HAM radio operator in my left channel. Is it my AC?

Cheeseboy · « **on:** 17 May 2012, 04:59 pm »

After 6 pm there is a HAM radio operator that is broadcasting and he shows up in the left channel of my stereo system. How do I get rid of him? He is usually a little tipsey and calling out for the world to respond to him. He must have a very powerful transmitter. I'm 60 miles away from where he transmits from. He pulls in people from Hawaii and Australia. I hear him but not them. A one sided conversation.

Elizabeth · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 May 2012, 05:14 pm »

His rig may be illegal. The FCC has strict controls on HAM transmitters because without careful tuning they spew all sorts of junk into the other frequencies.

Used to be one could call the FCC and they would go out 'hunting' for the offender,, with big fines, they seemed to be happy to search for offenders in vehicles with equipment designed to ferrit out faulty CB and HAM operators.

Aside from that, your speaker wires are more likely the culprit.
The wires act as antennae.
(How they drag the signal back into the system and it gets amplified I do not understand, only i know they do.)
I had speaker wiring which broadcast any CB drivers passing by. And rerouting the wires stopped it.

Niteshade · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 May 2012, 05:25 pm »

You shouldn't be able to hear someone even 800 ft. away running 1500 watts, which is the legal limit. Does he provide a call sign? If not- it sounds like a local CB'er to me. Most HAM operators run sideband and that wouldn't be intelligible through your amplifier. (SSB sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher.)

Many CB'ers run amplifiers which is illegal. They're improperly made, can put out LOTS of power and do cause havoc sometimes. CB is AM and that is intelligible through your amp. They can talk a long way too if the band is open.

Cheeseboy · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 May 2012, 05:59 pm »

I just finally got the speaker wire that sound best installed. Suck! I'll listen for his call sign and rat him out with the FCC. That is good advice.

Is there anything I can do to insillate the speaker wire. Why the left and not the right speaker? Could it be related to the length of the speaker wire?

TomS · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 May 2012, 06:12 pm »

Quote from: Cheeseboy on 17 May 2012, 05:59 pm

I just finally got the speaker wire that sound best installed. Suck! I'll listen for his call sign and rat him out with the FCC. That is good advice.

If he's not using a call sign, chances are he's probably not an Amateur Radio operator.

hibuckhobby · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 May 2012, 06:18 pm »

If he's a ham, his call sign should start with either the letter K or the letter W. If he got his license in Wisconsin...then it will also have the number 9 in it.
The likelihood that it's a ham is low. How do you know he's 60 miles away? My guess is he's a great deal closer than that, is running illegal power and is broadcasting a location that is different from where he really is. That's a common ruse. Go around your neighborhood and look for antennas.
Hibuck....

adydula · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 May 2012, 06:25 pm »

Hi,

I am a extra class radio operator aka 'ham' and have been thru many RFI issues....all of them have been on the receiving end due to shielding, improper grounding, lousy filtering of devices etc....

There are things you can do...especially since you hear this person only one side....try swapping out the left and right channel speaker wires.... if you were using other speaker wires and not hearing this interference and now with your ultimate speaker wires you do....it may be one of your ultimate wires is not made so ultimate....

Most RFR issue usually come in from being in close proximity of a radio transmitter, commercial or others...aka CB, Ham via brute force induction etc...being so far away indicates you may have a length of wire that is acting as an receiving antenna....the length of wires and radio frequencies are very much related....this is why antennas come in different sizes etc..try coiling up your wire and see if the interferences is anttenuated. You may have an exact multiple of the wavelength this guy is transmitting on....but this is only if he is transmitting on the same frequency. Hams often work all over their permitted spectrum.

How do you know your 60 miles away?

Most hams really care about what they do and will work with 'normal' folks to figure out what is happening.

Also hams do not 'broadcast', they are specifically prohibited by FCC regs to do so. They transmit..Broadacasting is a one way street. We also have to identify with our call signs in our transmissions, andevery 10 minutes etc...

Sorry to hear about your dilemma...its a strange one for sure, but solvable.

All the best
Alex
AG1Q/4

Speedskater · « **Reply #7 on:** 17 May 2012, 06:50 pm »

Jim Brown is both the AES Committee Chair on EMI/RFI interference and a HAM. He has several papers on interference.

http://www.audiosystemsgroup.com/publish.htm

Speedskater · « **Reply #8 on:** 17 May 2012, 06:52 pm »

Power cables, interconnect cables and speaker cables all act as interference antennas into your equipment. Try using a different length and style speaker cable. One that is a less good antenna.

Cheeseboy · « **Reply #9 on:** 17 May 2012, 09:15 pm »

Quote from: hibuckhobby on 17 May 2012, 06:18 pm

The likelihood that it's a ham is low. How do you know he's 60 miles away? My guess is he's a great deal closer than that, is running illegal power and is broadcasting a location that is different from where he really is. That's a common ruse. Go around your neighborhood and look for antennas.
Hibuck....

He always says he is broadcasting from Bodega Bay which is 60 miles away. It could be a ruse. I don't remember if he gave a call sign or a fequency. I'll look for antennas in the area. I'll find out tonight. In the meantime I'll swap speaker cables and cross my fingers. or take speedskaters advice and shorten one of the speaker cables. Thanks for EMI/RFI reference as well.

Rclark · « **Reply #10 on:** 17 May 2012, 10:30 pm »

Not exactly sure why it would be thrilling to say your radio is somewhere else?

ArthurDent · « **Reply #11 on:** 18 May 2012, 12:20 am »

Had a similar problem with a neighbor running a hopped up CB rig (I presume, rather than HAM). Paid some fearless clown to put his antenna up about 100' in a Doug Fir, maybe half a block away. Picked him up thru my TV, thru the stereo speakers, you name it. Luckily it's only one spot in the house. Moved the system and haven't had the problem since, though I do on rare occasion pick up CBers driving by.

Hopefully you can find an easy fix. Contacting the FCC is pretty much a waste of time, I did it. Got a nice packet of information on how to reduce RF interference, and that was it. Good luck.

Speedskater · « **Reply #12 on:** 18 May 2012, 12:30 am »

Something doesn't make sense here. A HAM that is doing long distance communications (DX) is usually proud of exactly where his HAM shack is.

decal · « **Reply #13 on:** 18 May 2012, 01:36 am »

I doubt very seriously that he's a ham operator. Like others have said, he's more than likely an outlaw CBer. Most of those guys could care less about the havoc they wreak on other folks equipment. I know this because I had one of the a'holes living in my neighborhood. I won't go into detail on how the problem was solved, let's just say I made my case and he abided !!!!

thunderbrick · « **Reply #14 on:** 18 May 2012, 02:39 am »

I am not advocating this, but I've hear if you do locate a hopped-up illegal CB system, a nice sewing needle pushed through his coax will fry his xmitter when he keys the mike.

Hypothetically, of course.

Cheeseboy · « **Reply #15 on:** 18 May 2012, 03:43 pm »

What a great excuse to listen to music most of the evening. Herbie Hancock, David Sanborn, Buddy Guy and Roger Waters were all hanging out with me last night to get some more information about the offenders fequency or call sign. Once I started to listen I lost the urge to swap cables, shorten cables or really do much to adress the possible cable problem. No grunge in the AC last night. Awesome.

He never showed up to claim where to find him. He usually is very proud when someone finds him and goes out of his way to talk about being in Bodega Bay and the fishing report. I really think based on this he is a HAM.

I did take a slow drive through the block looking for antennas. Nothing to report there.

Cheeseboy · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 May 2012, 03:47 pm »

Alex,

Thanks for the advice.

CG · « **Reply #17 on:** 18 May 2012, 05:42 pm »

First, whether a ham or CB'er or pirate is using equipment he or she is licensed for really doesn't matter. Your audio equipment isn't smart enough to search the FCC files to know the difference. Besides, AM and FM broadcast stations use far higher power than any CB'er, pirate, or ham can muster. Think of the power line requirements to have a transmitter that outputs 5000 watts...

Here's the unfortunate point. No matter what, the radio that the offending station is using shouldn't be interfering with your audio gear. Not because of what he's doing, but because your audio gear is not supposed to be a radio receiver. Sadly, in an awkward way, they often do act as radio receivers. That's the problem. Without going into the technical reasons why this is, I'll just say that it's combination of the circuit and how it's implemented. Thus, it's your problem, not his.

Making him go away does alleviate your problem, for the moment, just as getting rid of all the other cars and telephone poles would help a drunk driver. But, it's not a real solution.

What I suspect is that this fellow just habitually operates on close to the same frequency most of the time. I also suspect that you have a cable in your system, whether interconnect or speaker, that is either not making a good connection or is of a length that just happens to be resonant on the frequency the fellow is transmitting on. Given the right combination of cable length and audio circuitry, the cable can act as a reasonably high efficiency antenna and put a pretty good RF voltage into your audio gear where it's detected and comes out as an audio signal. Then you get to listen to the guy talking away. Think of your audio gear as a way fancy crystal set; same exact principle.

That's the layman's version.

When I was in college in New England, our stereo system suddenly started speaking to us late in the afternoons. It was the Voice of America transmitting on shortwave from Greenville, North Carolina. That was a lot further than 60 miles away. It was a combination of radio propagation conditions making the broadcast especially strong in Massachusetts and the length of the speaker cable. I fixed the problem by adding two feet to the cable length. Problem gone.

You might have some luck by rearranging your cable placement. Check your connections for cleanliness - that never hurts anyway.

Look on the bright side. If for some reason your set-up is susceptible ro RFI problems, at least this guy is strong enough and using the right modulation format for you to recognize the problem. There's lots of more subtle effects other stations could be having on your audio performance. Fix it, and things should sound better all around.

Cheeseboy · « **Reply #18 on:** 18 May 2012, 07:00 pm »

That makes sense. I'll probably never find him for a discussion so I should adress the problem on my own. Take ownership of the problem and fix it. I think I'll start by shortening the speaker cable length on the left side or switching the two out.

TomS · « **Reply #19 on:** 18 May 2012, 07:09 pm »

Quote from: Cheeseboy on 18 May 2012, 07:00 pm

That makes sense. I'll probably never find him for a discussion so I should adress the problem on my own. Take ownership of the problem and fix it. I think I'll start by shortening the speaker cable length on the left side or switching the two out.

Actually, it's easy enough to add a little bit to one, which changes the tuning, rather than cutting it and having no point of return

Worth a shot anyway.