For the last 6 years i have had a noise on 15m that is 25KHz wide and various sprogs of the noise on other HF Amateur bands. I have been reluctant to try to resolve the problem as I was not happy confronting neighbours when I found the problem. During the evenings when the unit is switched on it has been S9 on all Amateur Bands but when on stand by only sprogs up and down the bands.
I decided that I would contact Ofcom using the Spectrum Abuse form on their website. Within a few days I had a telephone call to discuss the problem and the man from the ministry said that he would pass it on to the Field Engineers in my area. A week later the engineer telephoned to arrange an appointment. That was today, armed with DF antenna the men went on a mission up the street. About 1 hour later they came back and told me that they had found the problem a faulty PSU on a TV masthead preamp. The owner was co-operative although confused as to why it was a problem, saying “Well it doesn’t bother us!” They have agreed to have the unit replaced. Ofcom say they will follow the visit up with a letter to the owner of the equipment and make sure that a fix date is arranged. Although they can’t tell the person to switch it off, so the noise is still there. I should see an end to this problem soon, so I can once again enjoy Amateur Radio from my shack. Thank you Ofcom!
