"DES" wrote

What the hell, public forum or not, I need some help here, and this
guy is giving legal users a bad name.

I've approached the guy *several* times over the past few yrs and
asked him very nicely to lower the boost/gain (whatever it's called)
on his radio and he has complaied to a certain extent.

Well, here's another bit of my take on the matter.

By doing what you did, you (implicitly) put all of the blame and
responsibility for fixing the problem on his shoulders.

If he is in fact a ham (as your subsequent message seems to
indicate), and if he's transmitting legally within the scope of his
license, then *anything* he did to help reduce your undesired-
reception problem was a *favor* to you. It was not required by law.

In retrospect, you might have gotten better long-term results if you
had instead approached him and said,

"Hey, my stereo is picking up your transmissions. Is there any way
you can help me eliminate this problem?"

If you had phrased it that way, you might have a long-term solution by
now... you'd have indicated that you were open to possible solutions
other than "Hey, turn that blasted thing down!"

You didn't... because you didn't realize at the time that in a
situation such as this (if it's actually "ham radio transmissions
being picked up by consumer-electronics equipment"), the law says that
it is *your* responsibility to fix the problem, and not his. Instead,
you seem to have just repeated your demand that *he* fix the problem
(by changing his behavior).

I agree with others, that your neighbor could and should have done
more to help bring matters to a friendly and successful conclusion.
He could have educated you as to the actual cause of the problem, and
how to go about truly fixing it. He could have been a better
"ambassador" for ham radio. It's a shame that he didn't. Possibly he
didn't know how to go about doing this well... or possibly he's just a
jerk (some hams are, alas).

On the other hand, it's possible that the attitude you were expressing
at the time was hostile enough that he wasn't inclined to be a nice
guy and go to extra effort to calm you down and explain matters in a
helpful fashion.

At this point, the bridges between the two of you *may* have been
burned... or, you may be able to rebuild them, and get into a dialog
with him which will bring matters to a successful conclusion.

In order to do so, I suspect that you may have to eat a bit of crow...
by going to him and say "Hey, guy, I'm sorry I hassled you so hard. I
realize now that you're a licensed ham, and I understand that you do
have a right to transmit. I'd like to ask you for help in figuring
out how to filter my radios and TV so that your transmissions don't
get into them so badly."

If you're willing to do that, I think there's a fair chance that
you'll get a helpful response.

His broadcast were only coming through my stereo speakers during low
passages at the time.

As of a few months ago, it is now so bad, that his broadcast are now
coming through my TV speakers, and causing horizontal lines in the
picture. (on all four of my TV's) And it's so bad on my computer
speakers now, that I have to turn them off. As far as listening to my
stereo, I can't even do that now if he is broadcasting.

I feel I ought to point out a minor terminology issue here (which is
something that your neighbor would know as a ham, but which you
weren't aware of).

In FCC language, a "broadcast" is a one-way transmission - somebody
sends it, there's no direct response from whomever is listening (if
anyone is). TV stations broadcast. Commercial radio stations
broadcast.

Hams don't broadcast - with very rare and specific exceptions, we
aren't allowed to. We "transmit", in a two-way conversation with one
or more other hams.

So I approached him again, only this time, he told me to "F off", that
"he wasn't doing anything illegal".

When I got home, not only was the broadcast even louder, he was
telling one of his radio buddies about the "incident" in FULL detail.

So, I know for a FACT it is him.

I know just need to know what kind of radio he is using.

It's not likely to be easy to tell just by looking at his antenna,
because the CB frequencies (the 11-meter band, around 27 MHz) are very
close to those used in one of the ham-radio bands (the 10-meter band,
around 28 MHz). If he's transmitting CB with enough power to get into
your radios, then he's probably breaking the law... but if he's
transmitting on 10 meters using his ham privileges, then there's a
very good chance that he's entirely legal.

You'll probably need access to a radio receiver or some test equipment
to determine accurately what frequency he is transmitting.

A simple RF frequency counter, hooked to a few feet of wire, would
probably be sensitive enough.

A CB radio, tuned through the channels, would let you determine
whether he's transmitting on a (legal) CB frequency.

A ham-radio receiver, or a general-purpose shortwave receiver which
works up through 30 MHz, would do as well, as long as its dial is
calibrated accurately enough.

Question, can a CB transmit

Yes, it can. CB radios are limited by law to a relatively low power
and to relatively short distances (and, unfortunately, these laws are
broken just about as frequently as the laws against jaywalking).

I agree with another comment that was posted - it's unlikely that a
legal-power CB transmission would cause your problems. Legal CB AM
transmissions are limited to around 3.5 watts of RF power, and in my
experience one usually does not start getting "break-through" into
consumer electronics equipment until the RF power is up in the range
of 20 to 30 watts (depending on frequency, antenna gain, proximity,
phase of moon, and about a dozen other factors).

At this point, my advice is to approach your neighbor in a non-hostile
fashion, and ask him for help in fixing your problem (rather than
demanding that he shut down). As others have pointed out, if he's a
ham and is acting legally, the FCC almost certainly *not* provide you
with any help or ammunition in shutting him down, and your local legal
authorities have no jurisdiction to do so.

If you don't feel comfortable in approaching him in person at this
point, try writing him a friendly letter.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
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