Major BPL Company to Shut Down

In the latest of a string of commercial Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) failures, International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc. (IBEC) is dropping its rural Internet service this month.

In a 12/23/11 letter over the signature of Scott E. Lee, the CEO, IBEC states:

It is with a very heavy heart, that we must inform you that IBEC will no longer be in a position to provide Internet service to your area.

We encourage all of you to pursue other options for your internet services as soon as possible. This includes your email service if you have an active @BPL,COOP email account. Please move to another email service as soon as possible.

...

Our demise, started with the April 27th storms of this year in Alabama, which destroyed over 3.2 Million in assets, which our Insurance Provider (CHUB) has refused to pay. We also lost a critical investment from an Investor commitment, due to these storms, putting IBEC into a negative financial situation. IBEC pursued assistance from RUS (our Federal Creditor at US Department of Agriculture), our vendors and endless potential buyers after these events without success.

It is doubtful that radio fans will be as heavy-hearted.  One might remember IBEC for another reason.  ARRL:

More than a year ago, the ARRL filed a complaint with the FCC, documenting ongoing harmful interference and egregious rules violations by IBEC-installed BPL systems in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Indiana. The ARRL had requested that the FCC “initiate immediately an enforcement proceeding regarding these BPL systems, and cause them to cease operation until such time as they are each in full compliance with the Commission’s Rules.” The ARRL even discovered IBEC BPL systems in operation that are not listed in the online BPL database -- another clear violation of the FCC rules, which require listing 30 days prior to initiation of service. To the ARRL’s knowledge, even as of today, the FCC has taken no enforcement action to correct these violations.

ARRL also notes that IBEC was the last BPL provider in the US that didn't notch amateur bands (a violation of FCC regulations).

ARRL Announces Winter W1AW Schedule

W1AW, the League Headquarters station in CT, is good for propagation checking, solar bulletins, and testing digital software.  With the move back to Standard Time in the US, the following schedule is now in effect:

11/06/2011
With the switch from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time, W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, has updated the W1AW operating schedule to reflect the change. Your local standard times have not changed, but the UTC times they reference have.

Daily Visitor Operating Hours:
1500 UTC-1700 UTC (10 AM-12 PM EST), 1800 UTC-2045 UTC (1 PM-3:45 PM EST)
Station closed 1700-1800 UTC (12 PM-1 PM EST)

Morning Schedule

Time	Mode	Days
1400 UTC (9 AM EST)	CWs	Wed, Fri
1400 UTC (9 AM EST)	CWf	Tue, Thu

Afternoon/Evening Schedule

Time	Mode	Days
2100 UTC (4 PM EST)	CWf	Mon, Wed, Fri
2100 UTC (4 PM EST)	CWs	Tue, Thu
2200 UTC (5 PM EST)	CWb	Daily
2300 UTC (6 PM EST)	Digital	Daily
0000 UTC (7 PM EST)	CWs	Mon, Wed, Fri
0000 UTC (7 PM EST)	CWf	Tue, Thu
0100 UTC (8 PM EST)	CWb	Daily
0200 UTC (9 PM EST)	Digital	Daily
0245 UTC (9:45 PM EST)	Voice	Daily
0300 UTC (10 PM EST)	CWf	Mon, Wed, Fri
0300 UTC (10 PM EST)	CWs	Tue, Thu
0400 UTC (11 PM EST)	CWb	Daily

Frequencies
CW: 1.8025, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675 and 147.555 MHz
Digital: 3.5975, 7.095, 14.095, 18.1025, 21.095, 28.095 and 147.555 MHz
Voice: 1.855, 3.990, 7.290, 14.290, 18.160, 21.390, 28.590, 147.555 MHz

Speeds
CWs: Morse code practice (slow) -- 5, 7.5, 10, 13 and 15 WPM
CWf: Morse code practice (fast) -- 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 WPM
CWb: Morse code bulletins -- 18 WPM

CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW bulletins.

Digital: BAUDOT (45.45 baud), BPSK31 and MFSK16 in a revolving schedule.

Code practice texts are from QST; the source of each practice is given at the beginning of each practice and at the beginning of alternate speeds.

On Tuesdays and Fridays at 2330 UTC (6:30 PM EST), Keplerian elements for active amateur satellites are sent on the regular digital frequencies.

A DX bulletin replaces or is added to the regular bulletins between 0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Thursdays and 0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Fridays.

In a communications emergency, monitor W1AW for special bulletins as follows: Voice on the hour, Digital at 15 minutes past the hour and CW on the half hour.

All licensed amateurs may operate the station from 1500 UTC-1700 UTC (10 AM-12 PM EST), and then from 1800 UTC-2045 UTC (1 PM-3:45 PM EST) Monday through Friday. Be sure to bring your current FCC Amateur Radio license or a photocopy.

ARRL Shows IBEC BPL Systems Are Interfering, Violating FCC Rules

[Hugh's note: IBEC stands for International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc. Contrary to what you have been told about Broadband over Power Lines (BPL), it remains commercially viable in "underserved" rural markets where DSL and cable are not practical options. IBEC's equipment is fully certified under current FCC rules, and the company offers turnkey solutions ready for immediate deployment by any power company. Everything was supposed to be fine, but according to the ARRL, there is some trouble in paradise. Read on.]

12/29/2010

ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio has filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission documenting ongoing harmful interference and egregious rules violations by Broadband over Power Lines (BPL) systems installed by IBEC, Inc. in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The ARRL has requested that the FCC “initiate immediately an enforcement proceeding regarding these BPL systems, and cause them to cease operation until such time as they are each in full compliance with the Commission’s Rules.”

Contrary to earlier representations to the ARRL and to statements in the online BPL database, IBEC’s systems in these locations are not universally notching the Amateur bands as is necessary in order to avoid emissions at levels that are likely to cause harmful interference to licensed Amateur Radio stations. In fact, measurements by ARRL staff and confirmed independently show that IBEC systems are not even notching the aeronautical bands that the FCC rules require BPL systems to avoid and are operating at power levels that cause radiation well in excess of the FCC limits.

The ARRL even discovered IBEC BPL systems in operation that are not listed in the online BPL database – another clear violation of the FCC rules, which require listing 30 days prior to initiation of service.

...

full story here

Asteroid Named for US Amateur Organization

Yup. The American Radio Relay League now has an asteroid named for it. However, at 2 AU out from the sun (twice Earth's distance) and magnitude 19.2 (that's dim, folks), the hams probably shouldn't try using it as a passive signal repeater. It's said, though, that a very good amateur astronomy telescope with a sensitive CCD should be able to photograph it... barely.

ARRL Letter 8/5/2010:

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane! No, It’s an Asteroid -- Asteroid (31531) ARRL, To Be Exact!
07/31/2010

John, Paul, George and Ringo are on the list. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms -- even Frank Zappa and Elvis (but not Madonna). Of course Asimov and Sagan made the cut, Mr Spock, too, but not Captain Kirk. And now ARRL -- more precisely, (31531) ARRL -- joins this prestigious company as one of more than 16,000 named minor planets in our solar system. A minor planet -- such as an asteroid --is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is neither a dominant planet -- such as Mercury, Saturn and Neptune -- nor a comet. The first minor planet -- named Ceres -- was discovered in 1801. Since then, more than 200,000 minor planets have been discovered, most of them lying in the asteroid belt. But as of July 27, 2010, only 16,005 had been named.

...

Joe Montani, W7DXW -- senior research specialist with the Spacewatch Near-Earth Asteroid Project Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona -- told the ARRL that he had discovered (31531) ARRL in his work discovering and observing Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs). He said he had received confirmation that the asteroid had been officially named as of July 27; it can take 10 years or more for the smaller objects -- such as asteroids, dwarf planets and comets -- to receive names. (31531) ARRL was discovered in 1999.

“The naming was proposed to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Committee on Small Bodies Nomenclature (CSBN), and was accepted by the CSBN and published to the world on July 27, 2010 at about 1900 UTC,” Montani said. “The full name of the object is (31531) ARRL. The number in parenthesis is the so-called ‘permanent number’ that an asteroid receives after its orbit is sufficiently accurately determined so that it can never become ‘lost.’ ‘ARRL, is, of course, the acronym of the American Radio Relay League.”

K6KPH to Transmit Field Day Bulletin

Anyone who's operated Field Day (currently in progress) knows the importance of copying the annual ARRL Field Day Message. This is broadcast in CW and digital modes. Field Day clubs and stations earn extra points for submitting an accurate copy with their contest entries.

K6KPH, the MRHS amateur station, will once again be the west coast outlet for the Field Day bulletin message.

The Maritime Radio Historical Society station K6KPH will transmit
the W1AW Field Day 2010 bulletin for the benefit of West Coast
stations on 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975 and 21.0675 MHz using
CW.

K6KPH will transmit the Field Day bulletin using Baudot, FEC AMTOR,
BPSK31 and MFSK16 on 7.095 and 14.095 MHz.

K6KPH Field Day Bulletin Schedule

Mode Pacific Mountain Central Eastern

CW 7:30 AM 8:30 AM 9:30 AM 10:30 AM
Digital 9:30 AM 10:30 AM 11:30 AM 12:30 AM

For full information about Field Day see the ARRL Web site at:

http://www.arrl.org/field-day

Richard Dillman
Chief Operator, Coast Station KSM
Maritime Radio Historical Society
http://www.radiomarine.org

W1AW To Add New Digital Modes

From The ARRL Letter/American Radio Relay League:

* W1AW to Add New Digital Modes to Transmission Schedule:

Effective August 17, W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, will replace its AMTOR and ASCII transmissions with PSK31 and MFSK16, respectively. RTTY (Baudot) will continue to be the first digital mode used in the transmission schedule. The frequencies used by W1AW for all its digital transmissions will remain the same. "All regular 6 PM and 9 PM (Eastern Time) digital transmissions will begin with RTTY," said W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q. "PSK31 and MFSK16 will be sent as time allows. The Tuesday and Friday Keplerian data bulletins will be sent using RTTY and PSK31." The W1AW operating schedule -- complete with times and frequencies -- can be found on the ARRL Web site.

K6KPH Field Day Schedule

The amateur radio Field Day has begun in the United States. This contest lights up the bands every summer as special contest stations take to the great outdoors with emergency power.

This contest has a way of making its own ionosphere. There have been some legendary nights where 20 meters stayed usable the whole time. Also, I'm sitting here with a QSL card from a New York station that our club worked on 50.100 MHz at 1700 UTC while set up on a mountain outside Los Angeles. Now THAT is DX!

K6KPH's role in all this is to broadcast the annual Field Day Message from the American Radio Relay League, which puts on this contest. Stations submitting a copy of this message get additional points. K6KPH, with its large antennas formerly used for commercial maritime radio, is well equipped for this.

The station may also be making contest QSOs on several bands, though I haven't heard it yet.

Here's the schedule from Richard Dillman:

Once again this year K6KPH, the amateur station of the Maritime Radio Historical Society, will transmit the ARRL Field Day Bulletin (June 27-28) as the west coast outlet for this message. K6KPH will be probably available on its normal frequencies outside the times shown below. For full Field Day information see:

http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/

KSM Operations will continue as usual.

K6KPH Field Day Bulletin Schedule -

CW: 3581.5, 7047.5, 14047.5, 18097.5 21067.5
RTTY, AMTOR-FEC: 7095.0 14095.0

Saturday CW: 1430 UTC
Sunday CW: 0030 & 1430 UTC

Saturday teleprinter: 1330 UTC
Sunday teleprinter: 1630 UTC

The "normal" K6KPH frequencies are on or around 3550, 7050, 14050 and 21050 kHz.

Use of BPL Declines in US

ARRL:

According to the FCC figures, the category "Power Line and Other" dropped from 5420 lines in June 2007 to just 5274 six months later [out of 121.2 million Internet connections -Hugh]. It is not known how many of these are "Power Line" and how many are "Other."

"Despite the enormous and unwarranted hype given to BPL by the FCC under Chairmen Powell and Martin, the message from the marketplace is clear: BPL is going nowhere as a means of delivering broadband connectivity to consumers," observed ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. "Still, the FCC has unfinished business with respect to BPL. It has been nine months since the federal Court of Appeals ordered the Commission to correct the errors it committed in adopting rules that inadequately protect licensed radio services from BPL interference, yet the FCC has made no effort to comply.

BPL (Broadband Over Power Lines) refers to the use of HF frequencies for broadband transmission of Internet packets over power company lines. The system has not been successful in the US market for a number of reasons, but the FCC for political reasons continues to push its use. IBM recently announced that it will work with power companies to implement BPL in rural areas beyond the reach of DSL and cable.

BPL is not the same as the home powerline networking system that is causing such a severe problem in Europe and South America. The use of these latter devices, more typically known as PLC (Power Line Communications) or PLT (Power Line Telecommunication), continues to increase rapidly.

US Congress Investigates "Dysfunctional" FCC

We were right all along. Or at least that's the conclusion of a Congressional investigating committee, which confirms serious malfeasance at the US Federal Communications Commission.

Their new majority report paints a picture of an opaque FCC, with a culture of fear and a tendency to suppress data conflicting with politically motivated decisions. Gee, this sounds quite a bit like many other parts of the Bush administration, does it not?

Here are some relevant parts of a news report posted to the ARRL web site:

On Tuesday, December 9, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce -- the congressional committee that oversees the Federal Communications Commission -- released its majority staff report "on the bipartisan investigation of the FCC's regulatory processes and management practices." The report -- Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission under Chairman Kevin J. Martin -- stated that the investigation was prompted "by allegations to the effect that [FCC] Chairman Kevin J. Martin has abused FCC procedures by manipulating or suppressing reports, data and information."

...

Representative John D. Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce echoed Stupak's concerns: "Any of these findings, individually, are cause for concern. Together, the findings suggest that, in recent years, the FCC has operated in a dysfunctional manner and Commission business has suffered as a result. It is my hope that the new FCC Chairman will find this report instructive and that it will prove useful in helping the Commission avoid making the same mistakes."

But the best parts concern the FCC's deliberate ignoring of data that conflicted with its allegedly prejudiced decision on Broadband over Power Lines (BPL):

Concerning BPL, the report alleges that FCC officials "ignored complaints of radio frequency interference caused by BPL high-speed Internet technology, delayed an enforcement investigation for two years and improperly withheld engineering data regarding BPL from the public."

The report found that in October 2004, as then-Chairman Michael Powell issued his final rule "defining BPL access and setting technical and administrative requirements to protect licensed radio operators from harmful interference," the FCC "withheld from the public certain engineering reports on which it relied in promulgating the rule" from the final rule and order.

Even though the BPL rules were adopted during Powell's tenure, the report found that "it was under Chairman Martin that the Enforcement Bureau and the General Counsel continued to withhold the redacted engineering reports and insisted on doing so in the course of the ensuing litigation [with the ARRL]."

Farther down, Martin is accused of lying to Congress:

The report also showed instances of where Chairman Martin "manipulated, withheld or suppressed data, reports and information," and said Martin's "manipulation [of another report] may have damaged the credibility of the Commission, and certainly undermined the integrity of the staff. Moreover, it was done with the purpose of affecting the congressional decision-making, in that it was issued as a report to Congress."

It is certainly everyone's hope that a new broom in Washington can sweep away some of these wannabe communication lobbyists who have so damaged the FCC.

Full story is at ARRL.org.