Report No. CI 95-15                                         August 30, 1995
     
            COMPLIANCE AND INFORMATION BUREAU (CIB) ACTIVITIES

MARINE INTERFERENCE:

While on a ship inspection trip to Mobile, AL, an inspector from
the Commission's Atlanta office responded to a complaint of
interference  to marine channel 79 (156.975 MHz).  The FCC
inspector observed a signal which was clearly not a marine
communication which was causing the interference.  The inspector
proceeded to use mobile direction-finding techniques to locate
the signal.  The source of the problem was a spurious signal
located at the facilities of Dial-A-Page in Russellville, AR. 
The licensee of the paging system was contacted and repairs were
made immediately to correct the interference problem.

FCC ASSISTANCE TO FIRE DEPARTMENT: 

Engineers from the Philadelphia office investigated a complaint
of interference at Fire Department #6 in Cherry Hill, NJ. 
Transmissions could not be received due to the existence of an
interfering signal.  Utilizing the Mobile-Automatic-Direction-
Finding vehicle, a spurious emission was found emanating from the
transmitter located at the base of a communications tower on the
Fire Department's property.  After on-off tests were conducted,
it was noted that Bell Atlantic telephone trunk lines and
equipment, which remained operational during the power outage,
were the source of interference.  Bell Atlantic installed a new
fiber optic system to eliminate the need  for the disruptive
equipment at the site.

FCC RESPONDS TO FAA EQUIPMENT PROBLEM:

The Civil Air Patrol asked the FCC to assist in locating what
appeared to be a distress signal from an emergency locator
transmitter (ELT).  Using their direction-finding equipment, FCC
investigators discovered that the source of interference was the 
FAA's VHF-Omni-Range located in the Alma/Bacon County Airport in
Alma, GA.  Upon close inspection of the FAA equipment, it was
discovered that the transmitter's power supply and a control card
had malfunctioned causing the transmitter to transmit in short
bursts.  The defective equipment was shut down and no further
interference on the distress frequency was heard.

                                   -FCC-

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     News Media contact: Patricia A. Chew at (202) 418-0500.
     Compliance and Information Bureau contact: Jeff B. Young at
(202) 418-1176.