NOAA vs. USCG

As a HAM, my first thought would be that that there is insufficient filtering at the antenna site, and/or NOAA has a xmitter issue. It is actually impossible to make a conclusion, as the reporting was "a bit vague". Increasing separation between the WX transmitter and the C&D receiving antenna is normally a practical fix/work-a-round.

Add to this, that this interference issue should be of ( major ) interest to the FCC. ( Which are not mentioned at all in the article )
 
I don't really understand this vague article... Ch 16 operates on a specific frequency and the noaa channels operate on others. How can there be interference unless there is a severe malfunction of the transmitter!

And it s been going on since July?

Big government at work.
 
Weather radio freq is in the 162.xxx mhz range and CH 16 is 156.8 mhz

Not exactly "close" but certainly same "band". If you have multiple antennas in close proximity ( ie: same roof ) it is easy to overload a same band receiver IF ( one of several things ). Possible problems include poor connections, failed filter cavity, out-of-channel operation, "dirty" operation ( harmonics ) etc.

Someone needs to inspect both xmit and rec systems, using decent equipment ( as well as a good eye ). The "quick fix" is separate the antennas. In this case there are likely two ( competing ) govt operators both of whom think the other guy needs to move. Of course, actually maintaining both systems properly ( FCC requirement for ALL operators, incl govt ) would result in peace all around.

In the absence of test instrument data, NOAA should find a different roof...

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btw: In the case of an amateur operator, even if the neighbor who is getting interference has an "incompetent" receiver ( fails to "accept interference" ), it is almost always the duty of the operator transmitting who will need to resolve the issue.

In this case, it is NOAA transmitting, therefore, it would normally be NOAA who gets to do the sleuth work. Or, they could simply remove the interference, ie: move the transmitter.
 
Well just think Pascal, if we didn't have big government we wouldn't have either of these high tech services to begin with, just like the Founding Fathers.

Have any of our forum members witnessed this problem first hand? 16 is in almost in constant use there.
 
"Have any of our forum members witnessed this problem first hand?"

This particular incident? Not me. But I have dealt with "shared tower" antenna issues.
 
A similar article was on the NOAA weather.gov Marine website a few months back. Both articles blatantly fail to identify what may have happened back in june/july to cause this 'sudden' problem, and neither mentions whether the antenna for USCG and NOAA are co-located.

Apparently the powers-that-be have been working on the problem though, as a few days ago I tried the weather channel (I believe it's WX-3 on most Marine VHF radio's), and NOAA was broadcasting for a while; an hour later, the freq was dead.
 
I don't think they would want to explain the exact issues, for security reasons.
 
quote:
Originally posted by PascalG

I don't really understand this vague article... Ch 16 operates on a specific frequency and the noaa channels operate on others. How can there be interference unless there is a severe malfunction of the transmitter!

And it s been going on since July?

Big government at work.

Click to expand...
It's called intermod Pascal it cam be many variations of 2 or more signals transmitting at the same time and the sum or - produces a 3rd signal or interference. IM can be hard to track down. It's not impossible to do just difficult and time consuming. I used to trace IM for Nextel and Public Safety on 800MHz.
It was a huge issue.

Bill
 
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