[TowerTalk] Weekend from hell

Mon Nov 18 23:39:24 EST 2019

In the late 80s I worked for a paging company in Northern California. We had a number of Statewide paging systems running and one of them was on 35.22MHZ (called P1). I was the Director of Operations at the time and we received an interference complaint from a person in Stockton that our signal was getting into their TV. This was unheard of because we'd never had any prior reports. My only tech (small company) was on vacation to I went and visited this complainant. Sure enough, it was our paging signal getting in to the TV.

I asked the person if I could take their TV apart and see if there was something wrong inside. He allowed it and I found the coaxial cable from the tuner (IF out) was terminated at the motherboard with an RCA connector. The male RCA connector on the coax was pushed in just far enough that the center pin was holding it in but the shield was not connected at all. I pushed the RCA connector all the way in and the interference stopped. I put the TV back together and never heard from him again.

Would you let a stranger come into your house and take your TV apart?

True story.

Danny
K5CG

----- Original Message -----
From: "K9MA" <k9ma at sdellington.us>
To: "john nistico" <electric911inc at hotmail.com>, "Wayne Kline" <w3ea at hotmail.com>
Cc: "towertalk" <towertalk at contesting.com>, "Ed Sawyer" <sawyered at earthlink.net>
Sent: Monday, November 18, 2019 9:31:03 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Weekend from hell

Ask your neighbors to note the time when these problems occur, then 
compare with your log. There may be no correlation at all. If the times 
don't correlate, it definitely has nothing to do with you. That should 
be the first test.

Note, however, than neither an alarm system nor a microwave oven are 
receivers for any frequency your transmitter could possibly be 
generating on 80. (OK, may the alarm system, but it's highly unlikely. 
Definitely not the microwave.) Technically, you have no responsibility 
at all. However, in the interest of neighbor relations, it's always best 
to try to help solve the problem. If the neighbors are cooperative, all 
it will cost you is a few ferrite cores and a little time.

Some years ago, a neighbor's garage door mysteriously was opening 
itself. He asked me about it, and I checked my log, which showed no 
operation. He was satisfied with that, and got a new garage door opener. 
Never heard from him again. Not all neighbors are so reasonable.

RF susceptibility used to be much more of a problem. Now most of the RFI 
is going the other direction. I had to buy a neighbor a new TV a couple 
years ago, in the interest of neighbor relations. So it goes.

73,
Scott K9MA

On 11/18/2019 19:25, john nistico wrote:
> Ok so my neighbor claims I am coming through the speaker of their 
> alarm system. The other neighbor claims the microvave. I am running a 
> Yaesu 5000 150 watts to an inverted v with the apex at 85 feet fed 
> with hardline. This only happens when I am on 80 meters, 3705 is where 
> I was when the first call came in. So I can't figure it out nothing in 
> my house or any other houses is effected.
>
> John
> NY6DX
>
>
> *John J. Nistico*
> *911 Electric Inc.*
> *516.325-8993*
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> on behalf of K9MA 
> <k9ma at sdellington.us>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 18, 2019 8:05 PM
> *To:* Wayne Kline <w3ea at hotmail.com>
> *Cc:* TowerTalk at contesting.com <towertalk at contesting.com>; Ed Sawyer 
> <sawyered at earthlink.net>
> *Subject:* Re: [TowerTalk] Weekend from hell
> Great, Wayne! That’s exactly how to turn a potentially hostile 
> neighbor into a grateful one.
>
> 73,
>
> Scott K9MA
>
> ----------
>
> Scott Ellington
>
>  --- via iPad
>
> > On Nov 18, 2019, at 5:39 PM, Wayne Kline <w3ea at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Ed,   This assumption that you antenna caused interference  is not 
> an unsual phenominum.  I had an instance where a neighbor  on the next 
> road over came to  our home claiming the antennas  9 Yagi antennas on 
> 4 towers had captured all the TV signals in our area and her TV 
> signal  was almost just snow because of it.  I and my wife listened to 
> her complaint    and I tried unsuccessfully  to explain  A:  TV 
> signals  are not attracted to my antennas like a magnet  B: the  TV 
> broadcast signals   are not near the current commercial broadcast 
> frequency’s  ( to no avail ) I offered to come over to  there home and 
> examine there installation.
> >
> >  Apon my arrival it was at first asseratained there home was not 
> using over the air broadcast TV BUT Cable TV !!!!
> >  In inspection in the basement the owner and son tried to become 
> cable TV distrabution engineeres. Unseccesfully IMHO
> > After removing not 3 but 4    3 way spliters and 8  uncompleted un 
> crimped  connectors . After a trip to my home and returning with the 
> proper tools I reconfigured and  MESS and installed the  un fastened 
> ground  wire   at the entrance block.. WOW and  all read  SEVEN TV’s 
> and  one gaming console ??
> > Now   had a acceptable siginal
> >
> > This happened during the height of the 2nd  Golf War and her husband 
> was in the service and in the Theater . As a VET  prompted me to go 
> above and beyond
> >
> > GO figure
> >
> > Wayne ,
> > Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for 
> Windows 10
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> on behalf of WW3S 
> <ww3s at zoominternet.net>
> > Sent: Monday, November 18, 2019 6:03:55 PM
> > To: Ed Sawyer <sawyered at earthlink.net>
> > Cc: TowerTalk at contesting.com <TowerTalk at contesting.com>
> > Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Weekend from hell
> >
> > LOL....I had a similar instance....my beam is on a hazer on a 50 ft 
> tower..I could crank it up, and almost immediately get a call from my 
> one neighbor about interference to his tv, even though I wasn’t on the 
> air.....yet I could operate with it cranked down ( think closer to his 
> house !) and never hear a peep from him....
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> >> On Nov 18, 2019, at 5:50 PM, Ed Sawyer <sawyered at earthlink.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> Don't assume you caused the interference. Twice in the past year I 
> have had
> >> neighbors (over 2000 ft away from my antennas) claim I was 
> interfering with
> >> their TV.  Both times I was out of the country...
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Ed  N1UR
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >>
> >>
> >>

Scott  K9MA

k9ma at sdellington.us

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