I'd sure love to know who decided WBIX could broadcast at 40,000 watts of power from the WKOX transmitters. Whoever it was likely doesn't live within 3 miles of said transmitter. I do, and their signal is so loud on all the landline telephones in my house that I no longer can use my home phone during daylight hours.
It's so bad that people I've tried calling during the day complain about it. It's so bad that I cannot hear people I'm trying to talk to over the noise of the radio signal. It's so bad that the signal comes in louder on my speaker phone than it does on my radio.
I'm generally a fan or broadcast radio -- in fact, I'm an amateur radio operator and have made numerous transmissions from my own home station. But I'm responsible enough not to blast maximum power at all times (and have been off the air for the most part from home for several years now).
These kinds of problems are often caused by unshielded outlets or equipment. However, I've been at this location (with the same phone equipment) for many years, and there are several other radio stations in the area, yet I haven't had any problems with them like I've got now with WBIX. And I know I'm not alone. The recorded message at the station when I called offered an automated transfer for callers who were experiencing interference problems. (Of course, the resulting transfer led to an endlessly ringing phone, not even voice mail so you can leave a message. I'll try again tomorrow....)
Update: Just to be clear, when I said these problems are "often caused by unshielded outlets or equipment," I meant in the unfortunate RFI victim's home, not necessarily the radio station transmitter. They could be running a perfectly clean signal, and perhaps it's just my tough luck.
But before I go spending $100 or more on RF filters to try to get my daytime phone service back throughout our various phone jacks, I was hoping they'd have some information/advice for me, or even work with me to help solve the problem here (as a good amateur radio operator would do). What's really ticked me off is that there's a station in the middle of town that's recently started running quite a high amount of power, obviously causing interference issues, without anyone even answering the phone at their local office. There was no answer or voice mail for the "press 8 if you're having interference option" today during business hours either.
Call the FCC. This is one of the real reasons they exisit.
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