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Swank Force One
Swank Force One MegaDork
6/20/15 7:59 p.m.

There's some radio cowboy in my area with what i assume to be an overboosted setup.

Anytime he talks, i hear it through my home stereo. I don't have a radio tuner in that setup, no antenna.

This started about a month ago. It's super annoying.

What do i do about it?

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/20/15 8:01 p.m.

Call the FCC?

Toyman01
Toyman01 GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/20/15 8:04 p.m.

Start here.

https://transition.fcc.gov/eb/AmaCmpl.html

Nick_Comstock
Nick_Comstock PowerDork
6/20/15 8:20 p.m.

Nut punch

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess MegaDork
6/20/15 8:22 p.m.

What makes you think it is a Ham operator?

Jumper K. Balls
Jumper K. Balls UberDork
6/20/15 8:33 p.m.

There is a guy down the street with what I assume is an over boosted CB in his 78 el Camino that makes anything in my house with a speaker come alive when he gets within a block of me. It would distort the picture on my tube television back when I still had one and If I have a guitar amp turned on it comes out louder than my guitar.

He never even says anything interesting. Just BS small talk.

Swank Force One
Swank Force One MegaDork
6/20/15 8:52 p.m.
Dr. Hess wrote: What makes you think it is a Ham operator?

Because he's using call codes and attempting to reach all areas of the US and chatting to people about how he is so happy to have reached Florida this morning and blah blah blah.

petegossett
petegossett GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
6/20/15 9:37 p.m.
Swank Force One wrote: What do i do about it?

Find his frequency and blast the organ solo from Innagadadavida back to him in a constant loop?

Trans_Maro
Trans_Maro UberDork
6/20/15 9:43 p.m.

CB radio = redneck internet.

Find his house and shove a pin through the coax.

A dead short will do wonders to the radio.

Beer Baron
Beer Baron UltimaDork
6/20/15 9:49 p.m.

Ham radio operator licenses are matters of public record. Look up his call sign, and you will get his name and address. Go to his house. Inform him what sort of interference his equipment is causing and inform him that he needs to fix it.

http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search

You might also cruise the neighborhood and look for cars with Ham antennas on the roof and/or a vanity plate with his call sign.

peter
peter Dork
6/20/15 9:50 p.m.

I'd guess he's pretty darn close by. I bet if you start knocking on neighbor's doors and asking politely if they know any radio operators in the area, you'll find him pretty quick.

If you can figure out his call-sign, a polite call to the ARRL might get you some help.

bentwrench
bentwrench HalfDork
6/20/15 11:04 p.m.

Someone with a HAM license would not risk their license operating an illegal CB.

A HAM radio run legally will not interfere with your sound systems.

He is running a CB with a Linear Amp to boost his power, most of these amps are dirty and all illegal used in this fashion.

Swank Force One
Swank Force One MegaDork
6/20/15 11:10 p.m.

I probably used the wrong term, i don't mess with this stuff. Someone is doing radio things and it's interfering with my enjoyment of "Ow! My Balls!"

mndsm
mndsm MegaDork
6/20/15 11:18 p.m.

Go away, batin!

Keith Tanner
Keith Tanner GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/20/15 11:38 p.m.
Beer Baron wrote: Ham radio operator licenses are matters of public record. Look up his call sign, and you will get his name and address. Go to his house. Inform him what sort of interference his equipment is causing and inform him that he needs to fix it. http://www.arrl.org/advanced-call-sign-search You might also cruise the neighborhood and look for cars with Ham antennas on the roof and/or a vanity plate with his call sign.

Exactly. If he's a ham, he's not doing this on purpose. Let him know there's a problem.
VE3BBI

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess MegaDork
6/21/15 7:57 a.m.
Swank Force One wrote: I probably used the wrong term, i don't mess with this stuff. Someone is doing radio things and it's interfering with my enjoyment of "Ow! My Balls!"

Ham (Amateur Radio) operators don't get all excited about talking to Florida. They will also use their call sign all the time. It sounds like an illegal CB radio operator, not a Ham radio operator.

Dr.Hess NG6Y

Knurled
Knurled GRM+ Memberand UltimaDork
6/21/15 11:44 a.m.

I shudder to think how overboosted a CB would have to be in order to reach Florida from Indiana.

Beer Baron
Beer Baron UltimaDork
6/21/15 12:25 p.m.

Boosting a signal isn't going to help receive from that far away. They're using another method to repeat, bounce, or carry the signal. They can talk just as far without causing illegal interference.

moparman76_69
moparman76_69 UltraDork
6/21/15 1:03 p.m.

Drive around and look for a giant 3 element antenna setup 50 ft or so high on a tower with guy wires. Guy I know ran a 1600 watt tube amp through a base station and could simultaneously talk to Europe and shut off every TV in the trailer park.

You can't legally use the repeaters without a ham license so if he's excited about reaching FL then it's gotta be CB.

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/21/15 1:18 p.m.

on a good day with the right atmospheric conditions.. radio waves travel a -long- distance. I have picked up FM Long Island radio in Delaware with the right conditions.

That said, there is no excuse for being a menace to society.. and yes, I do mean that. transmitting that much energy to come through on your non-radio equipped stereo means he is interfering with everything around.. that includes the radios the Police, Fire, and EMTs use

Swank Force One
Swank Force One MegaDork
6/21/15 2:52 p.m.

775 Busy Bee here in the corrrrnnnnn fields of Indiana, i can heaarrrrr yewwwww real good Ghost Rider 606 down in th' Carolinas sure can. 775 Busy Bee here working the ground waves blah blah blah

I'll do an FCC report tomorrow, thanks gents.

Swank Force One
Swank Force One MegaDork
6/21/15 2:53 p.m.

Do we think this guy could have killed my beloved Onkyo M5150 that died a week or so ago?

wbjones
wbjones MegaDork
6/21/15 6:15 p.m.
Knurled wrote: I shudder to think how overboosted a CB would have to be in order to reach Florida from Indiana.

I had a pure stock CB (yrs and yrs ago) and picked up highway chatter about I 70 traffic … the closest point would be St. Louis to Columbus to Wheeling …

it was explained to me as "skip"

mad_machine
mad_machine GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/21/15 7:31 p.m.

interesting little read

Big Time Operators CB club

Kenny_McCormic
Kenny_McCormic PowerDork
6/21/15 7:36 p.m.

In reply to wbjones:

Skip is an atmospheric phenomena that allows a low power, low range, radio to get much more distance in two way communications.

You get this weird interference from (often poorly) modified extremely high power radio rigs spewing out all kinds of harmonic RFI that wouldn't have made any difference (if it even showed up) at stock power. Hams with high power and/or experimental (but legal) stuff care about this and make every attempt to avoid it, people with illegal CB setups generally don't.

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