Sounds like my experience in a town house apartment... the neighbors put a
stereo against the common wall and liked to turn it up too loud. So when it
got louder than I liked I went and started sending dits on the wire loop I
had around the inside of the front wall right next to the stereo, mostly I
just used it for listening from the apartment and would operate mobile. The
louder the stereo was the faster the dits were set until they turned it
down, then they stopped. A couple times and they must have been convinced
they had a problem with the amp or speakers above a certain volume.
David Robbins K1TTT
e-mail: mailto:k1ttt@arrl.net
web: http://wiki.k1ttt.net
AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://k1ttt.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Kim Elmore [mailto:cw_de_n5op@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Monday, December 24, 2012 18:19
To: rfi@contesting.com
Subject: [RFI] How to Get Rid of RFI-Prone Devices
I may have posted this here once before, but just in case... In another
recent post, someone bemoaned how it seems impossible to do anything to
encourage people to get rid of their problematic (from an RFI standpoint)
equipment. I have, exactly *once,* been able to pull off such a feat off
without the owner's knowledge. Here's the story:
About 20 years ago, when I lived in Colorado, I had a ne'er-do-well neighbor
behind me by the name of Bobby. This was a bit of a jerk and had complained
bout my radio activities in many different ways having nothing to do with
radio. But, once he came over to my place with some "muscle" in tow (his
brother-in-law, who was actually named
Bubba) to tell me how much RFI trouble I was causing. I happily showed him
and Bubba the station, deonstrated that I didn't bother any of my stuff,
handed 'em an FCC RFI booklet, and sent 'em away somewhat confused. Bubba
was pretty reasonable and told my neighbor, Bobby, that everything seemed OK
at my house, so...? I never heard much more from Bobby, though I did get a
phone call or two, always when I *wasn't* on the air.
Then Bobby got a touch lamp in his second-floor living room, which was
easily visible from my operating position.
That touch lamp was a pretty sensitive receiver and even at 100W, it went
completely nuts on 20 m. I use CW almost exclusively, but SSB did it in,
too. For a long time, he couldn't figure it out, but one day while I was
finishing up catching some DXpedition, I saw him out on his balcony looking
carefully over at my house. I ducked down out of sight and programmed my
keyer to send "RFI TEST DE N5OP"
continuously at 20 s intervals. I then went out and mowed my lawn. He
watched me mowing my lawn while his touch lamp went nuts and finally went
back inside and unplugged it. He certainly couldn't accuse me of the problem
because I was outside, mowing the lawn!
But that's not the end: I had a good friend over one night who had just
passed his Tech. I saw my antagonist in his living room, watching his TV,
with his beloved touch-lamp on.
We grabbed some binoculars and I said "Watch this."
Keeping all lights off, I programmed my keyer with "RFI TEST DE N5OP"
and fired up my TS-930S. As if my magic, his touch lamp began its routine.
He got out of his chair and looked at my house. Dark as a tomb. He
readjusted the lamp and just as he sat down, it started again. He did this
trick several times and every time, as if on cue, it went nuts again right
about when he sat down. By this time my friend was almost unable to breathe
due to his laughter. But then came the "piece de resistance:" the lamp
started its routine again and this time the guy leaped out of his chair,
grabbed the lamp and, shaking it as if he were choking it, ripped it out of
the wall socket and *threw* it down a hallway. Needless to say, that put the
poor touch lamp out of its misery and solved my RFI problem.
My friend complained for some days afterward that his sides hurt from so
much laughing. Mine did, too.
73 & MX,
Kim N5OP
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