[RFI] ARRL to FCC..

[Dale J.]

You can be sure that if the military was having the same issues, the agency manpower pool would be jump started to resolve the problem.  

Money talks that's the bottom line and ham radio doesn't generate very much cash flow plus we're only at around 800000 licenses so that's a small percent of the voting public and meaningless, we have no clout at the voting booth.  That's why it's even more important we have the ARRL to watch out for our interests in Washington.  There are frequency vultures out there just waiting. 

The 15 Mc. IF was in the TV's and notorious for receiving ham signals, but it was our fault anyway.  

73
Dale, k9vuj

 
On 03, Apr 2014, at 10:15, Kimberly Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> That's not entirely true, Dale. I also recall TVI. I grew up in Tulsa, OK, where we have the accursed channel 2, which harmonically related to 10 m. We also had a channel 6, whihc is (I think) harmonically related to 15 m. In every case I encountered, we could clean up the TV well enough for the ham and TV viewer to coexist. In my experience, the FCC tended to impose quiet hours only when the ham became uncooperative.
> 
> While I lived in Longmont, CO, I got to know the enforcement engineers in the FCC office, mainly because I was the ARRL Section Technical Advisor. They bent over backwards to be helpful to the hams and had no qualms about patiently explaining that the ham was in compliance to an irate neighbor and no qualms about coming down like a ton of bricks on an uncooperative ham. I had some minor problems in my neighborhood with what I believed to be a rectification source within a few houses of me. They came out with an enforcement vehicle (by my invitation) and gave my station the "third degree." I came up clean as a whistle, with harmonics and spurs 15-20 dB well below permitted levels at QRO. They then began looking for a rectification source. At about 1 kW out, they found the beam heading that generated the strongest rectified signal and asked that I give them a solid carrier at max smoke so that they could isolate hunt down the rectification source. We found
> that it was a rusty top-rail section of chain-link fence. We contacted the neighbor, told them of the trouble, explained that if he electrically bonded the fence to the top rail, the problem would vanish. He did, it did, and everything was golden. 
> 
> In another instances, a ham had an uncooperative neighbor who had threatened the ham. The neighbor had a criminal record. The FCC was notified and documentation was submitted. After talking with me, we made sure the ham's station was squeaky clean (it was in good shape from the beginning). The neighbor still refused to cooperate. So, after notifying local law enforcement and setting up a special communications channel in case things got nasty, the FCC showed up, checked the ham's station, found it clean and then spoke with the neighbor. I wasn't there for the conversation, but they left some printed material, made suggestions about what the neighbor might do and that was the end of it. The ham never had another complaint from the neighbor, who wound up moving shortly thereafter.
> 
> Mine was a special case, and one that the engineers had fun with, but it also tied up the only enforcement vehicle they had for the better part of a day. They didn't have much fun with the other one, but even it took only a couple of hours. 
> 
> It is not a reasonable expectation for the FCC to hear a non-specific RFI complaint from one of us and then go on what amounts to a snipe hunt looking for it while the ham drums their fingers waiting for the problem to be solved. As a nation, we are simply unwilling to pay for that level of effort on the FCC's part. We eschew any additional regulation because it might affect jobs and economic health. 
> 
> Like it or not,we're "it," and that includes you, Dale. There will be no Men in Black constantly cruising our streets looking to put the kibosh on noisy pool heaters, grow lights, plasma TVs, computer power supplies or crummy U-Verse installations. Tommy Thompson (Hi, Tom!) has given us all sorts of tips and resources the we can use to isolate, down to the house (and sometimes the room), RFI sources. We've been given hints and guidance on how to approach neighbors with our findings. We've been told umpteen times that if we do our homework, carefully document every step, try to work with our neighbors and, failing a resolution, handing that info over to both the local FCC office and the ARRL, we will be assisted. 
> 
> Is this all a PITA? Yes, it is. It is also how the system works. Wouldn't it be nice if the government simply took the bit in its teeth and chased down each and every offending device and put it in a plasma incinerator? Sure! But that's not the system we have. Learn how to chase this stuff yourself. Use (or spearhead the creation of) an RFI committee in your local club to help. Then contact your neighbors with the information. If they're at all reasonable, they'll be cooperative. If they're unreasonable, who cares if they get PO'ed? It's not like you've lost your bet friend because they weren't friends in the first place. Not everyone likes me and I don't like everyone. That's true for anyone. If they threaten you? Call the cops. That's what they're for. 
> 
> People like Ed (Hi Ed!) are rare. He works tirelessly, has almost infinite patience and has as kind a nature as you'll find in anyone. He is relentless in chasing down an RFI issue and his understanding of RFI and the issues they pose to the radio environment is second to none. I seriously doubt he is paid enough in light of the service he provides us. If anyone ever asks "What good is the ARRL?" I point to the down-and-dirty tedious work and resulting unassailable findings that people like Ed and his staff work through on our behalf. 
> 
> It's convenient to blame bureaucracies, politics, deregulation and corporate profit-seeking for our problems. But these didn't appear out of a vacuum: it's the system that we, as a nation, have carefully created. It's now the system we are tasked to work within and no amount of complaining or finger-pointing will change anything in the short term. 
> 
> Kim N5OP
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Dale J. <dj2001x at comcast.net>
> To: "Hare, Ed W1RFI" <w1rfi at arrl.org> 
> Cc: "rfi at contesting.com" <rfi at contesting.com> 
> Sent: Thursday, April 3, 2014 5:01 AM
> Subject: Re: [RFI] ARRL to FCC..
> 
> 
> Ed, 
> 
> First I do appreciate the ARRL efforts, it's not a easy task for sure. 
> I've been a member for over 50 years.  The ARRL is our only voice in Washington and we should support it.  
> 
> However, there's no way I can see working around noise problems in a city or suburban area where we/I have to deal with multiple noises and sources.  It's a nightmare situation as far as RFI goes.  
> 
> It's sort of funny, but I remember a time when hams were getting into TV's big time and it didn't take too much effort for the TV watcher to get some response from the FCC, even to the point of requiring the ham operator to maintain "quiet hours".  The burden of responsibility was on the Ham operator to clean up his station so as not to interfere with TV watching, remember the 15 Mc IF's?  Up until a few years ago, I can remember the FCC actually visiting ham radio stations here in the metro area and inspecting the operations.  One ham was only about 2 miles from me.      
> 
> The plasma noise here yesterday was horrendous.  They must have moved the TV or changed something.  I have my outside lights on a X10 system and it was wiping that out too so I couldn't turn on the outside lighting.  I'm going to cautiously approach the neighbors when I get a chance and see if they'll allow me to try a 2.4 inch #31 mix choke per K9YC's manual and see if that has any impact on it.  When this happens is up in the air.  They're nice folks, but again I hate to impose.  
> 
> Now, lets say I have 3 or 4 plasmas all around the neighborhood, plus a grow light operation, a crappy computer switcher and a noisy light dimmer, can you imagine the situation in trying to clean that up, yeah right.  
> 
> That crackpot ham up the street is complaining about our TV set, pool heater and kitchen lights of all things!  The nerve…!!  
> 
> I think bureaucracies, politics and concern for profits have bogged down the whole process.
> 
> 73
> Dale, k9vuj
> _______________________________________________
> RFI mailing list
> RFI at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi