone sent 2 hamfest approval letters and 2 convention approval letters to sponsoring committees confirming the Division Directors' approval of the events as ARRL-sanctioned; processed 2 label requests, 15 door prize orders, and sent 20 handout packages for upcoming events. She coordinated travel for the following ARRL reps: Wayne Mills, W9DXCC Convention on September 19-20 in Rolling Meadows, IL; Dan Henderson, Virginia State Convention on September 20-21 in Virginia Beach; and John Champa, K8OCL, Pacific Division Convention on October 17-19 in San Ramon, CA. Mary Lau reviewed paperwork for affiliation of two new Category 1 clubs in Illinois and Wisconsin, respectively. She also worked with her Team to finalize budget numbers for the planning underway. Mary also noted an increase in donations for the proposed scholarship fund to honor the late Al Hix, W8AH. EmComm Grants Dan Miller has been preparing the revised Level II course for beta-testing and anticipates it will go live in late fall. UTC-sponsored emcomm graduates for Level l total 101, for Level II total 284, and for Level III total 158. Level I is currently open and 184 seats have been filled. CNCS-sponsored emcomm graduates total 1685. CCE Howard Robins spent time manipulating data to support a mailing to go to ARECC grads, which includes a survey, patch and decal (and in some cases, a certificate and reimbursement check). He also sent an email reminder to recipients about the survey's importance to our grant reporting. He revised one of the mentor stipend letters. Jerry Ellis set up Level II and Antenna Modeling classes for registration opening on Monday. He also continues work on making the field exam files more efficient, work on building field exam kits, and on kits shipped to several new Certification Examiners. CNCS, UTC, and field exam grads were mailed their printed certificates, ID cards and refund checks (where appropriate). Amateur Radio Education and Technology Project Mark Spencer converted our classroom activities and lessons into a format for uploading to the Web, and is doing final proofreading. He continues to accumulate grant applications from schools wanting to be part of The Big Project. His revised grant application requires greater information from schools, an insurance that we know more about a teacher's plans prior to considering the school for our program. 73, Sincerely, Mark Wilson, K1RO Chief Operating Officer MW:lk Staff Absentee List All Staff 9/1 Holiday Dave Sumner 8/12-8/20 Vacation `` 8/26-8/29 Vacation 9/19-9/21 W9DXCC Convention Mark Wilson 8/15, 8/22 Vacation Jennifer Hagy 8/15 Jury Duty Dan Miller 8/14-8/17 Huntsville, AL Convention `` 8/21-8/24 Columbus, MO Convention `` 8/25-8/26 Vacation John Hennessee 8/8-8/18 Vacation Joel Kleinman 8/5-8/15 Vacation Dennis Motschenbacher 8/15-8/17 Huntsville Convention " 8/29-8/24 ICOM/SGC/SteppIR sales calls " 9/06-9/09 WPA Section Convention " 9/19-9/21 W9DXCC Convention - personal " 9/23-9/28 MFJ/ArraySol/TXTwr sales calls " 10/02-10/05 Ten Tec Hamfest " 10/10-10/12 NNY Section Convention AnnMarie Pinto 8/11-8/22 Vacation Perry Williams 7/26-9/2 Vacation Wayne Mills 8/19-8/25 Hamfair, Tokyo `` 8/26-9/4 Vacation 9/19-9/21 W9DXCC Convention Joel Hallas 8/1-8/15 Vacation Maty Weinberg 8/4-8/15 Vacation Shelly Bloom 8/11-8/18 Vacation Leona Adams 8/15 Vacation Chuck Skolaut 8/17 Kansas State Convention `` 8/18-8/19 Vacation Sharon Taratula 8/15-8/22 Vacation Joe Carcia 8/15pm Vacation Kathy Kostek 8/25-8/26 Vacation Heather Dzamba 8/25-8/27 Vacation Dan Henderson 8/28-8/29 Shelby Convention Jean Wolfgang 8/15 Vacation Rosalie White 8/14-8/15 APCO Conference, Indianapolis `` 8/18-8/19 Vacation Margie Bourgoin 8/21-8/22 New Mexico State Convention

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[ARRL-ODV:9245] Re: BPL - A View From The Other Side
by W5JBP＠aol.com 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

Dick, thanks for sending us a copy of the article. It shows that our work is not going unnoticed. I gave an interview today to a PC web magazine editor this morning. When I mentioned the fact that the lines can receive signals and even a small amount of RF could disrupt the connection he was surprised. He said that with such a small number of amateurs, that should not be a problem. I ask him "how many CB operators did he think was in the U.S.?" He wanted to know why the BPL industry had not published any data. I said that he should ask them, as we would like to see it as well. Jim Haynie

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[ARRL-ODV:9244] Re: BPL - A View From The Other Side
by Jim Weaver 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

Dick, I bet you could have told the power industry reps long ago that we hams are nasty boys and girls. At least one good thing will come out of this imbroglio. A bunch more people will have learned what Amateur Radio is. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9243] BPL - A View From The Other Side
by dick＠pobox.com 13 Aug '03

13 Aug '03

13 AUG, 2003 - 1105 CDT The message below was in my in-box this morning. It provides a view from the BPL proponents' side. They realize they have a very big fight on their hands. I snipped the sender's address in order to protect the sender from any recriminations by his/her employer, though I think the company is on our side of this issue. 73 - Dick, W9GIG ========================================================================= Delivered-To: dick(a)pobox.com Received: from imo-d05.mx.aol.com (imo-d05.mx.aol.com [205.188.157.37]) by wink.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 07447101FA for <dick(a)pobox.com>; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:28:24 -0400 (EDT) Received: from Ah6ez(a)aol.com by imo-d05.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v36_r1.1.) id w.15d.22f13ce3 (15864) for <dick(a)pobox.com>; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:28:06 -0400 (EDT) Received: from aol.com (mow-m20.webmail.aol.com [64.12.180.136]) by air-id06.mx.aol.com (v95.12) with ESMTP id MAILINID63-3df83f3a59064f; Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:28:06 -0400 Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 11:28:06 -0400 From: <SNIP> To: dick(a)pobox.com Subject: <SNIP> Dick, I handle a portion of the Electric Utility customers, including OPPD (Omaha Public Power District) who helped write this article. I stumbled on this printed by someone in our office. Please forward to the <SNIP> members. ========================== Utilities Won't Get PLC Broadband Without A Fight August 12, 2003 5:42pm Broadband Networking News Vol. 13 No. 16 The FCC has granted an extension of time to file reply comments in its inquiry into what it calls Broadband over Power Lines (BPL). The extension was requested by subsidiaries of electric utility Southern Company [NYSE: SO], Southern LINC, Southern Telecom and Southern Company Services. The companies requested more time to sift through the large number of comments filed. The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology granted a 30-day extension saying it doesn't normally do so, but that "the large number of filings received so far and the complexity of the subject" made the move appropriate. So far there have been well over 2,000 comments and replies filed with the Commission -- many from individual amateur radio operators under the banner of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). ARRL is deeply upset about the potential for RF interference from BPL and is gearing up for a major battle. At the same time, the proceeding brings up enough other questions to make clear that before BPL can become the third broadband pipe into the home in Chairman Powell's vision of inter modal competition, it's going to have to clear a lot of hurdles. The hundreds of brief comments opposing BPL filed by individual radio licensees are only part of ARRL's campaign to head off the technology. The group clearly sees BPL as the greatest threat amateur radio has faced in decades and is pulling out all the stops to defeat it. The group's own filing refers to it as, "a Pandora's Box of unprecedented proportions." Elsewhere, ARRL is collecting donations for a lobbying campaign aimed at government officials. As of July 31, ARRL's web site claimed that the group had raised nearly $193,000 toward a goal of $300,000 by the end of August. Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart said the issue was bringing operators "out of the woodwork" who had never before given money to the organization In addition, ARRL has begun gathering its own technical data. ARRL submitted a thick package of RF engineering calculations with its comments meant to assess RF interference generated by power lines. However, these calculations were based on the most reasonable assumptions about what's presently in the field, with ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare writing that the group "has little data on the characteristics of the present BPL systems." To correct that shortcoming, ARRL sent Hare on the road with a mobile system designed to monitor the high frequency bands used by amateurs for BPL interference. Hare described the interference he found as "devastating." ARRL's quest against BPL in the U.S. is only the latest chapter of a global fight by amateurs to protect their spectrum. The group takes heart in what it claims is a victory in Japan. There, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications decided last July not to proceed with high-frequency PLC between 2 MHz and 30 MHz, at emission limits matched to the FCC Part 15 rules at issue in the present Inquiry. Presentations against the plan included results of monitoring experiments, including actual recordings of PLC modem noise. Amateur radio operators are not the only ones with issues about BPL interference. Other radio applications are affected as well. At least some commercial operators have also filed comments. Globe Wireless VP Peter Kierans was among those urging the Commission not to allow BPL "until exhaustive studies prove that its use will not degrade distress, safety and commercial HF-based mobile communications." Globe Wireless is a commercial operator of maritime radio services, focusing mainly on data communication with ships at sea. The overall message broadband players should take from all this is not necessarily that BPL is doomed -- that's far from clear -- or even that there isn't a way to make the technology work without massive spillover effects. But it should be obvious at this point that BPL is a hot button issue for amateur radio operators and others in the affected spectrum. This is a constituency with concerns and it's working hard to make sure those concerns are respected in the process. Of course it's not the only one. A surprising number of other issues have been raised in the Inquiry's comments and replies, many of which raise technical questions about BPL's ability to scale up beyond small test projects, and even about its safety given the need for most BPL technologies to route signals around transformers. Verizon [NYSE: VZ] even jumped into the proceeding to once again argue that the appearance of BPL on the horizon, "reinforces the urgent need for the Commission to classify all broadband services under Title I and to treat all broadband providers equally." Radio operators and others concerned about technical problems don't have the field to themselves, of course. A number of electrical utilities and equipment vendors have weighed in on the positive side. Notable among these comments are those from small rural electric companies. BPL's ability to provide broadband access to under served rural areas is one of the main reasons the FCC is so enthusiastic about it. Of course there's room to argue that BPL wouldn't do any better at serving dispersed rural customers than cable and DSL have done. The technology requires frequent use of repeaters, typically every 2,000 to 2,500 feet depending on the vendor. This would, in turn, raise the cost per house passed in rural areas well above the cost for more densely packed areas that already have broadband options for just this reason. However, comments show that many rural utilities are excited about BPL as a way to get into the broadband market. For example, Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) VP Adrian Minks writes that "2 percent of our urban customers and 69 percent of our rural customers, representing nearly 44,000 homes, do not have broadband access." OPPD is eager to use BPL to increase broadband competition and better serve rural residents in its territory. Whether this will be a fight to the death or whether interference can be reduced to the satisfaction of both sides remains to be seen. However, alongside the existing technical and competitive issues BPL faces, the dispute growing over the FCC's attempts to promote it make it clear that getting BPL into the field will be neither quick nor easy.

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[ARRL-ODV:9242] My question
by Jim Weaver 12 Aug '03

12 Aug '03

Gang, Don't panic over my inquiry about reply comments. It was pointed out to me that the message could have suggested I was planning to submit comments which, I understand, is a verboten for directors. I was not planning to do this, but was asking to be certain that if I recommended others to replay "favorably" to a favorable comment, this was OK. Tnx, 73, Jim PS: Tnx to Steve for making certain I wasn't getting ready to fly off and do something against Hoyle. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9240] Reply Comments
by Jim Weaver 12 Aug '03

12 Aug '03

Is it acceptable when making a reply comment to support a comment that has been made as well as to oppose comments? For example, is it acceptable under the rules to submit a reply comment to FCC supporting Ed Hare's (ARRL's) comments? Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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