[OKDXA] Power Line Noise

[Jerry Chouinard]

Kim:

Just a word of encouragement as a number of the power providing folks are 
quite responsive.  I had many DB + over noise show up on 80 meters a couple 
of years back and already had a suspicion witch pole it was coming from as 
I drive by it coming from town.  I gathered the number on the pole, called 
PSO and the party who answered was quite pleased to know I had a pole 
number rather than just "a noise is emanating from" somewhere south of 
here.  The hardware causing the noise was replaced that afternoon!

Jerry - K5YAA

At 07:20 AM 2/25/2010 -0800, you wrote:
>Recently, I've noticed some pretty severe, intermittent power line noise 
>at my QTH. It had previously been a marvelously quiet place for radio, but 
>over the past moth or two, that has changed. I had it again this morning 
>and so decided to do some sleuthing.
>
>I live E of Norman in the center of a section bordered by Robinson on the 
>S side, 48th St on the W side, Rock Creek Rd on the N side and 60th St on 
>the E side. Both OG&E and OEC lines run down all roads. The OG&E lines run 
>35 kV -- I don't know what the OEC lines run. My neighborhood is served by 
>OG&E and all wiring is under ground; step down transformers are above 
>ground on concrete pads.
>
>Here are the details:
>
>I cannot detect the noise on any band above 40 m, but it's clearly 
>apparent on 40, 80 and 160 m. My Orion II noise balnkre is ineffective on 
>40 m (either the software or hardware noise blanker) but is very effective 
>on 80 and 160 m. Because I cannot hear it above 7 MHz, I'm pretty sure 
>that the source is not emanating from a neighbor's house or from a nearby 
>step-down transformer.
>
>Using my K9AY loops, I can detect the noise when the loops favor either NE 
>or SE, but not when they favor NW or SW. Thus, the source is either to my 
>N or my E.
>
>Using my 2 el 40 m beam, I found sharp nulls with the beam pointed either 
>N or S (probably nulls off of the sides), and less noise when the beam is 
>pointed W than when it is pointed E (~S9+25 dB pointed E, ~S9+15 dB 
>pointed W). So, F/B ratio favors a source to my E.
>
>I then got in my car, tuned my mobile rig to the aviation band and to a 
>quiet frequency (Westheimer tower) so that I could use the AM detector at 
>VHF and started driving E along Robinson to 60th street. I heard nothing 
>of substance along Robinson. I turned N and drove along 60th and found a 
>strong noise source. I double checked my traverse and found the same spot 
>three different times. It was considerably weaker from across the road 
>than it is next to the pole. There is a private going E from 60th street 
>and away from the offending pole and driving down it 100 feet diminishes 
>the signal strength significantly. The ground wire for the pole appears 
>intact at the base.  I am absolutely positive that I have identified the 
>pole holding the faulty hardware. I could see nothing obviously loose, but 
>the culprit is most certainly there.
>
>The noise is intermittent: it starts and stops abruptly as the wind blows, 
>though I can detect no obvious correlation to wind changes and the 
>starting and stopping of the noise.
>
>What now? Whom do I contact with my information? And now for the cynical 
>question: what are my chances that they will care?
>
>Kim Elmore, N5OP
>
>
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