[Lowfer] Progress comes to the boondocks

[Lyle Koehler]

>If the mains are carrying these signals, why did you only see it when the
new meter was installed at your house/farm? I would have thought that you
would have seen these signals after the main hub was installed and started
polling and, certainly, after other subscribers on that line had their
meters installed (unless you went first).

There are just a few houses along the township road that is served by the
power line, and the nearest ones (about 1000 feet away) also had their new
meters installed today. An overhead power line runs along the road, but at
the point of closest approach it is still 400 feet from the house. An
underground high-voltage line runs from the road to my transformer. The
transformer (and meter) is about 100 feet from the house, and my receiving
loop is another 75 feet away, on the other side of the house. All wiring
between the transformer and the buildings on the farm is also buried. Some
noise is probably radiated and conducted from the power mains, but I expect
that most of what I'm seeing originates at my own meter.

>Second thought: You didn't mention if you tried to isolate if the noise was
coming in the RF port of the RX or conducted through the house wiring to the
AC input of the RX. *Perhaps* a line filter on the AC line will help.

The noise varies with tuning of my loop preamp, and goes away if I switch to
any of my HF antennas. (Both of my receivers are deaf on LF without a
preamp.)  I haven't tried to determine whether the noise is primarily
conducted or radiated.

A hike around the farm with the Sony ICF-2001 should provide answers to
these questions. I'll probably do that tomorrow.

Lyle, K0LR