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Me and the FCC

H

Hairball

Active Member
May 19, 2020
132
70
38
60
Indiana
Greetings all,

About 2 years ago a serious static and clicking issue started at my home base that makes enjoying our hobby almost impossible. Channels 1 thru 40, am and ssb are the same. A friend with a mobile ham rig says there is interference in the 10 and 12 meter bands as wellI. I went thru my house checking for any noise sources and checked my equipment. Finding no problems at home I took a walk around the neighborhood with my Uniden hand held 40 channel.. I live in a city setting with houses 10' from each other. At the end of my block about 100' away I found some interference coming from a utility pole in the alley. I called the utility company and the technicians that came out were fantastic, replacing insulators and grounds but the problem persisted. I continued to search and near the utility pole I found a house that has cameras that are throwing a severe clicking and 7-9 s unit static 24 hours a day. I positively know the problem is coming from this house. The owner is rather reclusive and has 6 cameras on the house. After much debate I filled out a complaint form with the FCC. The online form has drop down boxes that have different issues listed and 11 meter receiving interference is one of the choices. In the comment section I described in even more detail my problem. Within 12 hours I received a response asking does the neighbor have an electric fence (which they don't) and
stating this case is closed. I had held out hope since they acknowledged interference disrupting 11 meter reception they might help. Lesson learned. I realize 11 meters is not something the feds are worried about. I'm at the point of selling off my base equipment and just keeping my mobile when traveling. Thanks for reading this long post. The neighbor is not approachable so I absolutely don't know what to do.
 
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Usually the first step is to try to work with thy neighbor on the interference issue, but as you stated they are basically not approachable. I only have interference on Channel 23 that has a weird intermittent noise in a pattern. I just wrote it off as it is a neighbor's device of some kind they setup. No worried as the other channels are all ok.

The only thing I can think of is maybe typing a letter that you can drop to their mailbox explaining the situation. I personally dont know of any camera system that can put out that kind of noise on 11 meters and other bands, unless they are REALLY outdated. Even then, the old ones surely were wired up vs wireless?

A shame it may resort to just getting rid of the base equipment. Hope you can get something figured out or if the neighbor may have a chat with you about it.
 
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Just going out on a limb here but... could the cameras be up to monitor the property and could be security for a grow operation? Grow lights have a long history of giving off tons of RF noise.. this is all speculation on my part. Best of luck on a resolution to your problem.
 
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I have a night owl camera system that emits a tremendous amount of RF. I got it in 2016 and it uses wired cameras. There are times I need to unplug it just to operate. Most of the time, the noise is from VHF to UHF, but on occasion, HF is wiped out too.

I am looking at replacing mine with PoE cameras from Axis and doing my own server for remote access, but I don't have the money for that right now.
 
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Hairball said:
Greetings all,

About 2 years ago a serious static and clicking issue started at my home base that makes enjoying our hobby almost impossible. Channels 1 thru 40, am and ssb are the same. A friend with a mobile ham rig says there is interference in the 10 and 12 meter bands as wellI. I went thru my house checking for any noise sources and checked my equipment. Finding no problems at home I took a walk around the neighborhood with my Uniden hand held 40 channel.. I live in a city setting with houses 10' from each other. At the end of my block about 100' away I found some interference coming from a utility pole in the alley. I called the utility company and the technicians that came out were fantastic, replacing insulators and grounds but the problem persisted. I continued to search and near the utility pole I found a house that has cameras that are throwing a severe clicking and 7-9 s unit static 24 hours a day. I positively know the problem is coming from this house. The owner is rather reclusive and has 6 cameras on the house. After much debate I filled out a complaint form with the FCC. The online form has drop down boxes that have different issues listed and 11 meter receiving interference is one of the choices. In the comment section I described in even more detail my problem. Within 12 hours I received a response asking does the neighbor have an electric fence (which they don't) and
stating this case is closed. I had held out hope since they acknowledged interference disrupting 11 meter reception they might help. Lesson learned. I realize 11 meters is not something the feds are worried about. I'm at the point of selling off my base equipment and just keeping my mobile when traveling. Thanks for reading this long post. The neighbor is not approachable so I absolutely don't know what to do
Click to expand...
 
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You need to first come to a conclusion as to what the interference is. How do you know it is from the house you say it is?

The first step is to audio record the noise in AM mode. Second step, is to determine the frequency of the noise by measuring the time/period of the peaks. can give a clue as to what the source type is.

Then locate the source, using an AM receiver, with a step attenuator and directional antennas at the highest frequency of emmision.

The main issue with the FCC and this type of problem, is that they have an agreement with ARRL, as the first point of contact for mitigation. The FCC will only get involved, after the ARRL RFI desk tells them to. The next problem, is that 11m is not a licensed service. The same rules that apply to part 97, don't apply to part 95. So, in your case, if you have an amateur radio license, you stand a better chance of getting a response.
 
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I will comment that for the longest time I had a constant buzzing interference, made no sense, but all channels, worse on lower to mid band. I was outside looking at lights. Thinking about near by construction. Turns out it was a cheap 7.99 power strip with three USB ports to charge phone that My wife had next to our bed at the time. In getting rid of the interference both the cheap power strip and the wife, all left. All is better.
 
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The technician from the utility company that has helped with checking the surrounding utility poles contacted me a couple of months ago because the utility company was doing electric meter replacement in my city. He let me know the day and approximate time that the suspected rfi house was going to have the meter replaced. When the meter was removed, the clicking and hash completely stopped, absolutley nothing. Noise floor of s2 on both am and ssb, 1-40. Once new meter installed, back to s7-9. The residents are unapproachable.
 
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Hairball said:
The technician from the utility company that has helped with checking the surrounding utility poles contacted me a couple of months ago because the utility company was doing electric meter replacement in my city. He let me know the day and approximate time that the suspected rfi house was going to have the meter replaced. When the meter was removed, the clicking and hash completely stopped, absolutley nothing. Noise floor of s2 on both am and ssb, 1-40. Once new meter installed, back to s7-9. The residents are unapproachable.
Click to expand...

Just a thought , but try reporting it to the FCC as a Ham operator issue instead of as an 11 meter issue . Since it's effecting the 10 & 12 meter bands as well . I had the same issue here a few years ago . Something at my neighbors house was effecting 11 meters for me too . But it was also effecting the 10 meter band . So I reported it as a ham radio issue because I figured they wouldn't care about a CB issue , and I am a ham operator too . Once I reported it, they got right on it and the problem was solved .
 
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Neighbor like all could care less. Only option for you is MFJ 1026 noise canceller. It works. The FCC gave up on items causing interference 30 years ago and let noisy power supplies from China come into the US.
 
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