[RFI] Solar Panel RFI Awareness At Dayton

[Dave (NK7Z)]

Hi Tony,

I am happy to see we agree any petition needs to be coordinated with the 
ARRL!  To be truly effective the ARRL has to follow a process, and that 
process can be complex and difficult at times.  However the end result 
for work processed, is greater if a thoughtful set of steps has been 
followed.  Hence the need to coordinate with the process maker, in this 
case the ARRL.

With regards to Amateurs taking up a petition on their own, without ARRL 
coordination-- I think that is a very bad idea.  Having anything that 
comes out of the blue, (so to speak), can disrupt processes in that are 
in place.  Our jobs should be to make it easier for the ARRL to help us 
in this.

That said-- I would suggest, rather than the Amateurs taking up a non 
coordinated petition, that Amateurs contact their Directors, en masse, 
and press RFI matters, at every possible opportunity.  Make RFI your 
Directors priority.  That way, the ARRL will see it is an issue, and 
they can control the approach, thus giving them more leverage.

The real issue here is not the Amateurs, or the FCC, but the Government 
itself, and the lack of funding they provide the FCC.  The FCC is a 
government agency, and as such, it has a never ending need to grow and 
spread out, all Government agencies suffer this.

Thus the lack of funding, and even budget cuts at the FCC, shows just 
what the Government really thinks of what the FCC does...  Even if you 
got all 700K amateurs to sign a petition denouncing RFI, there is no 
real funding, or infrastructure left anymore.

This is a US Government systemic issue, not a funding misdirection, or 
lack of will issue on the part of the FCC.  A petition would fall on 
useless, but sympathetic ears at the FCC.

The real issue is that RFI is not causing the folks with money to spend 
on purchasing spectrum to get excited about yet.  Until RFI starts 
crapping up the cell networks, we are going to be left behind RFI 
wise...  Sad but I think true.

73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

On 5/9/22 20:58, Tony wrote:
> Dave:
> 
>  > Please be sure to coordinate this with the ARRL first!
> 
> Absolutely. The ARRL is our ONLY advocate and it's a shame they have to 
> walk on eggshells begging for cooperation from Big Solar. I don't blame 
> the FCC for that - I blame hams for not taking action.
> 
> I might be off base here, but I don't see any downside to petitioning 
> the FCC to rethink emissions limits to benefit hams. When it comes to 
> solar, no company is going to invest millions in retro-fitting thousands 
> of installations with a low-noise components just to satisfy hams. The 
> only hope is to tighten regulations.
> 
> Another thing to consider is the current FCC regulations regarding 
> harmful interference. As Ed Hare points out, the regulations are such 
> that the interference caused by a device can be WELL above your noise 
> floor and still be within FCC limits. So even if we had the army of FCC 
> agents needed to investigate hundreds of complaints, hams would not be 
> satisfied with the outcome.
> 
> Tony -K2MO
> 
> 
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