Don,
That is a smart way to handle this sort of issue, and I do close to the
same... I do not however give cookies, but I will from now on...
Thanks for the tip.
73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
On 4/21/21 7:20 AM, Don Kirk wrote:
Hi Chris,
Below (between the dashed lines) is the gist of the note I leave people if
I believe their property is causing interference at my house, or the
information I have other hams leave if the RFI is causing them problems. I
only contact property owners when I'm pretty darn sure I've tracked the RFI
down to their property (like 95 percent or higher confidence level). When
I talk with the property owner on the phone or in person I tell them I'm
almost 100 percent positive it's their property based on the limited access
I had during my track because I did not venture onto their property and if
it's not their property then it's one of the properties adjacent to theirs.
Here is the gist of my note:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I tell them my name and that I'm one of their neighbors (or live in the
same subdivision as an example) and I give them my address. I tell them
I'm a ham radio operator and need their help regarding some radio frequency
interference that I've tracked down that I'm pretty sure is coming from
their property. If I'm dealing with a commercial property I will also
mention that I hold a FCC commercial general radiotelephone licensee and I
provide my licensee number. I tell them I need their help to confirm that
the radio frequency interference is indeed coming from their property, and
if it is then we can discuss ways to mitigate it. I give them my phone
number and e-mail address, and I tell them I can send them a link to my
youtube video that documents the problem and, and to please call me as soon
as possible so we can discuss.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: in the above mentioned note I let them know who I am and where I live
so they don't think I'm some kind of scam artist, etc. I always try and
say I'm a neighbor to really keep things neighborly so to speak. I always
just write the note by hand (or e-mail if I'm dealing with a commercial
property), and I take a picture of the note so I remember what I said. If
dealing with a commercial property I include the link to my youtube video
in the e-mail.
Sometimes they ask right away what can be done to fix the problem once we
find it, and I tell them there are often various options including simple
filters that they often see on power cords or an exchange of the device (I
use Comcast cable boxes as an example for the exchange of a device which
has worked for me in the past), but I tell them not to worry about that
until we figure out what device is causing the problem.
I don't mention anything about the FCC, rules or regulations, etc. during
my first exchange with the property owner. The only time I bring these
topics up is if the property owner is not being cooperative and starts
challenging me or totally ignores me which really has only happened a few
times (twice from commercial business owners and one time from a
homeowner). I tell these uncooperative people that I'm trying to work with
them in a friendly manner and I'm sure they want to do the same thing
versus getting government authorities like the FCC involved and their
lawyers, etc. These difficult people quickly turned around and started
cooperating, and in one of these cases the commercial property owner and I
really formed a pretty good bond (jokes about RFI via e-mail, etc.). There
was only one case where I provided some written material by the ARRL to the
home owner who did not initially replay to my note, and the home owner
turned out to be an inactive ham in my subdivision that had not had time
responding to my first note due to his work situation.
After we figure out what device is causing the problem I provide some
guidance/options they can try to mitigate the problem but I tell them
upfront (in writing, and usually just in e-mail text) that they must make
the decision as I can't be held liable.
After a case has been resolved I always bake brownies and cookies and
deliver them to the property owner.
Hope this helps, and I have no idea how many cases I've worked on but it's
too many to count. Everyone has their own approach, but the approach I've
listed above has worked great for me.
73,
Don (wd8dsb)
On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 11:08 AM Christopher Wawak <kc2ieb@wawak.org> wrote:
Hi - would you be able to share the gist of the note, please? As someone
who's just learning, I find it helpful to see all the tools that work, not
just the fancy ones that make sparks! :)
On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 8:42 AM Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com> wrote:
Two weekends ago I tracked down some RFI that was very strong at the QTH
of
Justin (KD9PLD), and thought I would share a link to my unlisted youtube
video that documents the case for those interested. Normally I keep my
videos to about 2 or 3 minutes in length and apologize that this video is
over 7 minutes in length but this was somewhat of an unusual case and it
was raining which did not help. Justin reported that this RFI started up
every morning and ran continuously until evening (example: 9 am until 9
pm). I actually was able to catch it when it started up. Jump to the
6:50
point in the video if you just want to see what the signal looked like on
both 40 and 30 meters while sitting in Justin's driveway. The home I
identified as the suspect home was located 700 feet North of Justin's
home.
Youtube Video Link: https://youtu.be/aOBD4xYtUWE
What's interesting about this case is that Justin left the suspect
homeowner a very nice note last week which included a link to my youtube
video, and the RFI stopped the very next day and has not appeared since.
The homeowner never contacted Justin even though Justin asked him to
please
call. We certainly would like to know what device was causing the RFI (we
have our suspicions, but I never like to guess) but more importantly we
would like to know that the RFI will not reappear, but for the moment we
are happy that it's not present. Justin does not know the homeowner but
maybe someday they will meet when both are outdoors so they can talk about
the situation in more detail, etc.
Just FYI,
Don (wd8dsb)
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