Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!agate!pasteur!ames!ncar!noao!mcdsun!nud!anasaz!john
From: john@anasaz.UUCP (John Moore)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: phone interference
Message-ID: <955@anasaz.UUCP>
Date: 13 Apr 88 15:08:11 GMT
References: <528@intvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: john@anasaz.UUCP (John Moore)
Organization: Anasazi Inc, Phoenix AZ
Lines: 53

In article <528@intvax.UUCP> davidson@intvax.UUCP (William M. Davidson) writes:
%I have a neighbor that is a amateur radio operator and sometimes I can pick
%up his transmissions on our kitchen wall phone.  I know that the FCC has a
%law about radio and tv interference.  Does the same law apply to phone
%interference?  If yes, what recourse do I have to stop the interference?
%
%I am unable to understand anything that my neighbor is saying including has
%call letters.  But his transmissions are louder than the phone conversation
%so I usually have to hang-up and try the phone call later.

The odds are very high that the problem is with your telephone. I
would suggest the following:

   (1) Talk to your neighbor in a friendly way and inform him of the
       problem. He may be able to help, and should try. However, he
       is NOT legally required to do anything about your problem!

   (2) Try other phones in your house. Do all phones pick up the
       interference, or just the kitchen phone? Try it with the
       kitchen phone disconnected. If just the kitchen phone has
       a problem, get it fixed! If it is a Western Electric phone,
       an AT&T phone store will install a filter for about $17.00. 
       If the phone has a cord (rather than directly mounting on the
       wall), you can buy a filter at radio shack or an AT&T phone
       store.  It is your responsibility, not your neighbor's, 
       to fix it. If your hear it on every phone in your house, with
       all others disconnected, then the problem is in the telephone
       system. Call the phone company and get them to fix it.

The major cause of complaints to the FCC about ham radio interference
is now telephone interference. The FCC does not protect audio devices!
Amateur equipment can be installed in ways to reduce the interference
(with good grounding systems, HIGH antennas, etc), but in most cases
the only cure is to fix the defective telephone equipment.

I have accompanied FCC inspectors in a case exactly like yours. A number
of people were complaining about telephone interference. However, in
the same area, a number experienced no interference! The difference
was in their telephones. In one case, the interference was strongest
on a wall phone in the kitchen (sound familiar?). Removing that phone
caused the interference to go away in the other phones in the house. That
phone will be repaired, by a phone store, at the owners expense.

Please... talk to the ham and see if you can resolve it in a friendly
way! If you try to use coercion via the FCC, you will almost undoubtedly
discover that you, not the ham, are responsible for fixing the problem. 
You will just waste the FCC's time, the ham's time, and your own time!
You will also probably wait 3 years for FCC action.
-- 
John Moore (NJ7E)   hao!noao!mcdsun!nud!anasaz!john
(602) 870-3330 (day or evening)
The opinions expressed here are obviously not mine, so they must be
someone else's.