[RFI] Neon Light Interference

EDWARDS, EDDIE J EDWARDS, EDDIE J" <eedwards@oppd.com
Fri, 4 May 2001 08:56:42 -0500


Stephanie,

That is a lot of NEON!   I thought on an earlier post you said something
about the mfr said the owner was using the wrong transformers.  If so, the
correct fix is to figure out a way to get the owner to do the right thing
and replace these xmfrs.  There's a couple of things that might work.  One
is my suggestion to contact the power company's RI guy to see if he'll work
with ya to contact the owner and tell him to correct the noise problem or
disconnect it from the power company's feed.  This may take a little gentle
persuasion on your part to ask very nicely if they could help you in this
way.

The other possibility is to contact the nearest FCC office and ask for their
help.  The Kansas City FCC office once offered to send a letter telling one
of my neighbors with a noisey touch lamp that they were in violation of Part
15 rules and needed to repair or remove the lamp.  Turned out that I didn't
need it because the neighbor finally called me back and was willing to work
with me to find a resolution.  The FCC WILL NOT take any action other than a
letter however.  They just don't have the resources to do anything more than
send a letter.  But it's worth a try!

Last year our club operated at a movie theater for the Frequency opening
weekend.  Our HF antenna was within 20 feet of their gigantic 2 to 3 story
tall neon sign that said "20 Grand Theater".  You may've seen it in QST
since we won the ARRL's national Frequency Contest!!!  We had absolutely no
RFI problems from the sign, nor to/from any of the theater's equipment.
We've been invited to come back anytime!  So when's the next movie with Ham
Radio in it?!

73,
de ed -K0iL


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Stephanie WX3K
> "I think if you really want this fixed, go to the store owner and offer to
> buy him a brand spanking new sign.  It is not a cheap solution, but that
> should definitely fix your problem and might help the pizza store get more
> customers with a nicer sign."
> 
> It is not a sign......the light array sprawls alond and around the front
> and
> side edge of the building.........we are talking at least 100 feet of neon
> !!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Stephanie R. Koles WX3K
> wx3k@arrl.net
> http://www.wxpage.com
> 

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