[W5SFA] radio interference?

Tue Aug 9 09:10:18 CDT 2016

Brad,

Since your neighbor is experiencing RFI with his over the air antenna, and you're picking up the same interference over your cable, there is a good chance your cable is compromised in some way.   The outer covering could be damaged and is letting moisture in, or it got partially cut underground with a shovel, or the connectors aren't properly waterproofed.  If you can trace the cable back toward the source, you might be able to find a bad connection.  But if the cable is buried and the damage is underground, the cable would need to be replaced.

W5SFA members - anyone have a suggestion in diagnosing this, or finding the source of the RFI?

73,

Roger

From: Buckeroo Brad [mailto:buckeroobrad at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, August 8, 2016 10:04 PM
To: Roger Klein
Subject: Re: radio interference?

The camp receives a signal from Direct TV I think, then they redistribute 59 channels.  At the camp controller there seems to be no interference at all.  But I am at the end of the cable.  We are having problems with signal clarity.  The man next door receives his signal "over the air HD" and he gets interference at bight, I think.  He first brought it to my attention when I first moved here.  He thought was me because of my antenna set-up.  But it was happening when I was off the air.  

Currently, I have no shortwave radio.  I have a mobile vhf/uhf rig YEASU FT-7900 that I use for my base.  I was just looking for my software to update my radio to SFA's frequencies.  I may to do it manually.  I'll watch for it to happen again and check other stations. 

I thought that it might be our cable out here.  The fact is, they buried the cable without a conduit.  They didn't tape the connectors either.  It was done shoddy country boy style.  There is no telling what I am hearing or if it isn't some shared signal with Direct TV that is bleeding through.  I wish I had a way to record the noise.

Thanks for answering my query, and any help.

Brad

On Mon, Aug 8, 2016 at 9:30 PM, Roger Klein <rwklein at katyweb.net> wrote:

Brad,

Sure sounds like it could be RF interference.  Can you give a little more information about your antenna setup?  If it's cable TV, I'm a bit surprised you'd pick up interference, but it's not impossible.  If it's an outside antenna I'd expect it would be more likely to pick up interference from a nearby transmitter.  

I've cc'd the club's reflector to get ideas on how to best track down the source.  If you have a portable receiver like a shortwave radio, you might be able to tune around when it is happening to figure out what frequency the interference is coming from.  

Some other thoughts:  does it happen on a particular station that you're tuned to, but not on others?  That might also provide a clue to track down the source. 

73,

Roger

From: Buckeroo Brad [mailto:buckeroobrad at gmail.com] 
Sent: Monday, August 8, 2016 7:11 PM
To: Roger Klein
Subject: radio interference?

Hi Roger,

This is Brad Taylor.  I live at Coushatte Recreation Ranch on Nelius Road.  Lately, our television cable signals have been getting interrupted by what sounds like someone keying a mic with static, but no voice.  I've heard of other residents having this issue also.  Does anybody in the club have the equipment to find this kind of interference?

Brad

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