Anything in your house that is conductive can be an effective antenna for RFI. This includes water pipes and grounds. Remember if your ground wire is more than a half wave long in respect to your fundamental frequency, it may be an effective safety ground, but, it also may be a very effective long wire antenna for RFI. How long and where are the water pipes in your house? How long is your station groundwire before it gets to the ground rod? If your station ground is shared with the cable ground, or the electrical ground (shame on you!), this could be a real problem.

Do not modify or fix your neighbors equipment. If something should happen coincidentally to his television, they are going to blame you!

Terminating your Amateur Radio activities is not an acceptable (permanent) solution to the problem. As long as your station is in order, and the interference is not caused by spurious emissions from your station, the FCC will allow you the privilege to continue operating.

But if you decide to be diplomatic about it, there are other ways to enter the packet network, such as 440 Mhz or other bands depending on your location. It also might be a good idea to refrain from operating if you are in conflict with the Super Bowl, or a community-access viewing of your neighbor's grand- daughter's dance recital.

There are many sources where you can find information on the RFI phenomenon. I would recommend first contacting The American Radio Relay League. They have several free informational packages, and a new book on interference; "Radio Frequency Interference - How to Find It and Fix It." You can also contact The Federal Communications Local Field Office in your area. They too have information on the subject. You can contact your local cable company or The National Cable TV Association, Director of Engineering, Science and Technology Department, 1724 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, DC 20036.

Now if you find an unusual solution to any type of RFI (EMI), I would urge you to fill out an EMI Report Form, which is available from the ARRL. Hopefully your discovery and knowledge can be passed on to other amateurs who may be experiencing the same type of interference.

I sincerely hope that these bulletins have been informative and helpful in solving your RFI problems. Good Luck and Good Hunting!

Sincerely,

 Chuck Manetta N4YJC @ KF4OJ.#ARCFL.FL.USA.NA

 PS. My present Home BBS is N4HHP. Please send replys to: N4YJC @ N4HHP.#HWDFL.FL.USA.NA