[SBE] FCC R & R 73.318: FM Blanketing Interference

[Fluker, Steve (CXR-Orlando)]

People don't always believe you with their telephones, so I had found
two phones that looked very similar, one had a horrible RFI issue and
the other was clean as can be.  Show and tell is always good and I'd
plug in both phones, one at a time, so they could see the difference
first hand.  

 

The FCC also has a brochure that you can give to the people who call
explaining the radio station's responsibility.  This is something you
can hand out if you do go to a HMA meeting, or in the case where someone
is really getting nasty about it.

 

http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fcc_rfi_CIB-10.pdf  is the link to this.  It's
for telephone interference only.

 

Steve Fluker

 

 

 

 

 

From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of
Robert Combs
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 9:40 AM
To: 'sbe member discussion mail list'
Subject: Re: [SBE] FCC R & R 73.318: FM Blanketing Interference

 

Went through this just a couple of years ago when we moved an AM and
built an FM tower in its place. First thing I would check is your RF
levels in the neighborhood. Ended up mine were very, very high. Fixing
that fixed 75% of my problems.

 

I can tell you that you might as well go ahead and replace the garage
door openers. The older ones use only one frequency where the new ones
usually have a couple. I carried cheap telephones from the Shack around
in my truck for a year just in case I had to show a "neighbor" that
their expensive, top of the line telephone was a piece of crap and they
could replace it or I would give them one that works but was not "as
pretty". I could not fix the talking scales in one ladies bathroom but I
did prove to her that it was not my fault she and 3 other neighbors were
using the same frequency for their wireless internet and knocking each
other out. We also found a lot of problems with the cable system like
loose grounds and cut shielding, so make sure you get them involved as
well.

 

My main advice for you is to make sure the neighbors see you or someone
from the station. If they have a home owners association, ask to speak
at the next meeting and give everyone a phone number they can call. DO
NOT make this your cell phone or they will drive you nuts. Whenever
anyone called me, I would always call back to make an appointment to
check out what is happening. I refused to take anything apart that way I
was not liable for any other repairs. As long as they feel you are not
ignoring them, they will cooperate a lot easier and it will stave off
that call to the FCC. Oh and keep notes. I did have one neighbor call
her friend the "Senator" who called the FCC in Washington and then
everything flowed down hill. Luckily I had made notes of everything I
had done when the FCC inspector arrived. She read my notes and
determined that I was doing everything I was required to do and told the
neighborhood to be patient.

 

 

Robert Combs

Market Chief Engineer

Cumulus Broadcasting - Savannah/Albany

robert.combs at cumulus.com

912-961-9000, x4000

 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf
Of Dennis Sloatman
	Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 12:45 PM
	To: 'sbe member discussion mail list'
	Subject: [SBE] FCC R & R 73.318: FM Blanketing Interference

	Hello to the collective brain:

	 

	I am now, for the first time in a nearly forty-year career,
dealing with FM RFI complaints from a new FM station facility (15kW ERP/
400' HAAT).  

	 

	These complaints include demodulated audio in PC speakers,
garage door openers that no longer work, as well as the customary "I can
no longer pick up a station I used to hear that's 95 miles away," etc.
My experiences in this area have all been with AM stations as the
facilities over the years I've had with FM have been operating from
towers in wide-open farmland or in the swamps of Florida (I always
seemed to be the C.E. for an AM  with its site located in
densely-populated residential areas).  AM RFI in some respects, is
easier to resolve inasmuch as good grounding can resolve most
complaints.

	 

	I'd like to hear of the experiences/solutions from all of you on
this board.  I believe sharing these would be of benefit to all of us.

	 

	Thank-you!

	 

	Best Regards,

	 

	Dennis L Sloatman

	Sloatman Associates

	MCSE/CSRE/AMD/CBNT/CNE

	 

 

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