Texas to get broadband over its power lines

TalkBack 3 of 23:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

NOT "Horse & Buggy"

No_Ax_to_Grind,


Your reference to ham radio as "horse and
buggy" shows your total ignorance of the subject. Tell the folks along the Gulf Coast, in S.E. Asia and other places that ham radio is "horse and buggy". When disasters strike, in many cases all our fancy modern digital infrastructure gets demolished - that is when ham radio really shines due to its decentralized setup. Ham radio is THE ultimate mesh network!

The BPL folks claim the interference issue has been resloved: THAT IS BUNK! The CT system in Manassas has been the subject of 100s of unresolved interference complaints, and the test systems in Texas have been as or even more troublesome. Same goes for Progress in NC. If you want some truthful info on BPL, check out the ARRL's web site: www.arrl.org. The ARRL has the facts and the technical tests to prove their case.

The biggest issue with most BPL systems is the "last mile" portion is based on a scaled-up version of HomePlug. That was not a smart move, but it does allow the manufacturers to make the end-user devices a lot cheaper (economics of scale). But from a technical standpoint, it is a BAD move. Using HomePlug externally virtually guarantees interference problems with many licensed radio services, not just ham radio.

There is actually one BPL system that works well and doesn't cause interference problems: a new setup designed by Motorola and in test use at the ARRL HQ in Newington, CT. But is is a bit more expensive to deploy, hence the resistance to its use.

What is really disgusting me about the whole BPL scene is how the FCC has just thrown the licensed services to the dogs and just brown-nosed the proponents of BPL! It is nothing short of disgusting and a total abdication of one of their charter duties. I wonder at times how much the BPL people are slipping them under the table . . .

In closing, I'd just advise you to engage your brain before your fingers and know something about what your talking about before you regail us with some of the bildge I've seen you post in the past.

Regards,
Bill Bowen

P.S. In case you are wondering, no, I am NOT presently a ham but have been in the past. I have been involved with RF systems for over 35 years in design, installation and maintenance in addition to my work in the digital realm.

Posted by: bowenw@...   Posted on: 12/21/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• Building the Virtualized Enterprise with VMware Iinfrastructure VMware VMware virtualization software has been adopted by over 120,000 enterprise ... Download Now
• INNOV8 2.0: A Business Process Management Simulator IBM Innovate your business' process model, play against the market, compete ... Download Now
• Why Isn't Server Virtualization Saving Us More? A Few Small Changes May Dramatically Increase Your Efficiency VMware Companies have rapidly adopted server virtualization over the past few ... Download Now