[Elecraft] Touch lamps
Hi Byron, A touch lamp is a lamp that is turned ON and OFF by touching ... usually a table lamp of some sort ... with the base / stand responding to the capacity of one's hand for the switching action. Basically the lamp has a free-running oscillator that is detuned when the lamp is touched, causing the switching action. I'm aware of some that operate in the 80M range. Once took a crew on a 400+ mile round-trip ... Montana's a big state ... to respond to a ham's line noise complaint. After much searching, involving switching off the power to an entire block, and then to individual houses, found two touch-lamps in the bedroom of his parent's house next door. (;-) Some light dimmers are noise generators, also. 73! Ken Kopp - K0PP elecraftcov...@rfwave.net http://tinyurl.com/7lm3m5 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps
Oh how well I know! We had a touch lamp that produced a signal at 450khz so strong it could be heard for blocks. I gutted the circuit and installed a line cord switch. I suspect my neighbor has one now and I'm trying to figure out how to approach him about it. Steve N4LQ n...@carolina.rr.com - Original Message - From: Ken Kopp k...@rfwave.net To: Byron Servies by...@servies.us Cc: Elecraft Reflector elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 1:08 PM Subject: [Elecraft] Touch lamps Hi Byron, A touch lamp is a lamp that is turned ON and OFF by touching ... usually a table lamp of some sort ... with the base / stand responding to the capacity of one's hand for the switching action. Basically the lamp has a free-running oscillator that is detuned when the lamp is touched, causing the switching action. I'm aware of some that operate in the 80M range. Once took a crew on a 400+ mile round-trip ... Montana's a big state ... to respond to a ham's line noise complaint. After much searching, involving switching off the power to an entire block, and then to individual houses, found two touch-lamps in the bedroom of his parent's house next door. (;-) Some light dimmers are noise generators, also. 73! Ken Kopp - K0PP elecraftcov...@rfwave.net http://tinyurl.com/7lm3m5 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.88/2538 - Release Date: 12/01/09 02:59:00 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps
To start with, visit the neighbor and explain the problem. They will think you are nuts, but it you ask them if they have any touch-controlled devices, and the answer is yes, then you may be able to get them to unplug or temporarily power-down any such devices to see if the interference stops. If it doesn't them try the next device or look elsewhere. if the interference quits when the device is disconnected, you can take the next steps. Be the way, it isn't just touch control lamps. I experiences a similar problem with an automatic battery charger that had a semiconductor based controller - it put out a wavery - drifty signal at spots all across the lower part of the HF spectrum. You can point out to him that the part 15 rules REQUIRE him to cease using any device that causes interferences to a licensed radio service (that's us). If you don't like that approach, you might take the tack that his lamp isn't supposed to be transmitting signals, and maybe it is defective, and defective electrical devices have been known to cause fires. If that doesn't work, send a note to the FCC, and they will in turn send the neighbor a more official communication that explains the part 15 rules in detail and outlines and what he or she needs to do. That last can escalate to some pretty powerful language after a few iterations or so. That's what that radio interference notice on the device is all about. Fines are not unknown in these cases - rarely assessed, it's true, but not impossible. The neighbor may be able to take the lamp or other interfering device back to where they got it and get a refund or replacement. You can offer to go with them, taking a portable radio that tunes the frequencies of interest, to make sure any new offerings are clean before they leave the store. In any case, NEVER offer to fix the device yourself. If you do, and _anything_ electrical in their house ever fails from that day forward, it will be seen as your fault. I know everyone likes to be neighborly and all that, but this sort of thing won't get fixed until enough complaints are heard to cause action on the part of manufacturers. If the neighbor is mad at the store for selling him a product that causes problems, then encourage him to complain to the store manager. One complaint won't do much, but over time, enough of them will cause sufficient negative feedback that the mess gets fixed. Of course, if you just want to roll over and put up with the problem, that's your call. - Jim, KL7CC Steve Ellington wrote: I suspect my neighbor has one now and I'm trying to figure out how to approach him about it. Steve N4LQ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps
I had two tough controlled reading lamps in my bedroom. They didn't cause rfi but they changed on/off state each time I transmitted. Ferrite clamps didn't change the sensitivity of the lamps to RF. I replaced them with manual switch controlled lamps; my #2 son who is not a ham has them now. 73m Dunc, W5DC Jim Wiley wrote: To start with, visit the neighbor and explain the problem. They will think you are nuts, but it you ask them if they have any touch-controlled devices, and the answer is yes, then you may be able to get them to unplug or temporarily power-down any such devices to see if the interference stops. If it doesn't them try the next device or look elsewhere. if the interference quits when the device is disconnected, you can take the next steps. Be the way, it isn't just touch control lamps. I experiences a similar problem with an automatic battery charger that had a semiconductor based controller - it put out a wavery - drifty signal at spots all across the lower part of the HF spectrum. You can point out to him that the part 15 rules REQUIRE him to cease using any device that causes interferences to a licensed radio service (that's us). If you don't like that approach, you might take the tack that his lamp isn't supposed to be transmitting signals, and maybe it is defective, and defective electrical devices have been known to cause fires. If that doesn't work, send a note to the FCC, and they will in turn send the neighbor a more official communication that explains the part 15 rules in detail and outlines and what he or she needs to do. That last can escalate to some pretty powerful language after a few iterations or so. That's what that radio interference notice on the device is all about. Fines are not unknown in these cases - rarely assessed, it's true, but not impossible. The neighbor may be able to take the lamp or other interfering device back to where they got it and get a refund or replacement. You can offer to go with them, taking a portable radio that tunes the frequencies of interest, to make sure any new offerings are clean before they leave the store. In any case, NEVER offer to fix the device yourself. If you do, and _anything_ electrical in their house ever fails from that day forward, it will be seen as your fault. I know everyone likes to be neighborly and all that, but this sort of thing won't get fixed until enough complaints are heard to cause action on the part of manufacturers. If the neighbor is mad at the store for selling him a product that causes problems, then encourage him to complain to the store manager. One complaint won't do much, but over time, enough of them will cause sufficient negative feedback that the mess gets fixed. Of course, if you just want to roll over and put up with the problem, that's your call. - Jim, KL7CC Steve Ellington wrote: I suspect my neighbor has one now and I'm trying to figure out how to approach him about it. Steve N4LQ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps
Hi Guys, A few years ago I was up late at night and decided to send a couple of late night CQ's on 40 meters. On about my third CQ my wife appeared at the door to my shack looking very upset. She had gone to bed a couple of hours earlier and was awakened by the touch lamps blinking on either side of our bed in what was a very dark room. We had just installed the lamps for reading a few weeks before and neither of us had been back there while I was transmitting so we didn't know they did this. My wife doesn't know much about radio so the first thing she thought wasn't RFI. She was convinced our house was under siege from demonic spirits. It took awhile before she saw the humor in this episode. Of course every time I think about it it makes me smile. Bob K6GGO I had two tough controlled reading lamps in my bedroom. They didn't cause rfi but they changed on/off state each time I transmitted. Ferrite clamps didn't change the sensitivity of the lamps to RF. I replaced them with manual switch controlled lamps; my #2 son who is not a ham has them now. 73m Dunc, W5DC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps
Many years ago, I build a full size vertical for 160 M with 19 full length radials, see, W6SAI HF antenna handbook, section 6-17. OK so far. In testing, I found the ground currents and the close in field substantial at 1 KW. One of the storage building was about 60 feet from the base of the tower and one night the wife was out there cleaning up some gardening efforts right next to a rack that had 8 foot flourescent tubes, Are you ready? I keyed the amplifier and called CQ. At the end of my CQ, there was my wife standing in the doorway and looked like a ghost of the scarecrow with some liquid dripping off her head and covered with lawn seed she was putting away. Needless to say the tubes lit off by the RF had startled her. We didn't talk about that for a long time, until the next Halloween. I keyed the transmitter with a long memory CQ and then you can see me with a sheet over my head running around the back yard between the houses waving 8 foot tubes that were looking like Skywalker and his light sabers. The neighbor kids didn't come to our house that night. Memories of times past, Mel, K6KBE --- On Tue, 12/1/09, Robert Fish rwf...@comcast.net wrote: From: Robert Fish rwf...@comcast.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Touch lamps To: Duncan Carter d...@vibrotek.com Cc: Ken Kopp k...@rfwave.net, Elecraft Reflector elecraft@mailman.qth.net Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 1:48 PM Hi Guys, A few years ago I was up late at night and decided to send a couple of late night CQ's on 40 meters. On about my third CQ my wife appeared at the door to my shack looking very upset. She had gone to bed a couple of hours earlier and was awakened by the touch lamps blinking on either side of our bed in what was a very dark room. We had just installed the lamps for reading a few weeks before and neither of us had been back there while I was transmitting so we didn't know they did this. My wife doesn't know much about radio so the first thing she thought wasn't RFI. She was convinced our house was under siege from demonic spirits. It took awhile before she saw the humor in this episode. Of course every time I think about it it makes me smile. Bob K6GGO I had two tough controlled reading lamps in my bedroom. They didn't cause rfi but they changed on/off state each time I transmitted. Ferrite clamps didn't change the sensitivity of the lamps to RF. I replaced them with manual switch controlled lamps; my #2 son who is not a ham has them now. 73m Dunc, W5DC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Touch Lamps
Back In my youth I lived in this little grandmother cottage (converted garage) behind a house in San Jose. One day, after I had been on 75 meters the previous night with my HW-101 and SB-220 (the cottage didn't have a 230V line but did have both sides so I made a 230V extension cord), the neighbor in the front house came back to talk to me. His wife had heard a loud WOH-WOH-WOH coming from the TV set (not turned on) the previous night around midnight while he was working the graveyard shift. She was scared out of her mind that the TV was poseessed by Satan. She bundled up their 6-month old son and drove immediately to her mother's house in Sacramento. This was when those cheap, non Western Electric phones had just flooded the market. While she was out of the house a few days later, we tracked down the source to that cheap phone rectifying the RF and broadcasting harmonics all over the place. I think I gave them a new phone. Problem solved. 73, Eric WD6DBM __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
