Power Line Telecomunications (PLT) Technology

dahamsta

They've had that class a since arpa Muck.

adam

SkepticOne

Originally posted by bminish
Amateur radio has to operate within the rules that govern us. 3rd party traffic is pretty restricted (that's handling traffic for non Amateurs.)
Commercial traffic is strictly prohibited as is encryption although you are allowed use encryption on control links for remote repeaters.
The rational is that Amateur radio exists for the purpose of self training and experimentation, not to compete with commercial radio based services, this policy dates back to the earliest days of amateur radio.

It is interesting that the distinction between amateur radio and non-amateur radio is disapearing with the introduction of unlicenced bands where a mix of commercial and amateur operators (such as IrishWan) coexist. Here, the purpose of self-training and experimentation is also being served without the restrictions forced upon traditional amateur bands.

The danger for the non-commercial groups will get swamped out by commercial operators in urban areas. From the point of view of the ordinary consumer looking for commercial broadband, this might not be a terrible thing, but it would be a shame to see experimenters wiped out in these areas.

What I would like to see is bands reserved for non-commercial use but without the artificial restriction of not allowing third party traffic. There would need to be power restrictions, but these need not as restrictive as the 100mW on the WiFi band and could be relaxed in rural areas. Restrictions on traditional amateur bands could, of course, remain.

thegills

Lads,
Can ye perhaps set up another thread for this HAM chat. I keep opeing it up thinking I am getting some updates on the ESB powerline trials.
thegills

Paddy20

thegills,

Darn right?.. the same thing keeps happening to me, anyway should hams radio not be on Net/Coms.

P.

bminish

Originally posted by thegills
Lads,
Can ye perhaps set up another thread for this HAM chat. I keep opeing it up thinking I am getting some updates on the ESB powerline trials.
thegills

Since PLT is likely to make HF radio use almost impossible in the PLT trial areas as has happened everywhere else with PLT trials, this thread is likely to have some amateur radio related traffic although we have wandered off topic recently!

If anyone want's to start another thread to discuss Amateur radio in more general terms I will be happy to contribute.

Now back to the PLT

The proponents of PLT talk about being able to deliver up to 2 mb/s this sounds pretty good, until you take into account this is shared by everyone on the same transformer or substation.

2 mb/s shared between an entire housing estate or industrial park isn't very broad at all by the time lots of people start using it.
Unlike ADSL where the network contention ratios are managed in the exchange and each user has his/her own connection to the exchange, the local ESB transmission network is common to all houses in the area so little can be done without much expense to improve matters as usage and uptake increases.


. Brendan

Moriarty

Thread split from here as its an important topic and might benefit from more people knowing its here

quozl

Originally posted by dahamsta
CorkWAN will have more professional network engineers, radio guys and techies, but also more arguments

Simply due to the much larger size of IrishWAN there are a lot more HAM's and computer professionals involved in it. Those are the two groups it has come from. If you want good information about the license exempt spectrums, or the various 802.11 types ask them.

dahamsta

Quantity != Quality.

Seriously though, I haven't been next to near either of them for a while, I don't actually know. I was just trying to draw him to the local group. And hoping no-one'd notice.

adam

bminish

Originally posted by dahamsta
Quantity != Quality.

Seriously though, I haven't been next to near either of them for a while, I don't actually know. I was just trying to draw him to the local group. And hoping no-one'd notice.

adam

I think you will find quite a few amateurs with relevant skills who are more than willing to help with WAN projects.
I am In Castlebar Co, Mayo and would be willing to assist with local / Semi local projects.

Brendan

oscarBravo

I am In Castlebar Co, Mayo and would be willing to assist with local / Semi local projects.

We are so going to be friends...

Urban Weigl

The following is an extract from the Main net web site:

In some countries, like the ones with an emerging economy, the penetration of telephony is low. Since the copper wire infrastructure is missing and difficult or expensive to build (it requires huge investments), PLC is the perfect answer. The PLC infrastructure uses the existing electricity grid, so no digging in the ground, no expensive copper infrastructure and no new wires in the home are required.

Don't we already have copper in the ground in Ireland (or up on telegraph poles), making powerline sort of obsolete as a far inferior technology? I still can not believe that ComReg do not seem to be interested in regulating Eircom. :rolleyes: