December, 2006

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BPL Orders Exceed FCC's Jurisdiction and Authority, League Court Filing Says
The ARRL this week notified the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that it's appealing certain aspects of the FCC's Part 15 rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems. The ARRL Executive Committee ratified plans to go forward with the Petition for Review when it met October 7. The League is asking the court to review the FCC's October 2004 Report and Order (R&O) establishing Part 15 rules to govern BPL systems as well as its August 2006 Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O) that dealt with various petitions for reconsideration of the 2004 R&O, including one from the ARRL.

New York Public Service Commission Recognizes BPL Interference Concerns
The New York Public Service Commission (NYPSC) this week adopted a policy statement on deployment of BPL systems in the Empire State. While asserting that BPL technology "may provide significant benefits to New Yorkers," the commission also has acknowledged that BPL "poses a myriad of both traditional and unique technical and regulatory challenges." The policy statement, issued and effective October 18, says that while most BPL providers, equipment makers and vendors believe the FCC's Part 15 rules address interference issues, that was not the consensus opinion of those who commented to the Commission.

Satellite Protection Plan May Affect HF Propagation
A research group in New Zealand is warning of possible dire consequences for HF communications and GPS navigation if the U.S. moves ahead with plans for its "radiation belt remediation" program. According to the ARRL Letter, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is planning to direct extremely high-intensity very low frequency radio waves into the Van Allen radiation belts, in an effort to "flush" particles from those belts into the upper atmosphere. This is part of a plan to try to protect low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites from radiation damage in the event of severe solar storms or a high-altitude nuclear detonation.
However, researchers at New Zealand's University of Otago warn that all those charged particles falling into the upper atmosphere could cause "unusually intense HF blackouts around most of the world" for up to a week at a time. It also says large-scale disruptions of the Global Positioning System (GPS) would be likely as well. No comment from DARPA.

FCC invites comments on two Amateur Radio rule making petitions
The FCC has invited comments on two Amateur Radio-related petitions for rule making. Both petitioners seek changes in the FCC's Part 97 Amateur Service station identification rules, specifically §97.119(a). That rule now requires stations to identify "at the end of each communication, and at least every ten minutes during a communication . .." RM-11346, filed December 9, 2005, by Murray Green, K3BEQ, would raise the required ID interval to 30 minutes as well as at the end of each communication. A second petition, RM-11347, filed May 19, 2006, by Glenn Zook, K9STH, would revise §97.119(a) to more closely resemble the old FCC §12.82(a) Transmission of call signs rule. Zook proposes requiring radio amateurs to transmit the call sign(s) of stations with which they are in communication plus their own call sign at the start and end of each single transmission or of a series of transmissions between stations in communication "each transmission of which is of less than three minutes' duration," at least every 10 minutes during a series of transmissions between stations in communication, and at least every 10 minutes during any single transmission more than 10 minutes long. Comments on these petitions are due by November 29. Interested parties may file using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS).

December, 2006

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