***************
> The ARRL Letter
> Vol. 22, No. 48
> December 5, 2003
> ***************
>
> IN THIS EDITION:
>
> * +ARRL BPL engineering study ready to roll
> * +Logbook of the World tops a million QSL records
> * +Expedition 8 crew may be on for special event
> * +ARRL says cooperation best approach at 2390-2395 MHz
> * +New General question pool released
> * +Ham antennas no danger to migratory birds, ARRL says
> * +Michigan hams win antenna victory
> * +ARRL member turns 100!
> * Solar Update
> * IN BRIEF:
> This weekend on the radio
> ARRL Emergency Communications Course registration
> ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
> Survey seeks opinions on ARRL Continuing Education Course offerings
> Stephen E. McCallum, W2ZBY, SK
> Vote on QST Cover Plaque Award
> W4B to commemorate Wright Brothers' flight centenary
> Turtles vexing TO4E DXpedition
> Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, now active from Angola
>
> +Available on ARRL Audio News
>
> ===========================================================
>
> ==>ARRL'S BPL STUDY IMMINENT; LEAGUE TO SOLICIT BPL TRIAL INTERFERENCE
> REPORTS
>
> An ARRL-sponsored independent engineering study to accurately quantify the
> interference potential of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) is set to start
> in the very near future. In addition, the League soon will elicit
> interference reports from amateurs in communities where BPL trials are
> known to be under way.
>
> "We're contracting for an independent measurement of potential interaction
> between BPL and Amateur Radio," said ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. The
> study--to be conducted under the auspices of certified professional
> engineers--not only will examine and document how BPL might affect HF and
> low-VHF amateur operation but how Amateur Radio operation could affect BPL
> systems.
>
> The ARRL-sponsored engineering study should be completed within a couple
> of months, Sumner said. The ARRL anticipates that the FCC could issue a
> Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the proceeding (ET Docket 02-104) early
> in 2004. The FCC's Notice of Inquiry in the matter, released last April,
> has attracted more than 5100 comments--many of them from the amateur
> community.
>
> At this point, while some BPL system trials are operating under existing
> Part 15 rules for unlicensed devices, other systems have secured FCC Part
> 5 experimental licenses that permit them to use higher power levels. In
> either case, however, FCC rules require BPL operators to cease operation
> if their systems result in harmful interference.
>
> In a related initiative, the ARRL will be contacting amateurs in about a
> half-dozen US communities where BPL field trials now are in progress. The
> League will ask amateurs to listen on the air for any increase in noise
> level that might be related to the BPL trial. Sumner says it's most
> important that hams in trial areas who detect noise first verify that it
> is indeed caused by BPL before they document and report their observations
> to the FCC.
>
> "It is important that each interference complaint be a valid case of
> actual harmful interference," an attachment to Sumner's letter says. "It
> is possible to misidentify other noise sources as BPL." Sumner says
> amateurs must carefully avoid "crying wolf" by filing invalid reports of
> BPL interference. The League suggests amateurs receiving the solicitation
> letters enlist the support of "a technically qualified observer"--an ARRL
> Technical Coordinator, Technical Specialist or local club interference
> committee--then submit a recording of the interference to the ARRL
> Laboratory for review and analysis.
>
> The ARRL's solicitation includes a form to document suspected instances of
> harmful interference from BPL. Sumner says the League hopes the effort
> will result in a "body of technical evidence that will protect the Amateur
> Service from this source of potential interference."
>
> In a related development, a California technology company this month wrote
> the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology to refute ARRL assertions
> that BPL necessarily poses a severe interference potential. Corridor
> Systems <http://www.corridor.biz> says its "breakthrough" BPL system,
> operated under existing Part 15 rules, uses frequencies in the 2 to 20 GHz
> range, will not interfere with HF and low-VHF reception and can provide up
> to 216 MB per second throughput.
>
> "Corridor Systems has demonstrated a BPL technology which is completely
> compatible with the Amateur Radio Service and, indeed, with all users of
> the HF-VHF spectrum," Corridor's Chief Technology Officer Glenn Elmore,
> N6GN, said in the "open letter"
> <http://www.corridor.biz/031201-fcc-letter.pdf> that was copied to ARRL.
>
> Sumner pointed out in responding to Elmore that ARRL only first became
> aware of Corridor's work in mid-October and that the League's comments
> were appropriate within the context of the FCC's definition of BPL systems
> operating in the 2 to 80 MHz HF and low-VHF spectrum. "The Corridor
> Systems approach deserves to be distinguished from the spectrum-polluting
> HF and low VHF systems, not only because of its much lower interference
> potential but also because of the higher data rates it can support,"
> Sumner said.
>
> Additional information about BPL and Amateur Radio is on the ARRL Web site
> <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/>.
>
> ==>LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD CONTINUES TO GROW
>
> The ARRL's Logbook of the World secure contact-verification database
> continues to grow. So far, reports ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne
> Mills, N7NG, nearly 5000 users have uploaded logs containing some 25.4
> million Amateur Radio contacts. This has resulted in more than 1 million
> QSL records.
>
> "The key is participation, and it doesn't cost a thing to get the software
> and upload logs," Mills pointed out. "We're encouraging all hams to
> participate in Logbook, whether the ham is a casual operator, contester,
> ragchewer or DXer." To further expand the database and generate more
> confirmed contacts for all LoTW users, Mills is calling on everyone to
> sign aboard and submit as many logs as possible.
>
> Once LoTW programming is complete, users will be able to redeem credits