Having a green light to ask questions pertaining to exam questions, here's one.
The answer is: "Make sure that your station is functioning properly and that it does not cause interference to your own radio or television when it is tuned to the same channel" as your neighbor's.
On the answer's face is found logical. Yet, would a newbie know what actions to take solely on this answer (and yes there are clubs for these issues). Filtering is something that requires a much greater knowledge than to assume the transmitter equipment is the culprit. Doesnt modern transceivers already have filters integrated into its circuitry to counter harmonics?
My point here is, hasnt interference issues been solved and propagated, excuse the pun, in modern equipment over the decades into modernity, and not an issue any longer? Plus, HOA's are prevalent with restrictive, oppressive rules of "hideous" external radio tower antennas and mega power transmitters to eliminate potential Hammers.
Sounds like you are going to be a lot of fun on the forums.
Yes, the fine details of filtering takes a bit of knowledge, but why do you assume that this is a filter issue? If the ham makes sure he is not interfering with his own electronic equipment, he/she may then have a better idea as to, why his neighbor is being interfered with. The ham could then contact other neighbors to see if the interference is wide spread. This could localize the issue. It is also quite common for neighbors to complain about interference, just because they know you are a ham. To them, Ham operators are, by default, the perpetrators. Who else could possibly cause problems?
I had a neighbor that complained that I was interfering with her garage door opener. It didn't matter that I was never on the air when the garage door would open and close. But, every time it happened, there was an airplane traveling overhead. So I changed the code on her garage door opener, and the problem was solved.
So, to me, the question is really to get the new ham on the path of searching out the answer. A little logic and common sense should help him/her figure out the rest.
Modern transceivers do have a lot of internal filtering. But that doesn't mean that they can never break. If you transmit into a antenna that has a big mismatch, damage to the output filter cores could happen. This can then reduce the amount of filtering and allow internal mixing products to propagate to the antenna. They have made transceivers better, over the years, but they haven't made them user proof.
I have been a ham for over 50 years, and interference issues have not gone away. But it has changed direction. Instead of the ham operators equipment interfering with a neighbors equipment, it has switched to the neighbors equipment interfering with the ham operators equipment. Reading some of the posts in the
RFI/EMI forum, may help.
Finally, please don't try to drag HOAs into a discussion in any forum, other than the
Antenna Restrictions forum. And, no, I do not live in a community governed by a HOA. Therefore, I have no opinion about HOAs other than, HOAs do not cause or abate interference issues.
Amateur Radio Operators, hams, are not expected to know everything about electronics. This is a hobby that has many avenues of interest. If you don't care for one aspect of the hobby, say Morse Code Communication (CW), then you are more than welcome to look into other areas, like say Digital Modes. With Digital Modes, like FT8, you can connect your computer to your transceiver and have the computer make all your contacts. You barely have to lift a finger.