It has been 8 years that we have been suffering. It happens so infrequently that we just tend to forget about it. It comes in waves, sometimes occurs many times a day but then may go many weeks or months without occurring.

Essentially my TV/PC speakers get this weird muffled interference which sounds like one end of a conversation. It was disturbing at first, we thought the house was haunted for the first year until we managed to be by the speakers to hear the "voice."

Tonight it has been going for several minutes, interrupting my Netflix, and I'm sick of it.

I'll have to look again, but we have a neighbor on the street who drives around with a truck that has one of those big antennas on the top, and I think he has a giant tower in his backyard. He's about 2 or 3 houses away. Could this be ham radio? Could it be from him? We never thought of him, but sort of made a connection recently. Maybe we're completely wrong, who knows?

How can I find out: 1) What is causing this noise? and 2) How to report it so it stops. Is there some sort of FCC number I can call anonymously?

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Unless they are broadcasting at a power level they aren't allowed by law, you're stuck with the problem. I'd look at better shielded speakers and electronics, but they are designed to allow a bit of noise in.

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The thing is, it only works on one set of speakers (external). But it also gets amplified by the 100w subwoofer which piggy backs off of the speakers, so the noise can be pronounced.

Here's a sample: ham_sound.mp4

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280

We had a similar problem a few years back, we were getting two-way radio communications and the cable company found some cable in the box that had some bared insulation, and the metal box it's in was acting as an antenna(?)

The 'box' being the external residential hub that services a series of homes.

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a ham radio station would be fairly obvious. unless you live in a dense area it's an individual and not a repeater. to generate localized interference you'd see, Tall antenna. or large antenna array If you feel the urge I can see if there is a ham operator in your General area. with it being sporadic though, it's prolly not. If you invest your time and money into equipment (several thousand dollars) you'd be using it all the time and CQ'ing a lot.

I wont rule out Illegal broadcasters though. there is a FCC complaint number. I'll dig it up

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

Most ham radios will NOT interfere with broadcast frequencies. The type of antennas you decribe sound like someone who is running a LOT of power through a cb(11 meter band). The law says 5 watts. A lot of people run a linear amplifier. There is little to no enforcement of the cb laws anymore.

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and there was little enforcement to begin with.

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hum.....
1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed

do you hear the persons call sign? with ham you have a # assigned that you have to use. with cb its not required and usually just a nickname. if you think it is infact some one in your neighborhood, call the fcc. if they are within their limits, nothing will happen to them. if they determine the use of a linear amp or other abuse, they will load all of that guys equipment up right then and there

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Listening to the audio clip, it sounds like the interference is at a very low level. A couple of ferrite cores on the input and output leads of the amplifier will probably clear it up completely.

Odds are, the ham is probably running a clean setup and is operating completely legally. Not realistic to think that the FCC is going to come and seize his equipment and cart him off to Levenworth just because his signal is picked up by some cheaply made unshielded consumer electronics junk.

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There are several things you ought to try.

• Accurately determine the source of the interference. Maybe you'll need to buy a handheld scanner and learn a bit about Ham frequencies. The only thing worse than being a tattle-tale is tattling on the wrong guy.
• If it turns out to be your neighbor, try and approach him about it. There may be some things he can do on his end to mitigate the problem. Maybe his output filter needs tuning; in which case he'll probably be glad to fix it, or at least happier about it than if you cause the FCC to send him a nastygram by complaining. Most of the Hams I know are law & order types.
• Make friends with him, and he just might help you with shielding and filters for your AV equipment, even if he isn't the source of the interference.
• If it is him, and he's a ****head, by all means, report him to the FCC; but, please not before you try an informal neighborly resolution.

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I had the same issue and believe it was a seriously over powered cb radio.

After contacting the police, they can't do anything as it's an FCC issue.

Contacting the antenna person may bring relief, or a larger head ache. I would think ham operators are a conscientious bunch.

Good luck.

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83 SD

84 CD

I had all my fillings taken out and the voices stopped.




For a while.

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That's single sideband, ham for sure.
Issue is probably your equipment and your problem.