The War Against PLT... Ofcom propose to finally do something

Today it came to my attention that Ofcom, the regulator of all things TV and radio, plan to propose regulations that will allow them to enforce the use of PLT devices should they cause undue interference (which is a by-product of their operation as they inject RF into mains wiring which is unbalanced and acts as an antenna) to wireless telegraphy.

A consultation is online now at Ofcom's website and I urge everyone reading this to respond, because the more responses there is then Ofcom will be aware of just how bad the situation with PLT really is.

I've driven through a few towns with the CB in the car lately, some of the noise I have heard break the squelch has been similar to the PLT garbage, sat on top of the hill tonight there is no PLT noise whatsoever as I was a distance from the houses (though not from the power lines).

So, are Ofcom going to join the rest of the radio community in the war against PLT? Hopefully, this will be a victory for common sense.

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The war against PLT - UK ISP TalkTalk “insists” that PLT adaptors are used with, not surprisingly, YouView

I have read on the Ban-PLT website that TalkTalk, one of the major Internet Service Providers in the UK who I have had a personal dislike of for many years, are insisting that customers who get the free YouView IPTV PVR from them use PLT adaptors, this is an unacceptable act.

The insistence only comes if the residential gateway is more than 3 meters away from the television set that the box will be used with a PLT device.  As ICT is one of my specialities, I can safely confirm without any backlash that Ethernet cables will work up to a maximum of 100 metres in one cable run and being twisted pairs means that no interference is generated, they are available in a variety of colours so can blend in with your skirting boards or carpet, or you can run them under the carpet.  Another legal option is to use an Ethernet to WiFi bridge, which can be picked up from Maplin Electronics or any good computer store.

A safer setup will always be the proven Ethernet and WiFi connections, YouView do not seem to have implemented WiFi into their boxes despite the fact that WiFi adaptors can in fact be used with the Linux kernel on loading of the correct drivers.

So, it seems very clear, TalkTalk are doing almost exactly what BT have already done, if you have to use TalkTalk and they offer the YouView service, you can refuse it, but there are far better ISPs out there than TalkTalk and BT.

Also remember, PLT adaptors are technically illegal and are only on sale because of manufacturers flouting the law, in particular those relating to emissions and type approval, which these devices will not, can not, and will never meet, and sadly Ofcom cannot stop them, and it gets worse if you mention it’s causing issues to CB radio because Ofcom don’t really care about CB users anymore since they deregulated CB radio.

Remember, you have a choice, if you WANT to use YouView with TalkTalk use the legal means to connect it up to the Internet, those are WiFi and Ethernet, if and when the engineer, if you opt for a visit, suggests PLT adaptors, make it clear that you do not want them and that they are illegal, the best course of action is to take your custom away from TalkTalk and YouView.  Some may say that radio is a dying hobby, but remember, it isn’t just amateurs and CB operators you are affecting, aircraft, broadcast, emergency services, businesses, remote controls for models, car central locking and alarms, and even WiFi, they ALL need it to function and PLT prevents many, if not all of these, from functioning, hence why it is illegal, and it’s only flouting the law and omitting the tests that reveal this that allows them to market.

Remember, WiFi and Ethernet are safe, legal, and interference free, PLT is none of these, I urge you again to disconnect any PLT devices you have and destroy them or, if you bought them very recently, return them to the store you bought them from for a full refund, you could use the refund to buy ethernet cabling or a WiFi bridge.  Don’t destroy something that even you need to use every day, help fight against it’s destruction.

 

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The war against PLT–seeing the destruction caused by BT supplied Comtrend PG902 UPA PLT adaptors

I have had another look on the Ban PLT website, a new video has been added, the video is by a licensed amateur showing what a pair of Comtrend PG902 PLT adaptors, the ones supplied by BT, can do to shortwave.  The results were that effectively the band is wiped out by noise.  Shortwave is part of the HF range 3-30 MHz, which includes some amateur radio bands, the CB allocations, as well as shortwave broadcasting.

Shortwave is still used by many people every day although most domestic radios sold these days lack the shortwave band, although the receivers are still obtainable and still used.

For some people from overseas, shortwave may be the only way they can hear news from their home country, these people may not have access to the internet and may prefer to listen to the radio.

Shortwave listening is a part of the Amateur radio community as well, even for those that are not licensed and thinking about taking the exam to get their foundation license, just because someone has an interest in radio does not mean they wish to transmit, shortwave listening is just as fun as transmitting.

So, do you have a pair of Comtrend PG902 PLT adaptors?
Do you use your Comtrend PG902 PLT adaptors?
Do you know that you are destroying a precious natural resource that people everyday need to use?
IF you answered “yes” to any or all these questions, unplug the adaptors, contact BT straight away, tell them you want an alternative (they HAVE to give you one) to the PLT adaptors, the BT Home Hub is a WiFi router, and most laptops built since 2004 have WiFi built in, but if the WiFi doesn’t work due to congestion, just run some ethernet cables, these can be discreetly run along the skirting boards and under carpets, or if you own the property you can have your home wired to contain ethernet cabling and sockets on the wall where you just plug your computer into, it’s a one-off hassle and causes NO interference to radio services.

You may not think of it as this, but the radio spectrum is a precious natural resource which is why many radio services require a license to use them, why radio equipment must meet certain Interface Requirements, and why all equipment, radio transmitters or not, must be tested to make sure that any RF emissions will not cause harmful interference to legitamate services, tests which all PLT adaptors, not just the Comtrend PG902, are not cabaple of passing, and although many seem to differ on this, they are a type of radio transmitter but they are spectrally unclean, causing unwanted interference.  I compare them to spark-gap transmitters from the early days of radio, which used large amount of spectrum and thus they are now illegal to operate, so it should be the same for PLT.

So, I urge you again, please stop using PLT adaptors if you have not already done so, and bin them, they pollute the radio spectrum, and we all need the radio spectrum every day, don’t take it for granted.

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The war against PLT–New IPTV provider YouView to supply PLT units manufactured by devolo with their equipment

My recent check of the Ban PLT website (banner at the top of the page) has revealed that a new IPTV provider, YouView, will be supplying 85Mbps devolo PLT units with their equipment.  This is pretty much identical to what BT did with their BT Vision service, they supplied a pair of Commtrend PLT devices with their equipment.  These, and the devolo units supplied with YouView’s set-top box are, just like any PLT device on the market, none-compliant.  This leaves you with two choices.  One would be to boycott YouView until the company knows that PLT is not fit for purpose, or two would be to use the YouView service with an ethernet cable instead.  I believe that to boycott YouView is the lesser of two evils, rather than fund a company that is willing to help wipe out the radio spectrum.

The major partners of YouView include BT, TalkTalk, The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 Television, Channel 5, and transmitter operator Arqiva, note in particular the latter, Arqiva maintain the transmitters that provide radio and television services in the UK yet have the double-standard of partnering with a company that is helping to promote destroying radio spectrum.  The PLT devices don’t just render longwave broadcasts, medium wave broadcasts, shortwave broadcasts, CB, and Amateur radio useless, some models have the potential to wipe out VHF broadcast band 88-108MHz, of which Arqiva maintains some transmitters for, and Band III where DAB is allocated, again some transmitters for this band are maintained by Arqiva.  The potential still exists however to wipe out the Bands IV and V, which is television and possibly 4G LTE mobile telephony (which is set to cause issues in itself).

So, if you are thinking about getting YouView, please reconsider this until they stop supplying PLT devices with their hardware.

 

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