Got ham operator messing up my tv.

[NITROTURBO4U]

Just recently had a couple move in next door.
now every night my smart tv picks up his transmission.....cq cq cq is annoying.
Had my son talk with his son about it.No change in a week now...Found he was talking on 10 meter and
12 meter...What can i do?
He does have amateur radio tag on his car.

 

[RBMTS]

Personally pay him a visit when it is happening. Discuss the situation in a non-emotional manner. I'm sure he will be understanding and helpful to resolve the situation as any good neighbor or good ham would. Maybe he can install certain filters on your TV or antenna cable (high-pass filters). Or he can try to take steps on his end to modify the situation (maybe he is running high power out or an amp and needs to reduce his power out). But these types of things are best handled via a one-on-one meeting.

 

[mmckenna]

I'd suggest talking to him directly. Let him know what's happening and let him know you'd like his help in resolving it.

Ideally, he should resolve this himself, that would be the proper approach. Installing a low pass filter on the output of his transceiver would be a good start:
https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-001237

If he won't help, you may have to start looking at filtering yourself.

Ultimately, you could talk to the FCC and go that route, but I'd recommend talking to him as a friendly neighbor, first.

 

[N5TWB]

Just recently had a couple move in next door.
now every night my smart tv picks up his transmission.....cq cq cq is annoying.
Had my son talk with his son about it.No change in a week now...Found he was talking on 10 meter and
12 meter...What can i do?
He does have amateur radio tag on his car.

The first thing you need to understand is he doesn't have to do anything for you because he is operating within the license the FCC issues. The next thing you need to understand is your TV is called a Part 15 device by the FCC and has to accept interference from other services because the manufacturer has chosen to go cheap on not shielding the TV from outside interference. Now, here's the good news -- if you approach your neighbor with the right attitude, he likely wants to help you enjoy your TV without his signal and may already know how to help you fix that because he did it for himself in his own home. An honest inquiry and a good attitude will go miles in getting your problem solved.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Just recently had a couple move in next door.
now every night my smart tv picks up his transmission.....cq cq cq is annoying.
Had my son talk with his son about it.No change in a week now...Found he was talking on 10 meter and
12 meter...What can i do?
He does have amateur radio tag on his car.

Does your smart TV have a sound bar? Can you hook it up using a fiber optic link? Try that. Are your cable box, TV and sound bar grounded with a three prong plug?

Damn you Samsung, they are not. Buy some green 14 gauge stranded wire and some crimp lugs and start grounding that stuff to conduit, copper water pipe or the ground tab on the outlet.

Do other neighbors get this interference?

What he s doing is perfectly legal per FCC. Your equipment us susceptible to common mode interference due to marginal design.

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[mmckenna]

I'd not agree with the "he doesn't have to do anything" suggestions.

97.101 and 97.307 of the FCC rules have some wording contrary to this. (I'll avoid doing a cut-n-paste here, but you can easily look them up online). While he may not be "intentionally" causing interference, there are some requirements that he be operating properly with equipment that is not radiating all kinds of noise outside the amateur radio bands. While most properly installed and maintained equipment should meet these requirements, home brew, low end Chinese and out of alignment equipment can certainly cause issues like you are seeing.

However, as other have said, you have a responsibility to understand Part 15, as well as making sure your own equipment is properly installed and maintained. That might mean replacing coaxial cable runs with cable with better shielding. It might mean making sure all your equipment is properly grounded. It might even mean moving your TV and/or antenna.

Cooperation is key, for both you and the amateur radio operator.

 

[prcguy]

Does the neighbor come through the speakers or just mess up the picture or both? Can the neighbor be clearly understood if its coming through the speakers or is it garbled? Does it happen on over the air TV channels? Cable or satellite? External DVD or??

What does his antenna look like and how far away is it from your house, your TV antenna and your TV? Not that many amateurs operate on 10m and 12m, its usually two separate crowds.

If you can clearly hear the voice and words then the neighbor is probably using a CB radio in AM mode and at power levels higher than legal. That would be important to know as an amateur operating within legal power and harmonic limits should not be blamed for the problem. If the neighbor is using a CB with an amplifier, that's not legal and should be shut down even if he's not causing interference to you.

Either way it should be possible to reduce interference to your TV but you have to find out what the mechanism is for the interference. It could be he is overloading the front end of your TV and that would usually mess up the picture and sound. That can sometimes be fixed with a high pass filter on your TV that lets TV frequencies pass but blocks HF amateur signals.

He could be blasting into your external TV speakers or sound system and that can usually be fixed by wrapping speaker leads, HDMI and/or RCA cables around ferrite cores. You need to gather more info on what's happening and we can make more specific recommendations.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Back in the 70s I had a CB at our home, a groundplane at 35 feet. Running just 5 watts somehow I was activating my neighbors SEARS garage door, coming through loud and clear on a SEARS electronic organ. Perfectly messed up a SEARS Television.

I offered to come over and install some filters and capacitors, but they declined.

The FCC even called and asked about my station. I told them what I had and that I offered help.

Case closed.

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[majoco]

IMHO once you have advised the ham that he is interfering with your TV and possibly other neighbours too, then it it his problem to resolve, not yours. I would never operate without a low pass filter on the output of my transmitter(s) for fear of causing QRN, so that's his first line of attack. He's the technical expert in this field, not you - just suppose you were an ordinary Joe Public with no technical radio knowledge, what could you do? If he wants to be bull-headed about the problem, then you can complain to the FCC - you don't have to explore all the FCC regulations or even be aware of them. All you have to do is make sure your equipment is squeaky clean with a good antenna and cabling, even to the point of getting a technician from the TV shop to inspect everything of yours so that nothing can be laid at your doorstep.

Once upon a time, it was the ham operator who was proud that his station was not causing any problems with his neighbours, especially when we were all on FTA analogue tube TV's with weaker signals and were more prone to interference.

 

[prcguy]

In the US all TVs should have a sticker that reads this:

"This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation."

Meaning if an amateur station is operating legally and meeting all specifications, the problem lies with the TV owner. Its obviously the best practice for the amateur to help remedy the problem, but in the end the amateur is licensed to transmit and the TV is licensed not to interfere and to accept any interference.

IMHO once you have advised the ham that he is interfering with your TV and possibly other neighbours too, then it it his problem to resolve, not yours. I would never operate without a low pass filter on the output of my transmitter(s) for fear of causing QRN, so that's his first line of attack. He's the technical expert in this field, not you - just suppose you were an ordinary Joe Public with no technical radio knowledge, what could you do? If he wants to be bull-headed about the problem, then you can complain to the FCC - you don't have to explore all the FCC regulations or even be aware of them. All you have to do is make sure your equipment is squeaky clean with a good antenna and cabling, even to the point of getting a technician from the TV shop to inspect everything of yours so that nothing can be laid at your doorstep.

Once upon a time, it was the ham operator who was proud that his station was not causing any problems with his neighbours, especially when we were all on FTA analogue tube TV's with weaker signals and were more prone to interference.

 

[MTS2000des]

What happened to being a good neighbor?

That being said, everyone who says "it's not the ham's fault", do you know for a fact theham in question generating the QRM are operating in compliance with part 97? Have you seen logged their transmissions with a spec-an and verified they are spectrally pure? Sure, it's easy to blame the part 15 device, all that is moot if the operator is a lid and running power outside legal limits, has spurs and harmonics being radiated, or doesn't adhere to good grounding practices.

I's say don't be that guy and at least work with your neighbor to resolve the issue. That is what being a good representative of amateur radio is. Or don't, and continue to propagate the image of that guy.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

IMHO once you have advised the ham that he is interfering with your TV and possibly other neighbours too, then it it his problem to resolve, not yours. I would never operate without a low pass filter on the output of my transmitter(s) for fear of causing QRN, so that's his first line of attack. He's the technical expert in this field, not you - just suppose you were an ordinary Joe Public with no technical radio knowledge, what could you do? If he wants to be bull-headed about the problem, then you can complain to the FCC - you don't have to explore all the FCC regulations or even be aware of them. All you have to do is make sure your equipment is squeaky clean with a good antenna and cabling, even to the point of getting a technician from the TV shop to inspect everything of yours so that nothing can be laid at your doorstep.

Once upon a time, it was the ham operator who was proud that his station was not causing any problems with his neighbours, especially when we were all on FTA analogue tube TV's with weaker signals and were more prone to interference.

The low pass filter is usually included in most modern transmitters. In most cases in the US, it is a problem of faulty receiver or amplifier design.

The US FCC has been so focused on transmitters that they have done little to force manufacturers to properly design receivers . It has been said that much of the spectrum shortage in the US is due to poor receiver design.

Another problem in the US is the electrical code which permits use of Romex wiring. Most houses have so much unshielded electrical wiring in walls and attic, that the system is a huge antenna susceptible to, and radiating undesired electric fields.

The FCC generally gives a pass to the ham radio operator if they are operating within licensed parameters.

Some of the consumer equipment is so marginally designed that attaching filters to them would be ineffective. If you buy a stereo preamp or subwoofer amp, built in a cheap plastic box you get what you bargained for.



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[majoco]

You both took the words out of my mouth!

this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation."

in effect enables manufacturers and importers the right to sell what I would call "not suitable for purpose". Fortunately we have laws in NZ that say exactly that - you can not sell any appliance that does not perform to certain minimum standards and also consumer protection laws that put the onus squarely back on the retailer if goods do not perform as quoted. As far as the FCC are concerned in the US this is just a cop out so they don't have to spend any money bringing prosecutions for dodgy equipment.

If you buy a stereo preamp or subwoofer amp, built in a cheap plastic box you get what you bargained for.

Yes, but Joe Consumer would not be aware of the design shortcomings, he would be more impressed with the fake chrome and pretty lights. He's more interested in low cost from some Korean offering rather than a reputable manufacturer at three or more times the price.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

You both took the words out of my mouth!



in effect enables manufacturers and importers the right to sell what I would call "not suitable for purpose". Fortunately we have laws in NZ that say exactly that - you can not sell any appliance that does not perform to certain minimum standards and also consumer protection laws that put the onus squarely back on the retailer if goods do not perform as quoted. As far as the FCC are concerned in the US this is just a cop out so they don't have to spend any money bringing prosecutions for dodgy equipment.



Yes, but Joe Consumer would not be aware of the design shortcomings, he would be more impressed with the fake chrome and pretty lights. He's more interested in low cost from some Korean offering rather than a reputable manufacturer at three or more times the price.

Our landfills are filled with shiny chrome boxes from Korea that are functionall obsolete after just a couple years, or totally unrepairable. Dishwashers are a sore spot for me. They are made of cheese. When this one gives up the ghost after 5 years, I will be looking for another 1980's GE washer with a stainless tub and rebuild it from ground up.

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[royldean]

IMHO once you have advised the ham that he is interfering with your TV and possibly other neighbours too, then it it his problem to resolve, not yours. I would never operate without a low pass filter on the output of my transmitter(s) for fear of causing QRN

Good thing it's just your opinion, because in the US, it's the LAW that if the ham is operating within the boundaries of Part 97, then he doesn't have to do a single thing to rectify the situation. Hopefully he is a nice guy and still offers to try, though.

BTW, man made interference is QRM. QRN is natural interference like from lightning.

 

[wb6uqa]

10 and 12 meters

These bands are closed at night. He could be using a modified CB. Most hams use 80 and40 meters at night.is he really a ham?

 

[jonwienke]

Most hams use 80 and40 meters at night.is he really a ham?

Actually, if you look at sheer numbers, most hams are on the 2m and 70cm bands.

 

[N5TWB]

Lots of responses and even a few who understand FCC regs in Part 15 & Part 97 yet not a peep from the OP. Throw in only 48 posts by the OP in 12 years and I'm putting this one in the TROLL column.

 

[jhooten]

Lots of responses and even a few who understand FCC regs in Part 15 & Part 97 yet not a peep from the OP. Throw in only 48 posts by the OP in 12 years and I'm putting this one in the TROLL column.

Where it the like/thanks button when you really need it?

 

[N5TWB]

Where it the like/thanks button when you really need it?

A kind note on a Monday morning from one former FA missileman to another (LANCE here.) Have a great day!