[Icom] powerline noise, long but I hope it helps

[icom@mailman.qth.net]

Yes, NEVER give up.....
Once I lived on a very rural piece of land here in KY. I had about 1/4 mile 
of road frontage and a couple of noisy poles. You could listen to an AM 
broadcast band radio (between stations) and it sounded like a buzz saw. I 
politely called the RECC and they sent out a couple of 'good ole boys', (when 
I was working, natch) and they found nothing. After several calls to the 
supervisor, I managed to be present when they showed up. Their 'test gear'? 
Why, the FM radio in the truck! I did my demo with the AM radio......place 
the radio on the ground next to the pole, then knock on the pole as if you 
were knocking on a door. Huge noise would stop and start. They started with 
the usual stuff, banging in the staples on the ground wire, etc. Nothing 
helped. They started tightining all the HV wires with a hot stick and when 
they thought it was fixed, they would start back down the pole. First time 
they jammed the climbing spikes into the pole, it would start all over. We 
spent 4 hours out in that field, the crew was cussing, my horses were 
laughing, and I was having a beer (or two).
Using a pair of binoculars, I finally spotted the culpurt: a loose washer 
that held the crossarm brace bolt. This goes right through the center of the 
pole. I asked the worker to tighten up this hardware and he responded with 
"Man, there ain't no HV on these parts". I said "humor me". Not having any 
humor left, he mumbled a few new cuss words, that I somehow overlooked in my 
Naval career. But, the noise was gone!
Sometime after this incident, I read a book on RFI and realized that the bolt 
was being charged from the magnetic field and the rust was acting as an 
insulator of sorts. When you banged the pole, the washer would loose it's 
charge and arc into the metal supports. The pole was very old and shrinkage 
had loosened all the hardware. The ARRL now has a couple of excellent books 
on the subject. I had to learn all this stuff the usual way: The hard way!!
The noise came back about a month later. I called the RECC and they replaced 
not only that pole but another nearby. The supervisor said they were almost 
up for replacement anyway. That solved THAT problem 100%, until I left the 
area.

The next one was more involved. As a Meteor Scatter buff, I had a tall tower 
and a long yagi. I noticed that during long, hot, dry spells, I had an awful 
noise coming from 330 degrees. Sometimes, 30+ / S9. I searched the nearby 
poles for a mile or so and could not find anything. Fearing my antenna 
pattern was terribly skewed, one day I climbed the tower with a pair of 
binoculars. Sighting down the beams, I could find nothing nearby. As I looked 
further away, I spotted it: a power substation, several "as the buzzard 
flies" miles away. No, it just couldn't be! Alas, it was. I finally found it 
on a ridge and could hear this monster with the AM car radio 1/4 mile away. 
This station had the phone # of the interstate power coop in Winchester, KY. 
I called them and got the big time brush off. Not one to put up with bs from 
anybody, I wrote a very rational letter to the FCC documenting the type of 
noise, it's heading, and spectrum occupation.
To my GREAT surprise, about 5 days latter, I recieved a carbon copy of the 
FCC notice sent to the utility company. The FCC told them they had 15 days to 
fix it, there were to contact me and the FCC with an explination, test 
results, action plan, etc. The Utility sent an engineer out to my house where 
we went to the site. He explained the source of the noise and how they were 
going to fix it. He was very, very nice (and a fellow ham, so he was 
sympathetic). He said it was the worst mess he'd ever seen. To fix it, the 
interstate power company had to reroute power away from the substation, since 
it could not be worked on 'live'. There were many, many loose and corroded 
buss bars. They disassembled most everything and put anti-oxident on the 
connections. It was dead quiet for about a year, then it would start to get a 
little noisy during the dry weather, but nothing even remotely close to what 
it had been. Every time it rained, it got better for a long time.
I was extremely pleased. I followed up by writing nice letters to both the 
FCC and the power companies involved.
I have found that dealing with these people is a lot easier if you are 
polite. I have learned my lessons, the hard way dealing with the local County 
Clerks.

regards,

ron

N4UE