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Contacts made from/to the ISS

Official NASA ISS Amateur Radio Page

ARRL ISS Page

It's incredibly easy to talk to the ISS from the earth... you don't need a particularily high-powered radio to do it. In fact, the radio on the ISS is a plain jane, Kenwood dual-band radio.

Second of all get your ham radio license! Buy a copy of Now You're Talking! from the ARRL and study up! Amateur radio is approximately 50% applied analog and digital electronics, and don't think all that communications theory stuff doesn't apply to computers because it does, RF knowledge is CRITICAL to engineering high speed digital circuits! Get involved with a local ham radio club and start building ham radio kits and projects. Other than working in an electronics lab, it's the best way to get applied electronics experience quickly.

I'm n1ywb and that's my two cents.

Here are reports on BPL from OfCom, which is the British government's equivalent of the FCC in the US: OfCom reports on BPL. The first report (on Amperion) is cited in the ARRL article but was not written by the ARRL, but rather by the British government.

Nope.

http://www.darc.de/aktuell/plc/pdf/cqdl0204_eng.pd f http://justizportal-bw.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=967 11
http://www.pte.at/pte.mc?pte=050124014
http://futurezone.orf.at/futurezone.orf?read=detai l&id=260949
http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp067.shtml
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/aud-vid.html

etc. etc.

(Some of the above are in German)

Why don't you check out http://www.arrl.org/ and see. We do provide a service that many others asre not willing to do (FRS, CB and and to a lesser extent, GMRS are bands coming to mind here). Emergency Service is actually PART of the rules that give us our priviledges.

Hmm....yes, there are always bad apples but check out:

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2003/06/24/2/

http://www.southgatearc.org/articles/vu2rbi/andama n_nicobar_1.htm

http://www.qsl.net/trarc/floyd2.html

http://www.skywarn.org/

http://www.severe-weather.org/

GOOD ham groups are great volunteers and eyes and ears for law enforcement, American Red Cross and other agencies. Emergecny Communcations provided by hams is NOT just a PR illusion. It's real.

BPL is being tested in a remote area in Arizona, where there are few HAMs and little of the spectrum is actually in use- when/if BPL is ever put into place in a city or heavily populated area, many more "non-existent" problems will result. BPL will cause destructive interference to many commodities using radio that we use today.

Later he agrees that competition would be good for the consumer, but that BPL is not being faster, more reliable, or cheaper than conventional broadband access. But, he leave out the part about it being faster and more reliable than no access at all. Although I'll admit that BPL probably costs more than having no access at all. Finally he begins to selectively quote and reference FCC documents. He talks of notching and quotes a member of the ARRL (association for amateur radio) of which the author is also a member. The FCC data that he claims show that the likelihood of interference is not very low, actually shows the opposite for a properly notched systems. The report showed low to no interference with a an above ground properly notched system simply recommend that the notch be increase by 100kHz in the 10 meter band.

And for underground powerline systems, there were no caveats at all - the underground systems were always below the limit.

Why claim that the data proves something that it doesn't?

http://www.arrl.org/~ehare/bpl/FCC_reports.pdf

A mission to Mars

14 privately owned satellites in orbit

Experiments and payload aboard the International Space Station (and Space Shuttles when they fly again)

A worldwide GPS based tracking system

An independent worldwide wireless data network

No? Are you even still reading this? If so then ask yourself this, does your "hobby" provide emergency communications during disasters? Does it? DOES IT? Was it THERE during the TSUNAMIS like amateur radio was?

What about after the hurricanes? After Charlie tore trough Port Charlotte and knocked down all local sheriff and fire radio towers ham radio operators were there cranking up new towers, equipping the sheriff and first responders with new radios so they could save lives. They even used that tracking system I mentioned on all of the vehicles involved in rescue operations so that way the first responders could coordinate their vehicles more efficiently...

But you've probably stopped reading. Like I could care. All I want to do is enlighten those who read your comment, give them a different point of view. Show them that Amateur Radio DOES matter, is an important part of our lives and will be around a long, long time. BPL or no.

Ham/Amateur radio is not just a hobby. We just enjoy the quiet periods where our emergency communications and skills are not needed.

http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html

Amateur radio started out as a critical emergency communication system. Next time you hear about a hurricane or earthquake, you will hear about us.

Putting a signal on an antenna will obviously result in radiation, yes. What's not obvious though, is how much, and how quickly it falls off with distance. It's not clear to me if the entire line radiates and therefore it drops off as 1/R, or if (as some claim), it will instead fall off with 1/R^2 or 1/R^4. Add to the fact that they're notching the public frequencies, and I don't think we can necessarily trust the article's author at his (clearly biased) word that "there will be interference."

I don't know enough about this to say if anyone is right or wrong, but I do suggest reading the author's disclosure at the end of his article, and considering that the ARRL has an established position on this issue, and one that may be more emotional than rational, in the final analysis. It's also not clear from my quick read of the article if interference has been demonstrated from BPL lines complying with the new FCC rules for BPL

It's a bad idea and has been dropped left and right. Here's a paper from Canada on BPL. And here's a counter proposal for those who feel that energy companies need to be in the network business: Broadband Over gas (apparently not a joke).

It's a bad idea and has been dropped left and right. Here's a paper from Canada on BPL. And here's a counter proposal for those who feel that energy companies need to be in the network business: Broadband Over gas (apparently not a joke).

It's a bad idea and has been dropped left and right. Here's a paper from Canada on BPL. And here's a counter proposal for those who feel that energy companies need to be in the network business: Broadband Over gas (apparently not a joke).

Check the ARRL for listings of Hamfests in your region. Offer the whole box or two up for a few bucks, or sell the stuff piecemeal for 25 or 50 cents a pop. Even if there isn't a hamfest in the area for a month or two, say you will sell your stuff there. You might be able to buy some time that way. The hamfest will also give you the opportunity to acquire new junk as well, so be prepared to defend any items that follow you home, or keep them in the trunk of your car until the coast is clear.

Believe it or not, CW (Continuous Wave aka 'Morse' code) is still very much alive and kicking!

The CW contingent is very passionate about their craft.

One story that stands out is that of an amateur couple - the husband hospitalized with a tracheotomy/feeding tube and unable to speak, the wife at his bedside ... when he regained consciousness he instinctively grabbed his wife by the hand and began to communicate with simple tapping. This result was quite useful, as he was able to have his wife pass his 'third-party traffic' to the nurse, notifying her of his symptoms and needs.

Pay a visit to the Amateur Radio Relay League for more info on getting your license!

Amateur radio, whether you're operating CW, phone or data is loads of - much more than many here likely can fathom (based on prior postings).

But is Morse proficiency still required for amatuer radio licensing?

For the Technician class license (the lowest one), no. For others (Technician Plus, General, Extra) there are still Morse code tests. Test requirements start at 5 WPM, if memory serves.

More info at http://www.arrl.org/

Damn, now you've got me wanting to order some study materials and upgrade my license, which I've been meaning to do for years . . . plus I could finally use the "use the keyboard LEDs to show data in Morse code" trick.

More links from today's news: 2005-ARLS004, pictures.

>It might be worth it to develop a website for setting up your ham radio set and encouraging school students to explore this new hobby option.

Yes, good plan. There are quite a few sites already.

The local Jr High School (appropriately named after Fred Terman, a pioneer in radio research at Stanford) has a ham club with quite a few members, and I've been giving talks at elementary schools (tying in to geography units, for example).

I personally don't have satellite equipment to bring to schools, but every few weeks another school somewhere on the planet gets to talk live with ISS astronauts and cosmonauts (list).

>It might be worth it to develop a website for setting up your ham radio set and encouraging school students to explore this new hobby option.

Yes, good plan. There are quite a few sites already.

The local Jr High School (appropriately named after Fred Terman, a pioneer in radio research at Stanford) has a ham club with quite a few members, and I've been giving talks at elementary schools (tying in to geography units, for example).

I personally don't have satellite equipment to bring to schools, but every few weeks another school somewhere on the planet gets to talk live with ISS astronauts and cosmonauts (list).

"My father just bought a five-acre farm with multiple buildings. I am looking for a way to set up a WLAN that covers the entire property.

Do you mean just around the buildings, or everywhere on the property? If it's the latter, use a handful of cheap WAPs and high tech Pringles can antennae on the out-buildings, pointed at the external antenna on the home.

Do Slashdot readers know how to provide wireless access for more than one house without blanketing the entire neighborhood (hopefully for a reasonable price)? Are there single, high-powered routers that will do the job?"

People are going to be able to snoop your RF communications if they want to. If you're worried about that, bury copper or fiber to the buildings. Otherwise, could I perhaps interest you in experimenting with laser communications? On the cheap? Now where did I stash those Laser Tag toys...

At the very least get an Amateur Radio License. It is an easy way to learn the basic technology behind radio, and will also aquaint you with the legal aspects of broadcasting.

You should be able to get a no-code license in a few months through a local club. The Amateur Radio Relay League is a good place to start.

Assuming you are in the US, search here for a amateur radio club in your area. If you are in a large city and there are several, try for one that lists "RFI help" [Radio Frequency Interference] under 'Services'. Ask them (politely) for assistance.

>If nothing else, shouldn't the FCC be responsible for managing the spectrum in such a way that these kinds of problems do not happen?

They do manage the spectrum. What they don't manage is the receiving devices...

There is a curious problem here caused by the "free market" philosophy taken so to heart by the public at large, the government, and the FCC recently.

The problem is that the TV probably doesn't meet the consumer's needs for keeping out unwanted (and off frequency) RF. The FCC would argue that the manufacturer has sold a TV that doesn't meet the consumer's needs, and the consumer ought not buy it, just like they wouldn't buy one without a remote control or with a volume control button that's in the back and has to be set with a screwdriver. In other words, the TV is not of good engineering design, and the FCC doesn't care -- they think you should care.

So, take the FCC's lead and call the manufacturer of your TV, the person who installed your stereo speakers, etc. and complain to them.

The dual of this is that if you own a device that makes RF noise and someone else complains, your only recourse is to turn your device off. Although you can sometimes hope for FCC intervention, if you want the manufacturer to fix it, you have to go back to them as a consumer. It's only rarely that the FCC goes back to the manufacturer for you, and when they do, it is usually only in an egregious case and with lots of legwork by someone else, and it makes headlines.

The sad thing is that it's much easier to get the FCC involved to tell your hapless neighbors to turn off their broken device than it is to get them to make the manufacturer fix it.

If you buy a washing machine (like mine) that generates noise, you may be stuck with a lot of work to try to get it fixed.

Or, you can write your congressperson and ask that the US adopt stricter EMC (electro-magnetic compitability) requirements such as the European EC requirements.

Here's a link to a somewhat more formatted version of what the parent posted. It's about halfway down the page; it's also linked from TFA for those who read it;)

The problem is that these issues are of concern to many computer geeks and not most average people. The average voter does not know or care enough about computer software and hardware to give the matter much thought.

One small group that does care passionately is the many of the Linux users who might not be allowed to continue playing the DVDs they purchased any longer on their computers. We are also concerned that Microsoft could use stronger software patent and copyright laws block interoperability with non-Microsoft products and possibly destroy what little remaining competition they have. Unfortunately, most voters do not even know about these issues. In cases like that it is only the entertainment industry lobbyists who get noticed by congress.

I am building my own computer which I will use as a personal video recorder for broadcast high definition high definition televison signals (the HDTV signals received by antenna not cable). It will use the Linux based MythTV software and an HDTV video capture card. After July 1, 2005 the manufacture or sale of the HDTV video capture cards will be banned by the FCC. The Electric Frontier Foundation (EFF)" has been fighting them in court on that issue. Fortunately, it will still be legal to continue using the card that I purchased before the deadline. Over 90 percent of Americans use cable TV or satellite TV instead of what they receive by antenna, so once again, I am a small passionate minority that does not have a lot of politcal clout

I have contributed to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and have written several letters to my elected representaives. I do not watch much TV but am building my own Linux based personal video recorder mostly as a act of protest to what I feel is an unfair restriction of what I can do at home.

I am also a licensed ham radio operator and most hams in this country have been unsuccessfully fighting something else that the FCC has been doing. We strongly oppose the FFC plan to allow the power companies plan to use BPL to send high speed Internet data over unshielded power lines. That would cause large amouts of noise to be radiated from the unsheilded power lines onto the ham radio bands. The ham radio bands might become nearly useless. There are large numbers of angry ham radio operators who are dues paying members of the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL). I was one of many ARRL members who made contributions to a special ARRL fund to fight the plan but so far president Bush and the FCC seem to be ignoring us. Apparently, several million angry ham radio operators were not enough to stop a small number of power company lobbyists. It seems to be much the same situatation between computer users and the entertainment industry. On both of these issues, the industry lobbyists frequently seem to have more polical clout than small groups of passionate voters.

Just what I always wanted, yet another source of radio spectrum noise. No small issue, we're talking disruption of a service that most people aren't even aware of and is insignificant until there is a major disaster.

BPL info at ARRL.org

The interference that BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) causes to the high frequency radio spectrum is more than simply a slight annoyance to amateur radio operators. It totally destroys abilities to use HF frequencies that are vital to long distance communications. Amateur radio operators put alot of time, effort, and money into their hobby, and when something like this comes along, that can cripple them, who can blame them for fighting against it?

See arrl.org for more info on BPL. The Rochester Amateur Radio Club also has Posted some good info on BPL. Or just google "BPL Amateur Radio".

When all else fails . . . There's amateur radio!

-KI4IHC

This is just Foxhunting by another name.

The only difference is that this is open to non-hams.

You are probably right.

Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs) (Remember them from the BPL stories?) have to abide by "Third Party Agreements" See the list at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/io/3r dparty.html . These agreements allow hams to pass messages to or from non-hams in other countries.

Oddly, Costa Rica is one of the countries that allows third party traffic.

Take THAT you uninformed liberal social reconstructing judges!

I just don't have confidence that the majority does rule in many of our agencies. I'd love to be convinced I'm wrong.

While you're absolutely right about the encryption, check this out. And believe you me, you won't find my call here either :)

That is why you need a Senao 2511 or a SMC EliteConnect Wifi adapter. At 200 mW, your signal will actually be *stronger* than the AP.

And as a ham radio operator, I'm licensed for 1500 **watts**. Check out HSMM sometime. Hams realized one day that they can operate under amateur radio rules part 97 instead of unlicensed part 15 rules.

1. The ARRL needs to get Google to "know" about amateur radio repeaters and be able to search for them ("2M repeaters near wichita, ks")
2. The various state highway departments need to feed construction data into here.
3. Feed the National parks service data in (national parks in US)

Why would anyone want to do base-30 mathematics?

In this case, you can think of the alphabet as a base-26 numbering scheme.

IHNRTFA, but it sounds like the good old USPTO monkey squad has allowed Microsoft to patent the Maidenhead grid locator scheme, dating at least to 1980. Off to RTFA now....

The Maidenhead Grid Square mechanism has been in use by amateur radio for a long time. It's even supported directly by some Garmin GPS unts. Mine is CM87wk. I have an Emacs Lisp conversion tool though you can find many others at the links above.

Go on the ARRL Hamfest Calender and find the soonest closest hamfest in your area, bring the stuff there and sell it yankee trader style.

Alternatively, ebay might be good for some stuff. Use the "search completed items" feature to see what if any of it will actually sell.

Alternatively alternatively you could try to find a local ham who will take it off your hands.

Good luck!

And there's the ARRL VHF sweepstakes this weekend. Should certainly be fun. 6m was open tonight (was hearing Florida in Indiana), but things may change over the weekend.

I'm not very familiar with VHF/UHF propagation modes. Anyone have any hints on what this may do to propagation on the VHF and up bands?

I think it may be related with a geomagnetic storming from a sun.
read more in news:
The large and dynamic active sunspot region, numbered by NOAA as Region 720, has produced several strong solar events. Five large solar flares produced moderate (R2) to strong (R3) radio blackouts since 15 January. The largest of these solar eruptions, an X3.8 on the GOES-12 x-ray sensor, occurred today at 17/0659 UTC (near local midnight MST). Short-wave radio communications through the sunlit hemisphere of Earth experienced significant signal degradation during these solar flares.
Associated strong geomagnetic and radiation storms are underway. The radiation storm began on 16/0210 UTC (15 January, 7:10 P.M. MST) and is currently at the S3 (strong level). A G3 (strong) geomagnetic storm began early on the 17th (UTC) and remains in progress. The geomagnetic storm is associated with two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed on SOHO/LASCO imagery on 15 January.

Solar Terrestrial Activity Report

We have a few hams around here who are setting up an entire network around town using D-Link 900AP+ and just passing the network.

HSMM, or High Speed Multimedia, is the name of an ARRL sponsored technical project to introduce high speed data radio to amateur radio. ARRL HSMM Link

The license free 802.11a/b/g services operate on bands that overlap amateur frequency allocations, giving us cheap hardware that can be used under FCC part 97. Hams though can boost the power quite a bit beyond FCC part 15 regs.

Ham Radio.

Google for your country's equivalent to the ARRL.

Hams were the only functional communication for many people after the Loma Prieta quake hit California. Hams ran the only functioning communications network on 9/11. And yes, hams were there for the tsunami victims too.

If you need a technology that'll enable coordination of disaster relief -- or even just help out by offloading a few million "Yes, Mom, I'm OK, and I'll talk to you when I can" messages from overloaded communications channels, chances are you're going to be using ham radio.

Better yet -- become a ham yourself. In most countries, it's cheap and easy. And if you're reading this, you're already geeky enough that it'll be a hell of a lot of fun no matter where you live.

Another poster on this thread was talking about SMS. When you have no cellular towers, you're not going to get even 20 seconds a day of uptime.

And that's when you'll be helped by a ham.

Ham Radio.

Google for your country's equivalent to the ARRL.

Hams were the only functional communication for many people after the Loma Prieta quake hit California. Hams ran the only functioning communications network on 9/11. And yes, hams were there for the tsunami victims too.

If you need a technology that'll enable coordination of disaster relief -- or even just help out by offloading a few million "Yes, Mom, I'm OK, and I'll talk to you when I can" messages from overloaded communications channels, chances are you're going to be using ham radio.

Better yet -- become a ham yourself. In most countries, it's cheap and easy. And if you're reading this, you're already geeky enough that it'll be a hell of a lot of fun no matter where you live.

Another poster on this thread was talking about SMS. When you have no cellular towers, you're not going to get even 20 seconds a day of uptime.

And that's when you'll be helped by a ham.

Bruce

It is absolutely untrue that unlicensed transmitters at 100mW or less are legal in the FM broadcast band in the U.S.

Well, actually, it is true that some unlicensed transmitters at 100mW or less are legal in the FM broadcast band. But only those that operate at far, far less than 100mW.

I'm really surprised that the person who wrote the original article (i.e., the one who posted on technocrat.net) admits to being a ham operator, but then seems to know nothing about part 15 of the FCC regulations. If you want to know all about the limitations on unlicensed operation, you need to know part 15 -- no excuses. And the 100mW limitation applies ONLY to unlicensed transmissions in the AM broadcast band, and NOWHERE ELSE. Instead, each band in which any kind of unlicensed transmission is permitted is subject to its OWN RULES.

See: FCC rule regarding unlicensed operation in the band 88-108 MHz (Note that although this document is served by akamaitech.net, the source of the document is the U.S. Government printing office)

FCC PDF document with all you ever wanted to know about unlicensed operations under Part 15

Ramsey Electronics kit page with FCC information regarding lawful use of low power transmitter kits

American Radio Relay League (ARRL) information on part 15 of the FCC rules (The ARRL is the largest national organization for ham radio operators)

Note that the actual permitted field strength for unlicensed operation translates into the a signal of only a few nanowatts -- around the single digit range -- certainly not anything even remotely resembling 100 milliwatts!

Thus, the immediate parent of this comment should be modded WAY down -- it certainly isn't "informative." If anything, it is perpetuating misinformation that could get someone into serious trouble.

I know it's bad form to reply to trolls, but on the odd chance this guy meant well but was just uninformed, I'll play:

Wait until after it DOES cause interference, then denounce it as a bad technology. Don't tell me it might cause interference, let me show you that it doesn't! (or at least, doesn't have to)

Actually, would you believe a bunch of engineers actually engineered something before they spoke up? Well, I would. Engineers are usually such intraverted geeks that they're the last people to complain (until they've run it through forwards, backwards, sideways, etc.). That is exactly what happened with BPL and hams (amateur radio operators).

Our organization, the ARRL, studied this because the FCC was, um, preoccupied. Please check out all the research and analysis data on this and you will see we've overengineered, as usual. Any management type would have screamed "I get the point" long ago, but the hams like to be complete.

Simply said: it does not work. It has to do with how physics are engineered in our universe. Saying "well, I'm sure they'll find a way" is relativistic, wishful thinking that unfortunately violates the laws of nature. I had to deal with a city councilman who opposed towers higher than 40 feet because he didn't like the look of them. There is a radiofrequency physics concept called "takeoff angle" which has to do with the height of your radiating element above ground and the subsequent direction the radiowaves will travel. It is totally dependent upon the frequency you are using. For frequencies like 40 meters, 80 meters, etc., if you have a short tower, your signal goes straight into space. Takeoff angle at work. You MUST have a higher tower to keep the signal traveling along the horizon.

I apologize for the geek talk, but please understand we hams use this takeoff angle and other physics to do things like provide communications for disaster victims. Here is an example of this help. Yes, our hobby is saving your ass (and others). It is how we pay for the priveleges we have with frequencies. There is great honor in helping other people out with the skills we have. And un-educated persons that push bad ideas like BPL without understanding the consequences are like a drunk in the cockpit of an airliner with 350 people aboard - we geeks will get upset at this because you don't know what you're putting at risk. Please don't take our anger personally - but understand you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Anyway, this councilman (a used furniture salesman... go figure) was insistant on prohibiting towers of the height necessary to keep the takeoff angles near the horizon. His response? "I'm sure science will let you guys be creative and figure out a way to make a short tower do the same thing."

People who do not understand physics are a danger to any engineering project. So friend, when you complain that engineers have pointed out that BPL will do exactly what it is designed to do - that is, radiate RF all over the spectrum and cause the USA to be the worlds polluter of RF - don't attack the messenger. If you've figured out a way to break physics, let us know. Otherwise, read up or shut up!

I know it's bad form to reply to trolls, but on the odd chance this guy meant well but was just uninformed, I'll play:

Wait until after it DOES cause interference, then denounce it as a bad technology. Don't tell me it might cause interference, let me show you that it doesn't! (or at least, doesn't have to)

Actually, would you believe a bunch of engineers actually engineered something before they spoke up? Well, I would. Engineers are usually such intraverted geeks that they're the last people to complain (until they've run it through forwards, backwards, sideways, etc.). That is exactly what happened with BPL and hams (amateur radio operators).

Our organization, the ARRL, studied this because the FCC was, um, preoccupied. Please check out all the research and analysis data on this and you will see we've overengineered, as usual. Any management type would have screamed "I get the point" long ago, but the hams like to be complete.

Simply said: it does not work. It has to do with how physics are engineered in our universe. Saying "well, I'm sure they'll find a way" is relativistic, wishful thinking that unfortunately violates the laws of nature. I had to deal with a city councilman who opposed towers higher than 40 feet because he didn't like the look of them. There is a radiofrequency physics concept called "takeoff angle" which has to do with the height of your radiating element above ground and the subsequent direction the radiowaves will travel. It is totally dependent upon the frequency you are using. For frequencies like 40 meters, 80 meters, etc., if you have a short tower, your signal goes straight into space. Takeoff angle at work. You MUST have a higher tower to keep the signal traveling along the horizon.

I apologize for the geek talk, but please understand we hams use this takeoff angle and other physics to do things like provide communications for disaster victims. Here is an example of this help. Yes, our hobby is saving your ass (and others). It is how we pay for the priveleges we have with frequencies. There is great honor in helping other people out with the skills we have. And un-educated persons that push bad ideas like BPL without understanding the consequences are like a drunk in the cockpit of an airliner with 350 people aboard - we geeks will get upset at this because you don't know what you're putting at risk. Please don't take our anger personally - but understand you don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Anyway, this councilman (a used furniture salesman... go figure) was insistant on prohibiting towers of the height necessary to keep the takeoff angles near the horizon. His response? "I'm sure science will let you guys be creative and figure out a way to make a short tower do the same thing."

People who do not understand physics are a danger to any engineering project. So friend, when you complain that engineers have pointed out that BPL will do exactly what it is designed to do - that is, radiate RF all over the spectrum and cause the USA to be the worlds polluter of RF - don't attack the messenger. If you've figured out a way to break physics, let us know. Otherwise, read up or shut up!

No. BPL sends a radio signal not over the transmission wire, but inside the electro magnetic field surrounding a high voltage line, similar to how a light bounces inside of a FiberOptic Cable.

The problem is that some of this radio signal can leak out. I assume the problem would mostly be at the "Telephone Poles" that hold up the the line, as those electrical transformers they have up there could break up the nice cylindrical EMF, but I really don't know what causes the signal to leak out.

But you are right, interferance is the big concern, and it has the ham radio association up in arms as the fequency used can interfere with shortwave (ie, intercontinental radio transmissions) and many emergancy broadcast type signals. How much interference is released appears to be very debatable. Looking at the AARL's Website doesn't really have proof that interference will be a problem, just mentions that they've show interference in lab conditions and through using calculations of signal leakage etc that it will be a huge probablem. AARL has some good information about BPL with links to howstuff works and other sources as well.

This may not be the same thing...data rates in excess of 1 Gigabit require bandwidth in excess of 2 GigaHertz. The BPL that is causing radio users (such as hams and public safety and other users) such fits uses the spectrum from roughly 2 to 70 MHz. That's 68MHz wide and can carry roughly 38 Megabits per power line.

If the power company solution used a frequency range that was entirely contained within the multi-GHz band, for example, there would be no interference in the critical "high frequency" 3-30Mhz spectrum that has special properties of world-wide propagation due to the ionosphere.

So let's not rush to judgement on all network technologies that could be deployed on power lines...those that use microwave or UHF frequencies might not have the same interference problems.

The ARRL does not have opposition to all technology -- just those that have been shown to be problematic and the problems swept under the rug by the FCC.