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In my small town, local TV reception was being completely wiped out by interference. When the Radio Inspector came to check, he found a rechargeable torch sitt

In my small town, local TV reception was being completely wiped out by interference. When the Radio Inspector came to check, he found a rechargeable torch sitting in it's charger bracket, which generated horrendous interference whenever the batteries reached full.

anthk 4y ago
I know the reverse of your story. And OLD TV from a grandma jamming an entire town: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34229436/old-tv-breaks-internet/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34229436/old-tv-br...
- Johnythree 4y ago
  Yep, this was surprisingly common. When the picture tube in old B/W TVs lost emission, the EHT voltage increased to the point that it was constantly arcing and flashing over. But because the arcing was synchronised to the TV signal, it didn't cause much interference on the faulty TV set. But it did create a horrid rolling bar on any TV set nearby which was tuned to a different channel. So the old lady had no idea she was causing problems. And there's a twist to this: ADSL data networks attempt to feed broadband signals over unshielded (and poorly balanced) phone lines, which means that they are intolerant of legitimate radio emissions from licensed services nearby. The ADSL system attempts to compensate for conventional transmissions by dropping out those channels, but any wideband impulse causes the entire system to hang while it unsuccessfully tries to find a clear set of channels. So each pulse locks up the system for a few minutes while it renegotiates. A variation on this is the ignition on the Postman's motor bike which wipes out all the ADSL in each street that he visits. The bottom line of course is that ADSL was a horrible hack which attempts (and fails) to bypass the laws of physics.
  - BrandoElFollito 4y ago
    On the other hand, I still remember the time I got an apartment, my furniture was not there yet but I ordered the ADSL+ line that came early. There is quite something magical in switching an ISP box in the middle of the living room, awaiting for the synchronization and, behold, I am connected. This first connection i ssomething I always long for (whether the satellite we had in my job, or fiber that comes at home, or getting rid of the ISP router to replace with mine).
  - anthk 4y ago
    >And there's a twist to this: ADSL data networks attempt to feed broadband signals over unshielded (and poorly balanced) phone lines, which means that they are intolerant of legitimate radio emissions from licensed services nearby. Copper wires in Spain I think, from the old phone days.

anthk 4y ago

I know the reverse of your story. And OLD TV from a grandma jamming an entire town: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34229436/old-tv-breaks-internet/ https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a34229436/old-tv-br...

Johnythree 4y ago
Yep, this was surprisingly common. When the picture tube in old B/W TVs lost emission, the EHT voltage increased to the point that it was constantly arcing and flashing over. But because the arcing was synchronised to the TV signal, it didn't cause much interference on the faulty TV set. But it did create a horrid rolling bar on any TV set nearby which was tuned to a different channel. So the old lady had no idea she was causing problems. And there's a twist to this: ADSL data networks attempt to feed broadband signals over unshielded (and poorly balanced) phone lines, which means that they are intolerant of legitimate radio emissions from licensed services nearby. The ADSL system attempts to compensate for conventional transmissions by dropping out those channels, but any wideband impulse causes the entire system to hang while it unsuccessfully tries to find a clear set of channels. So each pulse locks up the system for a few minutes while it renegotiates. A variation on this is the ignition on the Postman's motor bike which wipes out all the ADSL in each street that he visits. The bottom line of course is that ADSL was a horrible hack which attempts (and fails) to bypass the laws of physics.
- BrandoElFollito 4y ago
  On the other hand, I still remember the time I got an apartment, my furniture was not there yet but I ordered the ADSL+ line that came early. There is quite something magical in switching an ISP box in the middle of the living room, awaiting for the synchronization and, behold, I am connected. This first connection i ssomething I always long for (whether the satellite we had in my job, or fiber that comes at home, or getting rid of the ISP router to replace with mine).
- anthk 4y ago
  >And there's a twist to this: ADSL data networks attempt to feed broadband signals over unshielded (and poorly balanced) phone lines, which means that they are intolerant of legitimate radio emissions from licensed services nearby. Copper wires in Spain I think, from the old phone days.