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Hams Complain about Powerline Broadband
dwm writes "Think
broadband over power lines (BPL) would be wonderful? There might be some collateral damage. The American Radio Relay League (your friendly neighborhood ham radio operators) have documented dramatic HF radio interference in areas where BPL is being tested (Check out the video of actual interference)."
Did nobody tell the power companies that power lines are like a really big antenna (not well tuned mind) and that sending data at radio frequencies was going to cause interference with radio. Can't figure out why nobody saw that coming.
You might find yourself thankful for HAMs.
Disclaimer: I am a HAM operator myself, so I'm just stating my bias up front... mod as you wish.
In disaster situations, HAM radio has really come through... I was in Florida when Andrew came rolling through Miami and Homestead; HAMs were a big help in getting comms reestablished. HAMs assisted with comms when the WTC's fell on 911. HAMs assist in tracking of dangerous storms via the SKYWARN system.
During a bad blizzard in the midwest a few years back, myself and a bunch of other HAMs coordinated a service with our 4WD vehicles and mobile radios... we ferried healthcare workers to the hospital to help deal with the influx of patients.
HAM radio is valuable... would be a shame to see it go, particularly if the interference problem can be fixed with a bit of re-engineering.
Even if a man chops off your hand with a sword, you still have two nice, sharp bones to stick in his eyes.
ummm yes but we have satillite based communications for this... why exactly do we need the radios again?
Yes I realize there are time when this wouldn't work... but do they happen often enough to outweigh the powerful communication and information transmission medium ever devised from making it the last mile?
One is a technology that is obsolete in all but the rarest circumstances. And HF isn't needed for emergency services, your not likely to be operating on hf from your campsite in the moutains, and most hams aren't licensed for hf anyway, it's also most likely not all of hf that this interferes with.
The internet has and will continue to be the most powerful resource for communication, learning, and otherwise aiding all mankind and uniting people of many nations in cries of outrage or sighs of joy. It will continue to be the factor in the advancement of the human race for the forseeable future. HAM once serviced this role, and as such we should leave it in place as much we can. But it's time for the old to give way to new. Just as one day it will be time for the internet to give way to a still greater technology (multicast teleportation?)