[Elecraft] AC Pole Interference

[Rick Dettinger]

For 36 years, I worked as a "pole engineer" for a large municipal  
electric utility.  When I was new at the job, my boss got a call from  
a concerned citizen.  He was told that a young feller (that was 1969)  
driving a city car was banging on poles with an ax and drilling holes  
near the ground.  My boss said "good"!  Meant that I wasn't down at  
the Tug Tavern getting rehydrated!  We were taught to "sound'  the  
poles and listen for for the pole to "ring".  Rot in the upper  
sections of the pole doesn't support vibrations and has a dead sound.   
And we drilled into the "rot zone" just below the ground line with 18  
inch "bell hanger bits".  This is definitely "a hard hat zone", but I  
never had anything other than old bird dropping dust and wood flakes  
"rain" down on me!  I learned to step back and not look up after  
delivering a good blow with the back side of my ax.
A lot of cyclic noise from poles actually comes from defective street  
lights.  They make noise when they start up, and some lights cycle off  
and on every few minutes.  This can be quite strong for several blocks.
In the "old days", we had two technicians with a well equipped van to  
locate radio noise.  Their jobs got eliminated in budget cuts.   
Complaints were handled on a "hit and miss" basis after that by  
employees with little training and equipment.

73,
Rick Dettinger  K7MW







>
> I agree. There's also the matter of HOW you whack the pole.  Many  
> years
> ago, I spent time on a service bench fixing things, and later spent  
> time
> doing field service.  Banging on things can be a good way to find
> intermittent problems, but HOW and WHERE you choose to do your banging
> can be a bit of an art.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC