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Re: [RFI] RFI and Smart meters

To: "'Gary Tuck'" <gtuck@mac.com>, <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI and Smart meters
From: "John Pelham" <john@radiophile.com>
Reply-to: john@radiophile.com
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:08:44 -0500
List-post: <rfi@contesting.com">mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
I have one; my power company installed it six months ago. It says "FlexNet
model 530X" on it. It's about 30 feet from my shack, and maybe 50-150 feet
from my various antennas.

I can hear some hash if I hold a portable AM radio right next to it. (I'm
not sure if the hash is from the meter itself, or just general coupling of
noise from the power line.) But in my shack on my radios I've noticed no
noise that I can ascribe to the meter, at any time or on any band 160
through 6 meters.

If you have a portable AM- or shortwave-band radio you could snoop around,
looking for a noise source that sounds like what you're receiving in your
shack.

73,
John, W1JA

-----Original Message-----
From: rfi-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:rfi-bounces@contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Gary Tuck
Sent: Wednesday, 22 December 2010 11:20 AM
To: rfi@contesting.com
Subject: [RFI] RFI and Smart meters

This summer our local power company installed what I've heard called "smart"
meters.  They provide a digital readout of electricity usage and apparently
will transmit the information to a van as it drives down the street.  After
it was installed, it was still read manually for some months according to
the meter reader.  I'm not sure if it is transmitting now.  What I do know
is that this fall I started getting broad band hash from 160m on up.  The
meter is right below my shack and about 15 feet from one leg of my wire
antenna (slanting delta loop).  The hash is on 24/7 with very few and very
short breaks that I've heard--perhaps of 5 minute duration.  The hash reads
S9+ on 80m and still at S6 on 20m.  It almost sounds like normal atmospheric
band noise but much much stronger of course.

Has anyone else had experience with these meters?  I suspect the meter of
course but don't really have a means to check it out.

Thanks,  Gary W7TEA


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