Tonight (March 20, 2004), at 10:05 Pacific Time on "Coast to Coast A.M,"
late-night radio talk-show host Art Bell is going to take a breather
from the customary paranormal and conspiracy-related format and discuss
a topic that will interest most -- if not all -- radio amateurs,
shortwave radio enthusiasts and broadband users: Broadband Power Lines
(BPLs).

Now under development, BPL is a technology that will allow computer
users to access high-speed, broadband Internet connections just by
plugging the computer into the wall outlet. No need to pay hundreds of
dollars in installation, activation/deactivation and service fees for
Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL) or cable modems, just literally plug and
play.

Fans and supporters of BPL include the Federal Communications
Commission, Power Line Communications Association and local utility
companies. Since power lines are available in urban and rural areas,
while DSL and cable services are limited or inaccessible in some
sparsely populated areas, BPL is anticipated to be a major challenge to
the existing methods of high-speed access. But BPL is not without its
drawbacks.

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is concerned about the amount of
RF interference generated by BPL. According to their website
(http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc), "Studies done by amateurs and
regulators worldwide demonstrate conclusively that BPL that uses HF or
VHF spectrum will cause serious degradation of the communications
capability to nearby receivers on frequencies that BPL uses. HF is a
unique international resource that is in use by commercial radio
services, broadcasting, amateurs, government and military operators."

Early Saturday morning, about 2 a.m. PST on 3840kHz, Art himself (radio
amateur W6OBB) and his roundtable of fellow ham radio operators were
discussing the amount of interference -- especially from 2MHz to 80MHz
-- BPL can cause if service is implemented nationally. The hams
conversing with Art on the 80-meter band said that constant buzzing
heard on those frequencies will anger shortwave listeners and hams alike
if RF interference is constantly heard on those frequencies.

Another problem is the potential health risks associated. Could a
substantial increase in RF exposure -- especially around the household
-- contribute to the rise in cancer-related diseases? A very close
friend of mine, who happens to be a ham radio operator living near
Switzerland, explained to me that most of Europe has scrapped plans for
BPL because of possible RF-related diseases, as well as RF interference
in commercial and amateur/SWL communications.

Nevertheless, tonight's "C2C" is going to be extremely interesting and
worthwhile to those who are interested in all forms of radio
communications. My friends and I will definitely be listening.



Occasional AB (Art Bell) Listener