Kid's walkie-talkies jam up police radios

[ke4pjw]

'Techies' trace weird interference to Fieldstone Farms bathroom. (http://www.tennessean.com/williamsonam/archives/04/01/45868679.shtml?E)

I used to work for Steve about 10 years ago. Knowing Steve, I bet "He'd make sure the malfunctioning walkie-talkies never send out another signal."

[k6pme]

Do I see a box of 'spare parts'? http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[k5ahh]

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Cool story! It's good they could find the interference so quickly so they could free up that frequency. Also, it was cool of them to give them some different transceivers.

[kb5yue]

Ruht roh Raggy! Give those boys a "Scooby Snack", they deserve it. I liked the last line of the story..."we can do anything." http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[ki4bgo]

..."The source of the interference was two Audiovox walkie-talkies that were charging in the bathroom and emitting a soft signal, which was picked up by the police frequency."

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif I've never heard of ANY radio transmitting while on a CHARGER! ...Strange indeed! http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[K9STH]

Virtually any portable radio can transmit while charging if something activates the push-to-talk or other transmit function.

Motorola and a lot of the commercial manufacturers make what Motorola calls a "Convertacom" (of course a registered trademark of Motorola) which allows the portable to be charged in the vehicle while also being used as a mobile. The antenna is connected to the portable, often there is a power amplifier to increase the output from the portable, sometimes an audio amplifier so that a "normal" speaker can be used, and usually a hand-held microphone is also attached. This basically allows a single radio to function as both a mobile and a portable. They take a little bit of effort to put the portable in the charging unit and to remove it, but not that much.

Also, I know of a fair number of amateurs who have the external speaker/microphone attached to their portables who do transmit while in the charger. I don't recommend this, but usually no damage is done. It is just that the battery is being discharged while transmitting and, with some chargers, not enough current is being put "into" the battery to charge it if the receiver is left on.

Glen, K9STH

[N7CPC]

The radios probably meet all the FCC regs for their type. #If the offended police types have a complaint, it is with an agency even less likely to do a darn thing for them than the Tn. yocles in this story. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Yocles: read Franklin PD

[ke4pjw]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ki4bgo @ Jan. 22 2004,15:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">:0 I've never heard of ANY radio transmitting while on a CHARGER! ...Strange indeed! ???[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Almost all radios radiate signal from the IF section of the receiver. If it was turned on while in the charger, yup, it could be transmitting.

[KLGF]

Now THAT is the type of story I LIKE to read about! Good going! Excellent service to the community!

The staff writer, Mitchell Kline, did a good job writing up the fox hunt. So many times technical stories get so mangled that they sound like bad sci-fi.

[K4JSR]

W4BZU is a good guy. Steve was one of the first people I
Elmered. He used to come over to my shack and watch me
operate when I was a Novice for the second time. Steve
picked up the code quickly and was soon copying my QSOs
word for word. His grasp for ham radio was incredible.
He was soon ready for his Novice test and we had Dean,
K4EQQ, now K9FTB, administer the test. There was no
holding Steve back from that point on! BZU, pronounced
BAZOO, to those who know him, has always been a class
act. so I was not surprised to see that he replaced those
talkies for those kids. He's just that sort of guy. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Thanks for being part of my history!
73, Cal K4JSR

[W4BZU]

Well now I am blushing! Thanks to all of you that responded. I have to admit it was fun looking for the offending signal. To the police department, we were heros, to the amateur community we were just on a good old transmitter hunt! Brad and I had a great time doing it.

[K4JSR]

Bazoos got blushes!
My apologies to Johnny Hart and the BC Comic strip!
http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
73, Cal K4JSR