Fw: [Kenwood] Good rigs for power line noise

Wed, 26 Mar 2003 09:37:47 +0000

My experience  ( in one case) is that once shown that the problem existed 
most neighbors are grateful to have the problem pointed out , especially 
since the arcing (you explain) can lead to ultimate failure (of the door 
bell transformer in my case) , possible smoke and fire.

As a second round negotiation you can offer to buy or pay for the repair, 
in many cases still cheaper than a new rig and still a lot more effective.

Now if you've been wiping out the guys TV and phone for years and he has 
tried to have the FCC take you of the air then I would opt for option 2,3 or 4.

At 10:09 PM 3/25/03 -0800, John Geiger wrote:
>SO if it is neighbors wiring or appliances, or my own
>wiring, what is the course to take-all I can think of
>is:
>
>1. Grin and bear it
>2. Move
>3. Stick to VHF or higher HF bands
>4. Hope an Iraqi scud aimed for Kuwait hits the
>neighbors house
>
>73s John NE0P
>
>
>--- Dan Zimmerman <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > Knowing the general direction the noise is
> > > in, start walking in that direction pointing the
> > beam at every house and
> > > power pole along the way, at S6 the source is less
> > than 1/4 mile away
> > > probably less than 1000 ft.
> >
> > Not in my case. The power company here finally
> > resolved a case of RFI I
> > suffered with for 2 years, primarily on 160m. They
> > brought in a specialist,
> > also a ham, from a neighboring co-op and they
> > isolated it to a particular
> > style of lightning arrestor ( I think they called it
> > a Cooper?). It wasn't
> > defective but just was typical of that style of
> > arrestor. My noise was well
> > over S9 and the arrestor was just over a mile away.
> >
> > 73 Jamie WW3S
> >
> > Noise signals can travel easily for miles along
> > power lines.  Many utilities
> > do not have people trained in locating radio noise
> > problems.  Many more may
> > have someone who has the responsibility, but very
> > little experience or
> > training, and many other things he is responsible
> > for.  Some utilities have
> > only an AM radio in a vehicle to try to track noise
> > down with.  It can vary
> > with intensity enough to make that almost useless.
> > By useing an AM receiver
> > (for instance the high end of the AM aircraft band
> > on a scanner) you might
> > be able to track it down to a pole.....if it is a
> > hardware or insulator
> > problem.  Many utility folks use trackers capable of
> > 400 Mhz or higher, with
> > beam antennas insulated for high voltage to pin down
> > the exact location...if
> > the problem is in fact coming from their lines.
> >
> > Cooper Power makes a great many products for the
> > electrical industry.  Most
> > work very well and have a long life span.  One type
> > of their lightning
> > arrester worked very well in a vertical position.
> > The same arrester mounted
> > horizontally tended to let moisture leak in over
> > time, and became a very
> > effecient noise generator.  I've changed a number of
> > them in my 30 years in
> > the industry.
> >
> > Power lines can and do occasionally create
> > interference.  This can be a
> > temporary condition, or a dielectric breakdown that
> > gets worse over time, or
> > something as simple as loose hardware which builds a
> > charge from nearby high
> > voltage until it finally discharges.
> >
> > A great deal of the interference I've worked on
> > originates in the home
> > appliances or very occasionally the wiring.  A
> > neighbor's wiring or
> > appliances, on the same transformer or secondary
> > district, is also a very
> > likely source.  This is not the power company's
> > problem and they are not
> > responsible for finding or fixing it.  The power
> > lines in this case are only
> > an incidental radiator (or re-radiator) of the
> > interfering signal.
> > Generally the percentage of problems traced back to
> > the utility equipment is
> > less than about 20%.  About 50% of those are
> > intermittant, and a real bear
> > to attempt to locate.  Much of the location work is
> > part art, part
> > experience, part science, and some luck thrown in.
> >
> > My experience......for what its worth.
> >
> > Dan  N7BHB
> >
> > - - -
> >
> >
> > - - -
> >
> > Your moderator for this list is:
> > Larry Wilson KE1HZ [email protected]
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Kenwood mailing list
> > [email protected]
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
>http://platinum.yahoo.com
>- - -
>
>Your moderator for this list is:
>Larry Wilson KE1HZ [email protected]
>
>_______________________________________________
>Kenwood mailing list
>[email protected]
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood

Dave
NR1DX
[email protected]

"A man who picks a cat up by the tail learns a lesson he can learn no other 
way" .... Mark Twain