Doc. #25
RFI Task Group
Semi-Annual Report
for the
American Radio
Relay League
Board of Directors Meeting
July 20 and 21, 2001
Submitted by
Dennis Bodson, W4PWF
REPORT TO THE ARRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RFI TASK GROUP
Members of the Committee:
The RFI Task Group recommends that the appointments of the present membership be continued. In addition, I have submitted the name of John Phillips, K2QAI, as a new member.
Mission Statement:
The ARRL RFI Task Group monitors developments in the Electromagnetic Compatibility field and assesses their impact on the Amateur Radio Service. The Task Group then informs the ARRL Board of Directors about these activities and makes policy recommendations for further action, if appropriate.
The overall goals of the committee are:
HQ Staff:
The role of the ARRL HQ staff consists of the following:
In May, 2001, the ARRL HQ RFI team took on a new member. John Phillips, K2QAI joined the ARRL Laboratory staff. Mr. Phillips came to ARRL HQ with experience with EMC in the military field. His initial responsibilities are to help members with individual cases of RFI, to maintain the ARRL web RFI pages and to undertake several special projects and studies. Mr. Hare continues to work on RFI, although he is now able to devote more time to his other responsibilities.
RFI to hams continues to be the main focus of the HQ staff. Messrs. Hare and Phillips have received reports of interference from electric utilities and other devices. In many cases, they have written letters to the involved utility companies, usually eliciting good initial cooperation. One case, involving Cumberland Electric in Tennessee, was referred to the FCC for further action.
Automotive EMC:
In late March, Mr Hare was invited to give a presentation on "RFI and Amateur Radio" before the Detroit chapter of the IEEE EMC Society. About 15 were in attendance. In the three days after the meeting, Mr. Hare visited the EMC laboratories of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. These visits strengthened ARRL's ties with the automotive industry and resulted in the sharing of important information. Two examples of the sharing of important information is as follows:
1. ARRL is now sending courtesy cc's of emails involving automotive RFI to representatives at the involved company, and
2. At ARRL's request, General Motors has made their transmitter installation guidelines available on the GM web page.
Status of Other Current Projects:
ANSI/IEEE C.63 Committee: The C.63 committee is working on developing industry standards of immunity for consumer devices. ARRL serves as a resource to the committee to protect the interests of Amateur Radio. Subcommittee 1 continues to work on a variety of EMC projects, primarily related to test site standardization. Subcommittee 8 deals with various types of medical equipment. It is important that ARRL be involved with this subcommittee because medical equipment can be used in residential environments.
Mr Bodson has been appointed as the representative and HQ staff liaison Mr Hare is the alternate. Mr Hare attended C63 meetings in San Antonio, TX and San Diego, CA.
Wireless Modem Jacks: In late 1998, the ARRL received reports about interference near 3.53 MHz from model PX-421 wireless modem jacks. The jacks are an older model made by Phonex, a Utah company. They were installed by the thousands by AT&T Broadband cable (formerly TCI Cablevision). The League and RFI Task Group have been monitoring the status of this problem and have been working with Phonex and AT&T since this problem was first reported. As of December, 2000, the League had over 100 reported cases of interference, with several ARRL Directors indicating that they had also received additional reports. Phonex and AT&T have been continuing to respond appropriately. In mid 2000, AT&T initiated a system-wide recall of the units, supplementing its earlier procedure to respond to specific complaints. . In most cases, hams are now reporting either complete resolution, or a noticeable improvement.
HomePlug: HomePlug devices use HF signals to network computers within a local area using residential or business electrical wiring. Because electrical wiring is not as well balanced , potential for interference from power-line devices. The League has maintained contact with the HomePlug industry group. As a result of that work, the HomePlug specification includes protection for the ham bands. HomePlug devices are just now being deployed. ARRL will closely watch for any interference problems and will aggressively pursue any cases of harmful interference.
The Future:
Interference to hams appears to be the present RFI issue. RFI, especially RFI from unlicensed devices, poses real threats to Amateur Radio. This will continue to require significant Task Group and ARRL staff attention. To the extent possible with existing staff, or with additional resources, the ARRL should increase its contact with standards organization, industry groups and individual companies, and continue to work on all aspects of RFI problems and solutions.
ARRL's information about RFI can be read at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfigen.html.