[Elecraft] RFI tracking

[Dave Gingrich K9DC]

On Friday, Feb 14, 2003, at 19:27 EST, Jeff Burns wrote:

> I have an annoying power line noise on the low end of the 80m band. In 
> an
> effort to find it I have been walking around the neighborhood with my 
> K2 in
> a bag around my neck and a small loop antenna. I can hear that noise 
> under
> just about all the power lines. I need a VHF AM receiver to narrow the
> search area. Any suggestions for a low cost receiver would be 
> appreciated.

Personally, I use the AM broadcast radio in my car and drive around. If 
you can identify the specific power line it is coming from, the local 
utility can take it from there. It should not be necessary to identify 
the specific pole, that is what those guys get paid to do, but general 
ideas do help them immensely.

Because of the AGC action in the car radio, you cannot just tune to a 
blank spot on the dial. You need to find an out-of-town AM station of 
moderate strength, one that you can normally hear clearly, but readily 
disappears into the noise going by the power lines (I use a 5 KW 
station about 60 miles away).

Usually noises like this are in the neighborhood, but they may be a 
mile or more away, therefore the on-foot approach may provide too much 
precision, i.e. zoom out a little, HI.

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Dave Gingrich, K9DC
Indianapolis, Indiana USA
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