October, 2005   The Milliwatt   < Prev Page 6 Next >

 

Attention All Amateurs ...
Sign up for The ARES E-Letter

Since 9/11, interest within the Amateur Radio community in emergency communication and public service has greatly increased. More than ever, hams are volunteering to help meet the communication needs of our nation, states and communities. The ARES E-Letter is a response to this expanding awareness. Anyone with an interest in emergency communication or public service activities can sign up online to receive The ARES E-Letter. Each issue will contain a wealth of after-action reports, editorials, technical tips, news and views--information you'd otherwise have to wait for in QST. Timeliness, utility and inspiration are the goals of this informative publication that's devoted entirely to Amateur Radio emergency communication and public service.

 

BPL at HQ: ARRL Cooperating in BPL System Experiment

BPL has come to ARRL Headquarters, and preliminary indications are that the newly installed Motorola Powerline LV system will prove Amateur Radio-friendly. Motorola approached ARRL last fall seeking input on a BPL design that could avoid many or most of the interference problems that have plagued some other BPL systems. This past May, Motorola introduced its Powerline LV wireless-to-low voltage BPL solution at the United Telecom Council's "Telecom 2005." The ARRL said at the time that it was "encouraged" by Motorola's approach but reserved judgment until it had the chance to see a system up close. A Motorola Powerline LV system was put into operation at Maxim Memorial Station W1AW this week.

 

Industry Canada Calls for Public Consultation to Establish Rules For Certifying BPL in Canada

Industry Canada (IC), with Canada Gazette notice SMSE-005-05 dated July 30 2005, has initiated the public consultation process for the introduction of BPL in Canada. This consultation will decide the process by which BPL will be introduced in Canada, including the development of a new certification standard (ICES-00x) for medium voltage powerline carrier systems. The IC consultation paper gives interested parties 120 days to reply. RAC will reply to this consultation paper directly to IC and through the Radio Advisory Board of Canada (RABC), of which it is a member. The RABC is an association of Canadian radio spectrum user associations, sponsored in part by IC, and used by IC to consult with industry when developing new standards and spectrum management policy. The consultation paper will be handled by RABC's Electromagnetic Committee (EMC), which has appointed RAC's VP Regulatory Affairs, Jim Dean VE3IQ, a member of the RABC Executive, as chairperson of a Working Group (WG) to prepare the RABC's response. Joe Parkinson VE3JG, who has been handling the BPL file, will represent RAC on the WG. RAC is not against BPL; it is against the interference to radio services created by BPL, and looks forward to this consultation process as an opportunity to have an input into the certification standard. RAC's representative on the RABC WG will aggressively push to ensure the concerns of the Amateur Service are addressed in the RABC response. RAC will also express these concerns in a response directly to IC. All comments on the questions in the consultation paper should be addressed to Joe Parkinson c/o the RAC office 720 Belfast Road, Suit 217, Ottawa ON K1G 0Z5 Attn: BPL Team or direct via email to ve3jg@rac.ca or gparkinson@rogers.com. The RABC WG expects to commence meetings in early August with a completion deadline of early November. Comments should be sent as soon as possible and must arrive prior to November 1 to be considered in the formulation of the RAC response to IC. For details, see the Canada Gazette notice at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/h_sf08279e.html

 

Report: Google ready to walk the walk with text, voice IMs

Google (GOOG) is planning to introduce its own instant messaging system, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday, marking the expansion by the Web search leader into text and voice communications. Citing unnamed sources "familiar with the service," the Los Angeles Times said that Google's instant messaging program would be called Google Talk and could be launched as early as Wednesday. Google Talk goes beyond text-based instant messaging, letting users hold voice conversations with other computer users, the newspaper quoted a source as saying. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's product plans. If confirmed, the combined computer text and voice service would put Google in competition with a similar service pioneered by Skype, which has attracted tens of millions of users, especially in Europe, to its own service. Separately, independent journalist Om Malik on his blog at http://gigaom.com/ pointed to technical clues that suggest Google is preparing to run an instant messaging service based on an open-source system known as Jabber. Jabber technology would allow Google instant message users to connect with established IM systems that also work with Jabber, including America Online's ICQ and Apple Computer's iChat, Malik said.

 

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