: 
: >What kind of power must he be putting out to cause the effects?
: >The affected equipment is about 100 feet from the road...
: 
: Might be a couple of hundred watts, from the sound of it.  Kicking sound
: out of the TV and stereo speakers by direct RF rectification requires a
: mighty strong carrier!  [I've heard of linears so powerful that
: triggering them while the car was idling, would stall the engine by
: pulling down the battery voltage.]

It would take a lot more than that. It sounds like the radio equipment is
actually not shut completely off - but just goes to a standby situation.

I suspect that the stories are just that, stories.  The voltage can only
be sucked down so far instantaneously. When you try to jumpstart someones 
car, when your vehicle is at idle, does your car stall? No, the other car
just does not crank well.  Now, the engine might stall because the idle
was too low to start with. When the extra current is drawn, the idle speed
will drop - as the alternator loads down the engine to compensate for the
increased amperage requirement.

: >Is resolution of this problem a matter for the power company, the fcc, or both?
: 
: Ultimately it's likely to be your problem to resolve, I'm afraid.  The
: FCC is so understaffed that they don't pay much attention to citizen
: complains about RFI (or so I've heard)... they'll just send you a
: pamphlet describing how you can apply corrective measures.
: 
: Talking to the power company might help - they might be able to install
: filtering devices at your service panel (or recommend a type which you
: could have installed by a licensed electrician).

A transmitter is not going to be affecting house power. If surges are
occurring there, it is due to another cause - not a transmitter.

: Unfortunately, there's a fair chance that enough signal is being picked
: up by your house wiring that a simple service-panel filter won't
: suffice.  You may need to install heavy-duty RFI filters at the power
: connections of your affected equipment.

It is probably not that much of a problem. Often - toroid coils on the
power leads will solve that part of the interference problem. It will
not solve internal equipment deficiencies.

: If the problem occurs regularly, you may need to "stake out" the street
: in question, and watch for trucks or cars with big antennae driving by
: at the time interference occurs.  If you can identify the vehicle which
: is transmitting, you may be able to contact its owner and complain.

It is probably not the transmitter that is at fault. If the person is an
amateur, then he/she will probably be willing to help - if you explain
that the person is causing interference.