Voodoo RFI

I have read a number of ARRL articles about RFI
and it's causes and cures, but, I have experienced
another type of complaint, which I call Voodoo RFI.

When I first got on novice bands in 1955, I purchased
49 cents worth of bell wire, ran it around the
house and out to a cherry tree.

For years, I heard allegations by neighbors that
this wire alone had the power to drain TV signals
from the air, finally being torn down by an
angry neighbor who made the same allegation
as if somehow the antenna itself could disrupt
TV signals using some sort of voodoo magic!

This antenna hung unused for years behind the house
long after I ceased using it, but, that did not matter,
it was still generating RFI complaints

There was also some support in the neighborhood
for the idea that my mere presense was enough
to suppress fringe area TV reception!

I have heard other stories like this where a ham is
harassed and even sued by angry neighbors just
based on his visible antennas, whether or not they are
actually connected to a working radio inside,
again, as if ham radio was an evil black art!

It would further seem that some people think
that ham interference is the reason that they
cannot pick up stations 80 miles away on
rabbit ears!

K0BKL