Pete's right, the introductory paragraphs that I sent here to the AM Reflector
contain errors, that he has corrected in referring to a Norwegian and a
Canadian as the announced candidates at the IARU. One would replace a League
leftover, incumbent Larry Price, who has declined to act on a request to
investigate the poor handling of IARU matters that have the potential of
harming AM. Half the replacement team comes from Canada, a country whose IARU
representative was more willing to repair the botched Brazil bandplan than was
the club designated for the time being to represent U.S. licensees. (ARRL)
Pete thank you; I'm glad you enjoyed the bulk of the report. Especially compare
with the League's version that says the regulatory suggestions regarding BPL
came from the ARRL, when in actuality the suggestions are based on improvements
the BPL industry itself has initiated. I hope you give credit where credit is
due, as part of your vigilance.
Finally, regarding the League's disclosure of this meeting with the FCC, I see
no advance notice that it was taking place, nor that the ARRL managers involved
had consulted with any subscribers regarding the direction the group now would
take in its possible retreat from its earlier demanded actions. I welcome your
drawing my attention to any published account of this advance planning.
Save my time and do not simply repeat previous claims that these people don't
have to ask anyone what they should do. Clearly, that behavior has failed to
serve the company, its constituents, and the greater community of active,
concerned U.S. licensees.
The failed Petition for Rulemaking to have the FCC impose mandatory segregation
by bandwidth is your best example.
As another example, this is how the ARRL handled the preparations ahead of the
IARU meeting in Brazil: Keep everything secret, do not consult with anyone
affected, then let them find out about it afterward.
This leads me to again note that there is a candidate for Regional Director
right now, Mickey Cox, K5MC, for whom I have urged support on this Reflector.
Mickey intends to open the secret, backroom ARRL Board meetings to outside
observers, and to provide dramatically higher accountability for the actions of
paid administrators and elected volunteers charged with running the club.
An excellent discussion of his candidacy is at this link. Please support him if
you're in the ARRL's Delta Division.
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=152397
Paul
ARRL managers, lawyer meet with FCC on Powerline Internet Matter
WASHINGTON -- Representatives of the American Radio Relay League
(ARRL) met with officials at the FCC July 9 to discuss a recent
court ruling about the Commission's standards for allowable RF
emissions from powerline-based distribution of internet service,
nicknamed broadband over power lines, or BPL.
The method delivers data through overhead utility lines and
residential electrical wiring, and must radiate to some extent as a
radio signal, potentially causing unintentional digital interference
to primary reception by licensees in the Amateur Service and other
users of shortwave spectrum.
Of the two general types of BPL delivery systems, one uses in-house
electrical wiring with limited potential to interfere beyond the
home, while another method uses the elevated outdoor powerlines that
can act as an antenna to transmit digital interference over a
greater distance.
Despite a lack of market enthusiasm for BPL technology caused partly
by a rise in popularity of wi-fi, satellite, cellular, and other
wireless digital methods of delivering internet service, the League,
a non-profit publishing and subscription membership company, has
spent considerable effort highlighting what it once portrayed as a
grave threat to radio hobbyists.
The ARRL's campaign included a controversial lawsuit filed against
the FCC accusing the agency of failing to abide by rules mandating
the disclosure of studies and deliberations affecting public
rulemaking. A federal court in Washington agreed that the FCC was
not completely candid in describing how it arrived at its standards
for allowable RF emissions from BPL, and in June published an order
to the agency to revisit the matter.
But the League failed to convince the court to go further and force
the FCC to accept outside studies the ARRL contends are valid in any
review of potential interference. The FCC has said its rules use a
standard of preventing interference from BPL that is actually
harmful to communications, a prospective situation that has not been
fully demonstrated by the ARRL. Otherwise, the agency asserts BPL
emissions fall within longstanding limits imposed on other devices
such as in-home remote controls, carrier current broadcast
stations, and control signals used for energy conservation by the
power companies.
The club now acknowledges that the industry
