A club activity during the pandemic

This 12MHz graph using Lelantos shows detection of more than one VDSL timing signal indicating the noise floor will be raised.

VDSL QRM – Not Just an obscure problem!

After reading the May 2020 and September issues of RadCom, it became clear that almost all radio amateurs have been suffering QRM from VDSL, some without knowing it! The problem is that the transmission type is broadband and not the sort of QRM you can readily identify. It just raises the noise floor and obscures weak signals! However, help is at hand. To this date Ofcom has not done much about the problem because there have not been many complaints from radio amateurs. The May issue of RadCom is a Call to Arms!

The article details software (free from the RSGB) called Lelantos that has been developed to identify and measure the relative strengths and spectrum of VDSL2 RFI.

While some amateurs might be reluctant to learn to use the software and don’t have the necessary SDR at hand, one of our club members has the software and the SDR ready to use and can come to your QTH to make the VDSL check for you! These recordings can be made from your driveway or front of your house without connections to your house or shack.

The results will be passed on to you with the info necessary to make your own submission to OFCOM. This service will be free to all members and even other radio amateurs in our catchment area! Look out for an email coming your way to let you know how to contact the person making the measurements. The actual operation only takes about ten minutes of your time and could help save Amateur Radio for now and the future.

You can read the entire story in depth here: http://rsgb.org/main/files/2018/10/vdsl-RFI-Impact-interim-report.pdf

While it looks like the RSGB is doing lots of work on this, OFCOM will only be moved by reports from more than a few radio amateurs.