My e-mail letter to Mr. Brown:

73

Steve, K4YZ

QUOTE

Dear Mr. Brown,

While I found a great bit of interest in your article, you seem to single
out hams a "quirky" over thier defense of parts of the spectrum.

BPL, or Broadband over Power Lines, will not only affect Amateur Radio
operators. Depspite the proliferation of satellite systems for ships, the HF,
or shortwave, bands still carry a large part of ship-to-shore communications.

Other organizations such as the Civil Air Patrol, still depend heavily on
HF as a primary means of conducting emergency communications.

BPL also has the potential of creating interference up into the VHF, or
very high frequency part of the spectrum, creating difficulties for certain
police, fire and EMS communications, along with "unlicensed" resources such as
cordless telephones, CB radio, and even baby monitors.

The proliferation of the power distribution network certainly lays a
golden egg for those who see it as yet another service to sell for Internet
users, but this golden egg is only plated...It tarnishes easily under scrutiny.

The problem is even further exacerbated when one realizes that much of the
EXISTING power distribution infrastructure is itself aging and in need of
repair or replacement...Every dirty or rusting cable or connection is yet
another opportunity for compromise of the integrity of the signal applied to
it, making the potential interference one of phenominal magnitude.

There exists, in the future, a potential to use some of the existing
infrastructure for distributing the Internet to a wider customer base, but
under existing conditions and circumstances is nothing but potential for great
harm.

Thank-you for your time.


Steven J Roeson, LPN

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