This has nothing to do with the old BPL. Everyone can calm down and put away the tin-foil hats. Read the ARRL news item.
Somebody is making money on this deal as I don't think AT&T is doing the build out although once you get away from the main population cities and suburbs, the internet becomes less reliable using standard dial up wire lines. Even though there's satellites (Hughs.net) I've heard that can be a problem too. Well I'll be looking for the Internet Repeaters on the Electrical Poles / Towers.
This is all well and fine in regards to the device RF having little or no effect on our frequencies. My concern is the WIFI trash that could be generated from poorly shielded and designed CPU's or other circuitry associated with the device. Just drive around a shopping center or downtown area with carrier squelch on 2 meters or 70 centimeters and listen as the RF trash from the cash registers, traffic signal controllers, and whatever else comes rolling in. Some design engineer decides to cut the cost of a device by $.05 and doesn't add a few ferrite beads on the CPU or a few filter caps. If you think it won't happen because it's "AT&T? A few years ago I had to fight with this broadband trash from a WIFI canopy antenna system that was making a UHF repeater deaf as a doorpost. This system had the big Mother M logo on it. Now they want to spread this stuff out into the rural areas so the country folks who are hams can listen to the digital trash too. Andy W4KDN
Yes, that is a potential problem, but one we face with any new technology that may come our way. For the most part, we are finding, however, that modern products sold by the big box stores, and made by major companies like AT&T, do meet the applicable rules. There could be noise from the power supplies used in this technology, but that is true for the existing comm equipment seen on many utility poles. Ed, W1RFI
Actually, AT&T has a track record better than many companies. Year back, they purchased a technology called "wireless modem jacks" that operated on 3.53 MHz. After they caused interference, AT&T did a system-wide recall of the devices, in some cases, driving around in their vans with spectrum analyzers to find installed devices. When UVerse came along, there were some RFI issues in some systems, and AT&T had one of their engineers investigate and they corrected almost all of the problems, allowing that engineer to continue to provide input to ARRL. If every company responded this way, I think we'd all be pretty happy. Ed, W1RFI
From what I've read about this and AT&T official comment was it's not BPL and at mm waves it doesn't sound like it would give us ( hams) too much trouble
No, not 'more RF noise'. More broadband SIGNAL. There is NOTHING here that even remotely hints at any impairment to Part 97. Stop making false accusations about alleged (but non-existent)Part 97 interference. Hams have to stay out of the activism game, and allow American innovation to generate jobs and progress. Otherwise we are considered anti-innovation and rightly belong in the same category as model train enthusiasts...living in the past on a bite-sized scale. I just attended the Electronic Design Innovation Conference... oodles of RF engineers and the like...very few hams present....unfortunately that says a lot, IMO. I suppose the utterly fatuous statement about the ionosphere being the equivalent to a 'national park' will follow, again....
Exactly. As Ed is very much aware, when you work at, attain, and maintain good relations with companies, they are very responsive in a very positive way--a vast majority of the time. But the old days of attacking start ups , venture backed, and assuming they will acquiesce to ham activism are dead: new strategies of major PR (against ham radio) and lawsuits by these companies should now be the expected norm. It will be messy and we will not look like heroes... They, too, learned lessons from BPL.
This is what I get out of the article too. I have similar micro/pico cell atop a few residential poles near me. I have not noticed any ill effects. BPL sends coupled low frequency radio signals over the wires. This is simple a microwave (cellular) antenna mounted on existing poles rather than have to put up towers and other structures everywhere.
They state mm wave, so based upon what they show in the video, it looks more like 27~30GHz 5G than BPL to me.
If you look at the AT&T website, you'll see a picture of what appears to be a G-line launcher. So they are using the actual power lines (in addition to point to point microwave links). BTW, it's not really about using power poles instead of towers, it's about creating the required Internet backhaul in rural areas where there is none. http://about.att.com/newsroom/att_t...reless_internet_speeds_using_power_lines.html Unlicensed 5G spectrum is 57 to 71 GHz. Current operation at 57 to 64 GHz is called WiGig.
How many live near enough to an Airport to hear the Radar? How about a National Weather Service Radar? Please tell me what they sound like. I live just South of the Huron National Forest in Mi. I would love to get High Speed but not if it precluded Hamatuer Radio.
