My Congrats to Steve, KA5UAO, upon receiving his General Ticket.
An Unbelievable TVI report from a former next door Neighbor
May 19, 1979
Federal Communications Commission 555 Battery Street San Francisco, CA 94111
Attn. Code 3,
This letter is submitted as a complaint against WA6BOB and as a request for information and clarification of our respective rights and responsibilities.
WA6BOB moved next door to us about three years ago and shortly thereafter we started to experience considerable interference from his amateur radio operations in our television, radio, and telephone. By far, the television problem is the most bothersome.
The television set in question is a color set, presently on rabbit ears with remote control and some sort of filter between the rabbit ears and the set (provided by WA6BOB). Until about six months ago, it was connected to a roof antenna. We have found that there is somewhat less interference with the "rabbit ears" than with the roof antenna. The set was recently inspected and "perked up". We were informed by the service repairman that there was nothing wrong with it.
The main problem is that when WA6BOB is transmitting, the picture becomes seriously distorted and his voice comes in over the audio. sometimes the set goes on and off and or changes channels and/ or changes volume radically from Morse code. A lesser problem is that the television may come on in the middle of the night. We have learned to cope with this part of the problem by turning the set off before going to bed in a way that disconnect the remote. At least, I think that is what it does.
A recent incident, and the one that prompted this letter, occurred at about 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17, 1979. the interference was quite strong and I called WA6BOB. It was agreed, after a rather heated exchange, that I should direct my complaints to the F.C.C. The following morning WA6BOB's Morse code was coming over the radio quite strongly. At 8:10 a.m. on the same morning he was also coming in on the T.V. when my son attempted to watch a few minutes of T.V. before going to school.
None of these events are unusual. Similar incidents have occurred many times in the past. WA6BOB's response to my complaints was initially cooperative and responsive. Similarly, we have shown a great deal of patience. there have been dozens of times when we have not watched T.V. because he was transmitting, however in recent months the relationship has changed and we now have an impasse.
WA6BOB's position is that he has a clean set and that I should go on the cable to avoid his interference, I refuse to do this. I have the trouble with the idea that everyone who lives near a ham radio operator should have to go on cable or take any other extraordinary measures to avoid interference of this sort. I question the implication in his position that he or other amateur radio operators in general have some sort of pre-emptive right to the airways.
I request that you process this complaint under your usual procedures and that you provide me with information on my rights and responsibilities in this matter. It is emphasized that I have no desire to stop WA6BOB's amateur radio activities or to curtail them any more than is necessary to keep him out of my T.V. and presumably out of those of others in the neighborhood.
JGK (Plaintiff)
And now a brief comment from the defendants side.
Jack declined free cable to be provided by me. Jack declined a new T.V. from me, as his was an old Magnavox tube, with ultra sound remote. Jack declined fully shielded phone lines within the house at my expense. Jack declined service from the phone company for RF suppression on his phone line. ALL other neighbors accepted my offer of free cable T.V. ALL other neighbors accepted installation of shielded phone lines installed in their homes. I purchased several new televisions for other neighbors. All neighbors were impressed from my response to immediately remedy the problems as there were no further complaints from any neighbor.
As to the FCC, well they sent the plaintiff an Interference handbook and also advised him to accept my free offers, to which the plaintiff DECLINED.
Recruiting Amateur Radio Candidates at Field Day
The first step for any recruitment effort is to appoint an assistant Scoutmaster or Troop Committee member to serve as the troop membership chair. This person will develop and implement a year round growth plan that incorporates all methods of recruitment, working closely with Boy Scout packs in the community, and the unit commissioner.
With this notation so it began that I, along with the Scoutmaster, David Howe, and others within the Bobcat Radio Club, designed a field day with the involvement of more than thirty Boy Scouts to earn their Radio Merit Badges.
Field Day was a great opportunity for the scouts, and prospective Hams with some of their parents, as well as a few currently licensed scouts, to involve themselves with licensed operators in the ARRL Field Day.
The activities were coordinated mainly with the Scoutmaster, David, K6DBH, who recently, before field day, obtained his General Class license. The program was set to sequence the scouts minimum radio requirements with one dedicated station.
There were two other stations operated by club members that were immediately available to them at any time they desired to operate under direct supervision. This gave them an opportunity to be more casual and gain knowledge about amateur radio. The Club operated with the intent to interest them in a casual atmosphere.
Incentives. There were placards made so each could pin a new state with their assigned colors when worked.
GOTA, an ARRL incentive, and others were an invite for people to Get On The Air to participate in Field Day.
Operating modes other than Phone with a laptop in RTTY and CW is keeping the hobby affiliated with the computer is a new incentive with today's technology.
Assistance in the set-up of antennas, solar, battery, and generator power sources, shows how other factors are involved within amateur radio.
We encouraged the scouts to ask questions as this really inspired them to ask more as the answers given to them were in simple non-technical terms.
Our location was at Lake Casitas, Ojai, Santa Barbara Section, operating a 3A Station within ten acres adjacent to to the lake with plenty of space for tents, campers, BBQ pits, and antennas with sufficient separation for the scouts to involve themselves with other activities when not operating the radios and attributed to scouting.
The scouts enjoyed themselves for many hours on end as well as a couple of parents vowed to obtain their licenses along with their sons. This was a pleasure well encountered to see the younger ones continue into this hobby as well as a possible foundation towards their majors in college and careers.
Through out the following years I have donated many items of Radios, Test equipment, and Parts to the Scoutmaster for the growing interest in amateur radio within the troop. Many hours of conversation and advice with David has helped him to better his operation of amateur radio to which has reflected to the scouts in his troop.
JOTA, Jamboree on the Air, and other field trips involving amateur radio have given scouts more of an opportunity towards learning about the world, society, and technology.
Many thanks and appreciation to other club members for a great field day.
WA6KCV Robert Clarke ( LADWP Retired ) Now KE7RC KF6IGS Virginia Voyles ( Robert's Niece ) K6DBH David B. Howe - Scout Master( SoCalGas ) K6JH James Henke ( Research Eng. MiniMed ) KJ6H Tod Andrews and Family ( Cinematographer ) KA6WGO Allan Pettibone ( Electrician - S.A.G. Retired) WB6NXP John P. D'Amico ( LAPD Retired )
73 John W5JBO ( E.E. Aerospace Industry, Retired )
Terabytes from Tubes
Mythbusting as printed from CQ Magazine ZERO BIAS, W2VU, February, 2011
Morse Code Usage Will Die Off Now That It's No Longer Required
It has now been six years since the FCC eliminated the Morse code requirement for all classes of amateur radio licenses in the United States. It was predicted by many at the time that without the license requirement, code usage would quickly drop off. Yet nearly from the beginning we've heard reports of growing numbers of hams getting on CW bands, operating slowly and building up their skills, and of newly licensed hams saying they now wanted to learn code even though they no longer had to. Numbers of logs submitted in our CW contests have continued to grow, often setting records, and the number of stations worked in these logs has grown as well. Plus, in a fascinating analysis in this months issue of our sister magazine, World Radio Online, columnist Randall Noon, KC0CCR, used published Field Day statistics to conclude that the number of active hams has increased steadily in recent years, as well as the number of active hams using CW. The number of CW QSO's reported for Field Day has grown by nearly 40,000 from 2005 to 2010 ! You can read this complete article by downloading the current issue of WRO at http://www.worldradiomagazine.com Morse code is even showing up on Twitter ! When Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, who's also K7EQI, was named to chair the subcommittee whose responsibilities include overseeing the FCC, he notified his followers via Twitter with a short Mores code message: