[Johnson] AM and TVI/RFI wars

[Richard Peterson]

I was just curious what the general experience among AMers was when it comes 
to TVI/RFI/telephone and everything-else complaints. When I first started 
running legal limit AM on 75 meters (Johnson Desk), I think I heard from 
everyone within a tenth-of-a-mile radius. I got into cheap telephones, 
stereos with (no kidding) 75 feet of speaker lead, cable TV drops that were 
fed from (as it turned out) aluminum-jacket cable with shielding cracks, and 
VCRs. I even had an attorney across the street threaten to sue me after he 
learned the FCC wouldn't help him.

Whenever I was on the air, and the phone rang, the policy in the household 
was to let me answer it. Same goes for the doorbell.

It took awhile and lots of patience to get things cleared up. And the phone 
company was especialy troublesome since their standard line to customers was 
"turn him in to the FCC." They were lazy liars.

The cable TV company did the right thing and found their bad distribution 
line. They really worked at it. They were the best to deal with here.

I fixed the guy with the 75-foot-long speaker leads by snubbing some chokes 
on those leads up against the speaker terminals on his amplifer. It worked 
like a miracle. He was shocked. That's the way I fixed my own stereo, by the 
way. Same goes for my own phones.

Etc. Etc.

It's hard explaining to folks that the trouble is in their home and that is 
where it has to be fixed. It's almost an impossible argument.

The good news: When I am on SSB, I get no complaints. Maybe that's because 
all they can hear is "Daffy Duck."

Any other stories out there?

Richard, WB5NEN