Hi Kevin,
a good low pass filter is great insurance.  Yes, they help attanuate
signals above the H F ham bands, and if push comes to shove, you are
doing the right thing when the neighbor comes to the door.
A good ground system will also go a long way toward keeping R F I at a minimum.
Pat, K9JAUAt 07:37 PM 10/31/2005, you wrote:
>Do lowpast filters really work or is it just another thing to frivolously
>spend your money on? I'm thinking of buying some since I have intermittent
>tvi problems with just about everything and I only run like 75 wots max for
>my hf which will change after I finish trying out a few of these sloper
>additions.
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Jeff Kenyon" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 8:02 PM
>Subject: Re: My Favorite TVI Fight!
>
>
>Hi Paul, what a headache!  I have heard a lot about that, and some of the
>TVI, is simply TV DX in those high sunspot years.
>
>
>
>
>
>On Mon, 31 Oct 2005, Paul Bolduc wrote:
>
> > Good evening to the list,
> >
> > In the late 1980's I asked the town building inspector for the proper
> > paperwork for putting up a 50 to 75 ft. tower.  I showed him the plans and
> > there was no problem.  This area is very rural and there were only three
> > houses on the road when we first moved in.  I was OK with the building
> > permit because it would not fall on anybody else's proprty and so here's
>the
> > rest of the story.
> >
> > I purchased a 75 ft. crank up tower and brought the whole thing home with
> > two trips to get every part on to the back of my pickup.
> > I dug the hole and prepared the base for pouring cement.  The three weeks
>of
> > letting the cement cure was a trying time because it was ready to go up
>and
> > I was anxious!
> >
> > The day finally arrived when we could man-handle the heavy base on to the
> > bolts or threaded rods coming up through the cement and plumbed up the
>whole
> > thing.  We then used the winch and cable to lift the collapsed tower on to
> > it's mount.  We got it most of the way into position, but the rest was a
>bit
> > too much for only two people with one of us not seeing to line up the
>pivot
> > point!  We tied it off so no wind or movement would knock it over and quit
> > for the day.
> >
> > I had not finished wiping the sweat off my brow when the first TVI call
>came
> > in!  These were our nice neighbors and after I had working antennas on the
> > tower I invited them or all three of them over to watch TV here while I
> > operated.  I was told that I must do some sort of a trick to cause
> > interference only on their TV's.  The man of the house came and saw TV on
>my
> > screen and heard me talking to another station.  He understood and I
> > mentioned that there was a way to eliminate houses and that was to turn
>off
> > the main breaker to each house while the others watched to see if the TV
> > cleared up.  He agreed to do that.  The next time they had interference he
> > called and I said OK and asked my wife to flip the main breaker.  All the
> > battery backups on the alarms started going off and it was a headache.  He
> > said that they still had it and I asked him to turn off his power and have
> > the other neighbor watch.  His wife said No because they were not the
>cause
> > of the interference.  I called the FCC and asked what I could do and they
> > mailed me a pamphlet on this topic which basically said the problem was
>that
> > of the TV owner and very unlikely that it was the Ham operator.
> >
> > I couldn't wait to deliver this package.
> >
> > We could expect a call about twice per week with me causing TVI, even when
>I
> > was in Florida and the shack was unplugged!  I was also the cause of their
> > TV receiving two stations on the same channel when most people were
>outdoors
> > observing The Northern Lights!  I probably also caused the Aurora
>Borealis!
> >
> > The best one yet is when the lady of the house and primary instigator had
>to
> > come over and complain during a torrential downpour just to find us at
>home
> > doing something not involving the radio.  She was soaking wet and refused
>to
> > come into the house to check out my equipment.  They finally moved and
> > things have been quiet ever since.
> >
> > The new neighbors were quite upset with the TV reception so they replaced
> > all the old spliced twin lead and put up a new antenna and they are quite
> > happy and now satellite has come to Royalston, no cable yet and we're
> > thankful we have electricity!
> >
> > Have a great day,
> >
> > Paul Bolduc
> >
> > Amateur Radio Operator: WR1X
> > Email: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > Located in the only town named Royalston in North America and maybe even
>the
> > world!
> > Royalston is located in Massachusetts, the home of the
> > World Champion New England Patriots!
> >