That is a good question, Tony, and the answer is -- maybe. It took me decades
to get involved with the ANS C63 committee and the IEEE, and IEEE is
individually represented, not organizationally, so someone else would have to
start from scratch. But the reputation of amateur radio and ARRL is there,
and so someone else stepping in would be much easier.
Ed
-----Original Message-----
From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Tony
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2022 4:57 PM
To: Rfi List <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] Solar Panel RFI Awareness At Dayton
Ed:
It's obvious that the ARRL has a lot more influence on countering threats to
ham radio than one would imagine. I remember the BPL issue and I have no doubt
that we'd be dealing with horrendous noise if it wasn't for the leagues
efforts. I just hope the same holds true for solar given the growing number of
installations.
I'm sure your relationships with the utilities and device manufacturers goes
back many years and that begs the question: what happens when Ed Hare retires?
Is there someone in the wings with the same credentials?
Tony -K2MO
On 5/28/2022 7:06 PM, Hare, Ed, W1RFI wrote:
> There are a lot of reasons, Tony, and which ones mean what to which
> manufacturer is speculation.
>
> Here are some possibilities, in no particular order:
>
> o They want their company to have a good reputation, and with amateur
> complaints, this would not be the case.
> o The ghost of BPL Past still haunts then, and they do have
> relationships with utilities to fill them in on what happens when
> there is controversy.
> o They want to be good corporate citizens.
> o They do not want the FCC to start adjudiucating cases. I told them
> the Texas story and they don't want to be on the wrong side of bad FCC
> decisions.
> o They do not want stricter emissions limits, so they want to be able
> to say that the existing rules are wortoldking.
> o They do want to reduce emissions enough that there are few, if any,
> interference complaints.
> o They know that ARRL can be a great friend to those companies that go
> above and beyond. We did that with Good Guys in the BPL wars and
> their "above and beyond" made it into the international standards for
> BPL.
> o They know that ARRL can be a formidable enemy. The publicity of
> what the Bad Guys in the BPL wars prevented that industry from getting
> a foothold. Utilities stayed away in droves because the word was out
> that if the systems were operated legally, they didn't work well, and
> it they were operated "hot," "Ed" would show up and there'd be bad
> publicity for the utility and involvement with the FCC.
>
> It's is amazing, though, to see how many companies respond
> appropriately. When Phonex made "wireless modem jacks" that operated
> on 3.53 MHz, there was interference. When contacted, they redesigned
> the product to not use the ham bands. They had been told that
> amateur radio was a "dying breed." They learned quickly to the
> contrary. AT&T has bought them by the 10s of thousands and rather
> than trying to squash us like a bug, they did a system-wide recall of
> installed devices, actually sending trucks out with spectrum analyzers
> and a whip antenna to find the devices when they didn't have good
> records by contract installers. It was industry that contacted ARRL,
> wanting to testing of the developing HomePlug standard that was
> in-premise BPL before it was even called that. They ended up choosing
> to notch the ham bands, creating an industry spec that did not cause
> harmful interference to amateur radio. When RFI was getting into
> Eaton AFCI breakers, when we reported this to them, they sent two
> engineers from CA to witness our findings and had a redesigned model
> available within 6 weeks, replacing them in the field in response to
> complaints, even paying the electricians.
>
> Yes, there are uncooperative companies, but most are made up of
> engineers that want to do the right thing. I keep myself less cynical
> so I can help ensure that when those engineers do the right thing, it
> pays off for them in good publicity and avoidance of trouble.
>
> Ed
>
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --
> *From:* RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org@contesting.com> on behalf of
> Tony <73guddx@gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Saturday, May 28, 2022 5:33 PM
> *To:* Rfi List <rfi@contesting.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [RFI] Solar Panel RFI Awareness At Dayton On 5/28/2022
> 4:54 AM, Hare, Ed, W1RFI wrote:
> > so far, most manufacturers ARE offering considerable cooperation to
> try to resolve harmful interference. Solar Edge has replaced over 500
> systems in the field, completely removing panels, wiring, optimizers
> and inverters in houses and replacing them with improved models.
> Generac has done the same on a much smaller scale and has indicated to
> ARRL that it wants to have its products operate way below the FCC
> emissions limits.
>
> Ed:
>
> Can you speculate why these manufacturers are willing to go above and
> beyond what's required by the FCC? Could it be a fear of stricter
> regulations and the need to hire lawyers to combat those regulations?
>
> It's all good news, but there must be an incentive for that level of
> cooperation. Or am I being cynical?
>
> Tony -K2MO
>
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