BPL WARFARE

**I SUGGEST EVERYONE PRINT OUT THIS POST AND KEEP IT HANDY FOR REFERENCE!!!!!*

(Cut at the line)
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"U.S. VERSUS THEM"

You'll NOTE (I'm sure!),the PERIODS between the letters 'U' and 'S' in the Topic Description AND the first line of this post.

It is IMPORTANT that you recognize that U.S. is not 'US' but 'U. S.' as in United States. #If you don't.. you'll miss the point.

I ONLY make a pointed, direct, overt reference to it because LOTS of people will 'see' the title, but won't 'see' the periods and will go off on a flame about the 'US' versus 'THEM'.

Ok.. now that EVERYONE knows it's U. #S. #not US..
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WHEN BPL comes TO the masses, we'll see interference TO a WIDE ranging group of services - Ham radio, Aviation, Commercial (business), Railroad, HFBC, and others who monitor, operate, and inhabit the HF bands.

ARRL and other groups have PROVEN this to be a factual reality.
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We'll also see interferene FROM a wide ranging group of services - ham radio, CB, mobile stations, fixed stations, broadcast, etc. TO BPL.

This has been proven to be factually true by AMRAD demonstrations.

THESE TWO POINTS ARE INARGUABLY PROVEN.
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**BPL SHALL HAPPEN AND IT SHALL BE LAUNCHED**

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT!!??

Since it is NOT going to be stopped PRIOR to being launched, then it needs to be dealt wtih AFTER it is lauched.

IF YOU ARE INTERFERED WITH - regardless of your service -
YOU are going to have exert some (sadly excessive) effort to build the case.

1 -- DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT!

Logs, recordings, etc.
Make it factual, non-emotional.
Try to stay within your area of expertise. In other words DON'T try to go outside your own level of competance or understanding. KEEP IS SIMPLE!
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2 -- Send them TO the FCC, The ARRL, AND the BPL provider.

You may have to use certified mail to get PROOF of delivery
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3 -- COMPLAIN, via phone to the FCC and the BPL provider.

Keep NOTES about when (date/day/time) you called,
The number/department/Company/office/agency you called
the name/ID #/dept no of the personyou called
A summary of the conversation along with any results or
(more likely in the case of BPL provider) any BRUSH OFFs.
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4 -- If you operate HF/VHF.. KEEP A LOG!!!

IF you have to defend yourself.. a LOG showing a HISTORY of your operations will be a MUCH better defense than if you have a sheet of paper you JUST started the day before (or the day of) the notices.

In your log, keep a short summary of any BPL-related items and if you have files.. where the files are located.
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5 -- #COMMUNICATE!

Keep other folks informed - esp hams in your area.
If you have buddies in the area in other services - Aviation, Commerical, Broadcast, 2-way.. whatever.. TALK TO THEM! Alert them as to the issue and inform them - if they don't already know. #Keep in touch. Collect info.
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6 -- BE PATIENT! NEVER GIVE UP!
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7 -- OPERATE HF! (if you have the hardware/priveledges.)
Be active. remeber! the AMRAD study showed that a 100W HF transmitter was shown to be a hindrance to BPL operation.

OPERATE legally and within the rules and authoirzation of your license! #DO NOT GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to harass BPL or BPL folks.
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8 -- KEEP YOUR COOL! #(REPEAT!!!) KEEP YOUR COOL!

If you get confronted by a neighbor, BPL provider, etc. DO NOT GET 'SELF-RIGHTEOUS, HAUGHTY, OR BELLIGERANT!

BE COOL!! KEEP YOUR COOL!!!

READ part 15 andKNOW what it says!
Just explain to them WHAT BPL is and what the problems are.

IF you have some information that EXPLAINS BPL and the KNOWN PROBLEMS that BPL will receive FROM **ALL OTHER SERVICES THAT USE THE HF SPECTRUM** give them somethuing that the LAYMAN can undestand!
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9 -- STRESS THAT **ANY** transmitter in the area tha BPL operates on can (and will) interfere with BPL. STRESS it can be the police/fire department transmitter (they operate LOW BAND 30MHZ), The Commerical BUSINESS who may be on low band.. AM Broadcast stations (due to high power), and other stations beside ham radio.

THE GOAL here is to deflect their focus from 'JUST HAM RADIO'. If THEY see that it's MORE than just "YOU - the ham" you stand a MUCH better chance of escaping their pointed (but misguided) wrath.
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10 -- GIVE them the EMAIL address of the ARRL RFI department in Newington and 'suggest' that they contact them for more detailed information. #It may not work.. but hey.. ARRL HAS solid and understandable by the layman info!
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KEEP YOUR COOL! #FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!

yes, it's a LOT of extra work.. but we're up against a powerful foe and the foe has LOTS of politically powerful friends!

73
Chuck k3FT
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(cut at the line)

[kc0ebm]

Chuck,

Absolutely worthy of applause! Good advice in every way. I'm so glad that you instructed us NOT to go out of our way to interfere. That will lead us NOWHERE at best. If we are viewed as conspiring to maliciously interfere with BPL....WE LOSE and LOSE BIG!!!

Thanks Chuck!

73

Tom

I saw the movie a number of times!

I still laugh at the guy in the mental institution who was the ONLY one to see the Ants coming and going from the storm drain entrance.

I still hear him, in that SINGSONG voice, wanting them to put him into a special billet in the Service!

I must say.. one thing about THOSE SCI-FI movies.. the ladies were always a treat for the eyes, indeed!

KLAATU! BARRATUS! NICTO!

K3FT

[N9YB]

Great posting.

Indeed, high quality data that is thoughtfully presented will be instrumental in achieving a successful outcome.

[N9YB]

that and a pile of special interest money...

[N0OV]

Chuck

The initial post was a very effective action plan that everyone should use.

Cannot stress the importance of staying calm and working through the issues.

From a BPL perspective, Amateur Radio operators are just a nuicance to ignore as they deploy BPL services. As the role out continues and radio transmissions begin to distrupt services (and the revenue stream interupted) we will become the target of all kinds of negative attention.

Logs are a great idea. Don't forget other options that will record the experience (video tape, etc)

As this service becomes more and more accepted both the power companies and the public are going to target Amateur Radio operators with the same degree of furor they did when CB Base Station operators were disrupting television signals before cable.

Your advice provides great options to ensure our butts are covered along with source data that can be used to document and address any issues encounted as we move forward down this path.

Well done.

(Hopefully things don't get too ugly)

[W4GLM]

Chuck your post was great, everyone please remember
your Congressional representatives. At times their
pressure is hard to ignore.

I see this as a lengthy battle, it's always easier to kill those weeds before they go to seed.

Press on...
w4glm@att.net

[K0WVM]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (K3FT @ May 06 2004,05:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">9 -- STRESS THAT **ANY** transmitter in the area tha BPL operates on can (and will) interfere with BPL. STRESS it can be the police/fire department transmitter (they operate LOW BAND 30MHZ), The Commerical BUSINESS who may be on low band..

AM Broadcast stations (due to high power), and other stations beside ham radio.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Good thing there is a 50,000 watt grouping of 4 antennas from a local news/talk station KFAB 1110 AM about 3 miles from my home to the west.

I don&#39;t think BPL in this immediate area will go over too well with that there. HECK&#33; I get a lot of bleed over from them on the other local AM talk station 1290 KKAR right by the powerlines by my house. So, I think I might be a little better off, than I may realize.

Also will help that I have Offutt AFB very nearby with all the communications systems they have (most of which is on HF) that will screw with BPL as well. Man I would love to see the power company here try to tell them to fix their issues.

LEI mentioned he has Offutt Air Force base..

Picture THIS conversation.

OFFUTT DUTY OFFICER (OFO) CALLS BPL PROVIDER (BPL) SINCE BPL INTERRUPTING MILITARY COMMS



BPL - QRM POWER, can I help you?

OFO - This is Major Blackhawk. Your BPL system is interfering with critical military communications on the HF bands. We need you to take immediate action.

BPL - Sir, we will be happy to take a report. You should know that we&#39;ve determeined that our BPL devices are well within the acceptable limits of the new FCC rules. Pleae give me your name and number and our representative will call you back as soonas theycan&quot;

OFO - Ma&#39;am, you don&#39;t understand. We are performing live-fire exercises involving ground troops, aircraft, and the communicaitons between them is vital. Your devices are hinderng us in maintaining contact with ground units.

BPL - yes sir&#33; I udnerstand. But those are the rules.If you like, I can mail you a copy of hte FCC ruling and also our policy statement.

OFO - No,that&#39;s not necessary. I can see that I will need to pursue other avenues. Thank you for your time&#33;&quot;

(call terminates. 15 minutes passes. BPL provider phone begins to ring)

BPL - QRM POWER may I help you?

Caller - My connectoin to the Internet is down. I was downloading some pictures and the screen just went blank.

BPL - I&#39;m sorry to hear that. Are you sure it is not your computer?

Caller - I&#39;m sure. I just unplugged it from the wall and rebooted and it worked fine. I plugged it back in and reconnected and the screen went blank&#33;

BPL - I&#39;ll take a report and have our service department look into it&#33; THank you. (Call terminates)

(PHONE RINGS)

BPL -QRM POWER, can I help you&#33;?

Caller - I&#39;m calling for myselfand my neighbors. We all got disconnected from our Internet connections. I thought it was me and then my neighbor called me and told me it just hapened to him&#33; What&#39;s going on?

BPL - I don&#39;t know. I&#39;ll report it to our service department. Thanks for thereport. (Call temrinates)

(QRM POWER gets 500 calls in the next 10 minutes all complaining their connections &#39;died&#39;. QRM power techs check lines and find out ZERO data is flowing. They measure lines and see a rather high &#39;noise level&#39; on the lines whichexceeds the signal strengthof the BPL signals. This continues for about 15 minutes)

BPL operator &#39;QRM POWEr, may I help you?&#39;

OFO - Hello, this is the Offutt Duty Officer. I wanted to advise you that we have no further interference from oyur BPL system. Thank youfor taking care of the problem.&quot;

BPL - Fine sir. But we have not yet been working on it as our own customers are reporting they have lost hteir connections. It may be a system problem on our end.

OFO -AHH&#33; I understand. When do you expect you&#39;ll be able to address our concerns?

BPL - I don&#39;t know, Sir. Our managers will be in tomorrow morning and I&#39;ll have them call you.

OFO - That wil be fine. I suspect that your problem will continue until at least that time, based on what youare tellingme. You might let your managers know that it wouldbe in their best interest to adjust their operations to accomodate us. After all, one never knows what might happen to a high poewr transmitter if it can&#39;t be properly operated due to your BPL interference. have a great day&#33;

BPL - I will tell them, Sir. Good dayto you&#33;

(Either that... or the Miltaryguys would send a few sharpshooters out in a duece and a half with silenced rifles to engage in &#39;just a bit of precision sniper practice&#39; using BPL boxes for target paractice&#33;)

[WA3KYY]

We need to organise the &quot;Hair Dryer Brigade&quot;. Get all the YLs in the neighborhood to fire them up Friday night during prime picture download time. Loads of fun here.