First AM RFI problem

[K7NCR]

1. For entertainment, don't watch TV, go set off Frank.

2. Watch out, Frank's wife Carol is actually the tougher one.

Does that mean if I use a "slab bacon" special, I'll have the same problems? I fear for the neighbors, 'cause my wife can shoot! 

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

All the more reason to over rate things when building.   

My most memorable TVI experience was in about 1983 and the person experiencing the TVI was next door. I went over there, and a simple portable TV with rabbit ears was having problems with my AM KW rig (850w carrier output). Boy I miss the old 1KW DC input days.

I went back home and keyed my transmitter, and then looked at the TV. It had some interference, but not that bad really. Now I was in my 20's, and my neighbor was in her 40's, and she was wearing just a bathrobe. I picked up by peripheral vision that the bathrobe belt was loosening, and the whole situation was a looking like a set up. Now I was not attached to anyone, and it had been a while for me, and from what I could tell, things could have happened. Then I remembered that transmitter running key down at 1KW input. I decided to save my finals and went home to shut off the rig.

I never heard from that lady again. true story. 

Jim,
WD5JKO

[WA1LGQ]

       Then there was the time that I got a letter from the FCC reporting an interference problem by someone living in an apartment complex about 1 mile away!? Called up the guy, who was very nice about it, he explained that everybodys' tvs were connected to the apartments' master antenna system, and they were all being entertained by my voice. He thought that is was weird that he could not hear the other side of the conversation. A phone call to the complex owner/manager led to the repair of the antenna system apparently. I don't know what they ever did to fix it, but I made a proper reply to the FCC and never heard from them again.  One funny one was the phone call from a neighbor into my answering machine. For some reason I did not hear the phone. I was on the air on 6M at the time. Her recorded message complained about my voice coming out of her tv, which I could hear very loudly in the background on the tape machine! Funny.

[WA3VJB]

When I was an immature person I used to call up the parents of WA3UAN and say "Hey yer kid's gettin' into my TV!" 

Pretty soon, Jeffie would still be making the same a non-sensical old buzzard transmission, and he'd stop, and say, "Oh, OK guys, I gotta go now," and he'd sign off.

I probably shoulda went to Confession about that one.

[K1JJ]

All the more reason to over rate things when building.   

Or have an old buzzard transmission time-out.  About ten years ago I tried to break an old buzzard transmission habit by building up a variable 555 timer that was connected to a relay in series with the PTT line.   If I buzzarded for more than, say, three minutes, it wud kick me off the air.  It worked, but sadly, it never got me shagged...  

T

[W2XR]

When I get an RFI complaint from one of my neighbors, I always ask for an audio report.

73,

Bruce

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

It worked, but sadly, it never got me shagged...  

That's because you need a bigger boom, OM.

[KB2WIG]

 "  That's because you need a bigger boom, OM.   "

I think placement is more important.


klc

[ka3zlr]

When I get an RFI complaint from one of my neighbors, I always ask for an audio report.

73,

Bruce

LOL Excellent....Soo Hows my Audio there....LOL..


73
Jack.

[John Holotko]

RFI complaints are good. Let's you know your radio is working. 

[K1JJ]

It worked, but sadly, it never got me shagged...  

That's because you need a bigger boom, OM.

Good God, Man... have you no decency?...


I tried to compete with you - but gambled and lost... [sigh]

T

[K3ZS]

When I was first licensed, I got a TVI complaint from 5 miles away.     The person got my call letters, and by chance knew the parents of a ham friend down the street.    She called my ham friend's mother and she gave me holy hell about it.    What happened was that many TV's in the early 50's had 21 MHz IF's and I was on 15M AM.    I just could not convince anyone that the problem was not mine.    I just stayed off 15M for a while.
My grandfather had a TV that had a 21 MHz IF and a rabbit ear antenna that had different settings with a switch mounted on it.    I don't know what the switch did, but I used to hear hams around the country on 15M on some of the switch settings on his TV.

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

I tried to compete with you - but gambled and lost... [sigh]

LOL!! No one can ever accuse you of not thinking big, Tommy! 

What's that old saying? Better to have swung the boom and lost, than to have never had a boom at all?

At the risk of seeming to hijack the thread, I wanted to thank you Rob for posting such a thorough description and resolution. Might come in handy here as the aerials get up in the air and the big rigs come online. So far all is good (with a low 40m dipole and 100 watts).

I do feel the frustration of those living in close quarters with all the imported junk these days, both for the noise it generates as well as the potential for RFI. Dissemination of good info like this will be vital going forward.

[KB2WIG]

My wife's treadmill  Interactivity, built by ifit.com was RFI challenged. I found that I could change the speed by using CW. This was loads of fun. I had to stop when she said she was going to buy a new treadmill.

still married,
klc

[W1RKW]

This begs a question.  Granted Part 15 rules and so forth but what if one were to be part of an RFI complaint and the RFI caused an equipment failure to the person receiving the RFI?  This could create a sticky situation especially if it is a neighbor. For example if one has a neighbor who likes to crank the stereo system up and RFI blows the speakers or power amp to smithereens.  Even if the amateur is in compliance and damage occurs it could drag the amateur into a situation that they would not need to be in ie. lawyers and all that crap. Just one big unnecessary expensive hassle.

[K5UJ]

Hey Todd ur welcome--as a followup, the Comcast guy came out last Saturday morning and I went over to see what he'd do.  He checked the signal strength on the cable and announced there was some sort of problem attenuating it and suspected that the low level allowed the modem to be affected by my RF.  He pulled out a long section of their cable and replaced it and said that they gained 10 dB in signal strength.  Then he removed my cores on the cable (he left the stuff on the wall wart and cat 5 cable alone) and I went back to the shack to test again.  Modem stayed on-line with me running 300 w. on 75 meters.  Neighbors told me they had been pondering switching to AT&T Uverse and I sort of warned them off that because of all the RFI horror stories I've heard about it. 

This begs a question.  Granted Part 15 rules and so forth but what if one were to be part of an RFI complaint and the RFI caused an equipment failure to the person receiving the RFI?  This could create a sticky situation especially if it is a neighbor. For example if one has a neighbor who likes to crank the stereo system up and RFI blows the speakers or power amp to smithereens.  Even if the amateur is in compliance and damage occurs it could drag the amateur into a situation that they would not need to be in ie. lawyers and all that crap. Just one big unnecessary expensive hassle.

Point 1:  It's not a problem until it's a problem.  Point 2:  In any ham issue such as this there is a point where you have to decide what's cheaper or more cost effective--blowing $$$ on lawyers or blowing $$$ on moving to the country.  The break-point depends on the individual's resources and the price of land.

[ka3zlr]

Move to the country you won't be sorry.. an grow yer own ....antenna farms 

73
Jack.

[W1RKW]

easier said than done for some.

[W1ATR]

easier said than done for some.

You got that right. My lot is so small here, I have to go out in the street to change my mind.

[K5UJ]

50 x 100 feet here.

rob

[K3ZS]

2 acres here, but covered mostly with trees.    Only enough clear space for one 135 ft. doublet.

[K5UJ]

My parents tried clearing brush (actually they had me and my brother trying to clear it) and we spent one sweat soaked miserable summer back when we had 50 acres in the country, trying to hack down a huge hedge that had grown to be about 20 feet tall and wide and was around 400 feet long.  Somewhere in it was a steel wire fence with the wood posts all rotted out.   We made slow progress for a few months then they decided to pay a guy with a bulldozer $200 and he showed up and pushed the hedge out of the way in about 15 minutes.   It quickly turned into a big hedge mud ball they burned.  I was both p.o. and glad.  Glad they did it and p.o. that they waited as long as they did.  That $200 would have seemed like a lot at first but after a few months it seemed like the best $200 they ever spent.   Maybe that was the idea.   Anyway, a guy with a dozer could probably clear out a lot of those trees and you'd have firewood.  I like trees but I like antennas more.