Very severe interference on the AM band.

[Sandy G]

Uncle Charlie was shorthand for the Federal Communications Commission. Back in the 70s, during the CB craze, ALL of us had a "Weather Eye" out for him, 'cause so many were running illegal "Linears" to boost the power, had extra crystals, illegal antennas, all that stuff.

[DavGoodlin]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Uncle Charlie was shorthand for the Federal Communications Commission. Back in the 70s, during the CB craze, ALL of us had a "Weather Eye" out for him, 'cause so many were running illegal "Linears" to boost the power, had extra crystals, illegal antennas, all that stuff.

Thanks for a 45 -year flashback Sandy! These days "Charlie" is raking in the dough from the spectrum repacks. I don't think Charlie follows up on obscenity violations anymore, like in the 80's

We of a certain age played with our walkie talkies during the CB craze. Radio Shack made a kids base station that received all 23 CB channels but transmitted only 200 mW and just channel 14.

I noticed the label on these "rigs" said it complied with FCC part 15. My brother and I were determined to find that nanny-state-mandated part 15, modify or remove it and transmit some real power.

I found a 20-foot well pipe and stood it on end at our fort up in the woods, with a big ground clamp to connect a wire the "talkie's" antenna. At least I knew a 3-foot whip antenna was lame at 27Mhz, but ignored the importance of a ground plane.

AM interference is best located with a portable. My personal experiences are: poorly grounded fluorescents, LED bulbs but only when physically close, failing photocells on old mercury vapor outdoor lights.

I always put an X2 safety cap across line in AC/DC radios and a Y2 from line to ground in transformer supply sets but I'm not sure that helps much.