My most recent experience with static noise was from sloppy installation work
done by a contract company putting up new fibre for the the local cable
company. The crews just wrapped their copper ground wires around their ground
cable and also just wrapped it around the power company ground lines going down
each pole to the ground stakes! They DID NOT use any ground wire clamps!
The noise only was present late at night and ended once the heat of the morning
sun had dried the moisture. It was terrible when I wanted to check in to our
North Florida 80 SSB net in the mornings.
I used a handheld AM SW receiver to find the area (about 2 blocks from my qth).
And then used our radio station Field Intensity Meter as I walked from pole to
pole.
Also used a method a Chief Engineer from a new transmitter install I was doing
years ago...(We did not have a FIM..since we were none directional and did not
need to do weekly measurements) He used a A BIG SLEDGE HAMMER.. slam it up
against the bottom of the pole... and if the static sound you are hearing on
the AM or HF frequencies changes or warbles from the vibrations you have found
the source(s).
Now in my case last year I was able to get one of the field engineers for the
local Rural Coop that serves my area to come out early one morning while the
noise was loud. He had a very sophisticated measuring unit with a hi gain
yagi. He confirmed the same areas where I had found the noise to be loudest.
And he saw the signal levels change as I did the SLEDGE HAMMER test!
He had a crew come out with a bucket truck. And as they checked the
insulators, cables and grounds for about a dozen poles in a half mile
stretch... they found the ground wires that were just wrapped and not clamped.
It was obvious that the contractor crew for the cable company had done the
sloppy work.
Over a period of a couple of months their crews found many more instances of
the same sloppy work in this area of the county... they documented all of it
and convinced the cable company to pay the Coop for all the extra work they had
to do.
And of course..once they finished working on the section of power line and
cable line grounds in my area... the static went away.
Most recently... I began hearing a static on HF that would go thru a cycle
several times per hour. I tracked that down to one of the street lights in my
neighborhood that would come on... stay one for about 10 to 15 minutes...then
flicker out and after a few minutes restart... and each time it started up...
the noise was 30 over 9....
Again my friends at Chelco replaced that lite the day after I told them about
it.
If you don't know anyone at your local power company... start by talking to a
local branch manager or their information person..
tell them you don't really want to write letters to the editors of the
newspapers or call the local call-in radio shows... just want them to help get
rid of the interference that is disrupting your ability to provide emergency
communications. These folks are very sensitive to media attention. I just
happen to be the GSM of a local 100kw FM and 5KW AM.. and the local coop is one
of my advertising accounts and the marketing/information person is a long time
friend.. so that probably helped get their help much sooner.
But they were glad to find the source of the intermittent static and to get it
fixed.
Cal Z
W4GMH
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Anemometer system for tower, with web posting
(Kenneth Goodwin)
2. Re: Anemometer system for tower, with web posting (Eric - VE3GSI)
3. Static source ? (Chris Merchant KA1LMR)
4. Re: Static source ? (TexasRF@aol.com)
5. Re: Static source ? (Ron W8RJL)
6. Re: Static source ? (K8RI)
7. Re: Static source ? (Mike Ryan)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:01:30 -0600
From: "Kenneth Goodwin" <krgoodwin@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Anemometer system for tower, with web posting
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Message-ID: <001101ccaa23$135756d0$3a060470$@net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
If spending money is in the solution space, the Davis WeatherLinkIP is the
slick solution. Check out mine at http://www.weatherlink.com/user/krgoodwin
which is mounted about 60 feet up the 80 foot tower. I believe it collects
data every 10 seconds and posts to the Davis web site about once a minute.
It captures the highest wind gust for transmission. It requires no Internet
authoring which is a downside since the XYL would like to have a customized
background display for the hosted data.
It is a couple of clicks to set up dumping the data to the findu service.
Mine is at http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=k5rg-3
The Vantage Pro2 is wireless, no RFI into my station although my KW will
occasionally a few parameters on the Vantage Pro2 display. I have not seen
it nail any of the Internet data since I use a Weather Envoy (no display) to
interface between my Internet Router and the Davis data. One can download
the data from the Weather Envoy to one's computer for detailed analysis.
The Davis WeatherLink software has numerous ways of displaying and graphing
the data with just about any way it you want it displayed/graphed.
Obviously the router and the Internet service must be on 24/7 if you want to
see all of the data.
The Davis Internet service allows anybody to investigate all WeatherLinkIP
stations that are hosting data so you can easily get a big picture of the
weather from any nearby WeatherLinkIP stations.
The Davis people provide excellent support and they are on my A-List. Only
problem is that the good stuff is not cheap. Ken K5RG
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:32:08 -0500
From: Eric - VE3GSI <ve3gsi@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Anemometer system for tower, with web posting
To: "wyc" <wycpublic@gmail.com>, <towertalk@contesting.com>
Message-ID: <BLU0-SMTP1572CD495591FADD782ACBECC90@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="Windows-1252";
reply-type=original
Bill,
I have a Davis Vantage Pro II (wired) and use third-party software called
'Weather Display':
http://www.weather-display.com/index.php
to post my data to the web at:
http://www3.sympatico.ca/reid.reid
The software does can have a steep learning curve for some, but does comes
with templates and custom options that allow just about any data anyone may
wish to monitor in almost all time frames, both historical and real time. It
can even email you critical data to your inbox.
Eric - VE3GSI
----- Original Message -----
From: "wyc"
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 1:36 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Anemometer system for tower, with web posting
I?m looking for anemometer system that I can tower-mount at a remote QTH,
that will post current and peak wind gust data (e.g., for last 24
hours) in some
web-accessible form - preferably without a lot (or any) web page authoring
by me.
I considered Weatherlink IP software (compatible with various Davis weather
stations). However, it reportedly doesn?t do peak reading, and it appears
to post on a sporadic, infrequent, schedule. (Per
http://www.amazon.com/review/R3HWWJWH9ACC4X/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R3HWWJWH9ACC4X).
Does anyone have such a system installed?
tnx,
/Bill, K2PO
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:15:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Chris Merchant KA1LMR <ka1lmr@yahoo.com>
Subject: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Message-ID:
<1322100927.42270.YahooMailClassic@web65408.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
I am trying to? precisely locate a strong static source, were familiar with
High tension lines arcing at the insulators on very dry days. this however is
the opposite , it only occurs when its raining or has been raining and still
wet out it is? local . its only about 1000 Ft away but when I aim in the
general direction there is ?a? good S9 static,??popping sometimes sounds like
oil burning in a frying pan or a motor boat? its constant for the most
part?and? particularly most strong on? the 6,10,12,15M bands.??With a portable
radio I have narrowed it down? to 100 Ft radius in area near??the center of 2
streets,?There is? transformers, caps and splices in some the power lines?in
the area ?but have yet to find the? exact location of. power line crews have
looked in the past?without finding anything ?but this has been going on for 10+
years any ideas on exactly what might be the culprit?? again once its no longer
raining or wet out it
completely goes away making it more difficult to find.
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:25:59 -0500 (EST)
From: TexasRF@aol.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
To: ka1lmr@yahoo.com, towertalk@contesting.com
Message-ID: <b0795.5a0e8c01.3bff0536@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Hello OM, you might try using 2m and a multielement hand held yagi to
further pin point the source. The receiver needs to be on SSB as you probably
already know.
You can further refine the technique by using a pair of yagis, fed out of
phase to look for a null in the noise instead of a peak. The null would be
quite sharp compared to a peak, which could be 50 or more degrees at the
-3dB points, depending on the size of the yagi used.
Happy hunting!
73,
Gerald K5GW
In a message dated 11/23/2011 8:15:45 P.M. Central Standard Time,
ka1lmr@yahoo.com writes:
I am trying to precisely locate a strong static source, were familiar
with High tension lines arcing at the insulators on very dry days. this
however is the opposite , it only occurs when its raining or has been raining
and
still wet out it is local . its only about 1000 Ft away but when I aim in
the general direction there is a good S9 static, popping sometimes
sounds like oil burning in a frying pan or a motor boat its constant for the
most part and particularly most strong on the 6,10,12,15M bands. With a
portable radio I have narrowed it down to 100 Ft radius in area near the
center of 2 streets, There is transformers, caps and splices in some the
power lines in the area but have yet to find the exact location of. power
line crews have looked in the past without finding anything but this has
been going on for 10+ years any ideas on exactly what might be the culprit?
again once its no longer raining or wet out it
completely goes away making it more difficult to find.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:32:43 -0500
From: "Ron W8RJL" <youngron@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
To: "Tower and HF antenna construction topics."
<towertalk@contesting.com>, "Chris Merchant KA1LMR"
<ka1lmr@yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <EE5EDA4119B348ABB43B7B9B51DCE554@RonPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=iso-8859-1;
reply-type=original
Ask the power company to use an infrared camera some cool wet night to see
if they can find it. Arcing will produce heat and it will show up as a hot
spot. If power company will not do it see if someone in your area does home
heat loss studies using an IR Camera. See what they would charge you for an
hour of their time. If all else fails send a letter to FCC with a copy to
the power company explaining the problem, the length of time it has been
going on, if you do emergency work (check into ARES nets etc) explain that
it hampers your emergency communications. Don't do it by phone and not by
email, regular old snail mail and make it polite but serious. Then set back
because the wheels at FCC and the Power company do not turn fast but you
should get results.
One other thing, I have done a lot of power line interference work and
sometimes the problem in much further away than you think. Look on the other
side of where you think it is (further away on same line). S9 problems
(when Yagi pointed at source) can be more than 1000 feet away depending on
many factors (Yagi gain, feed line loss, receiver preamp on/off, etc).
73 and good luck,
Ron W8RJL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Merchant KA1LMR" <ka1lmr@yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 9:15 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
I am trying to precisely locate a strong static source, were familiar with
High tension lines arcing at the insulators on very dry days. this however
is the opposite , it only occurs when its raining or has been raining and
still wet out it is local . its only about 1000 Ft away but when I aim in
the general direction there is a good S9 static, popping sometimes sounds
like oil burning in a frying pan or a motor boat its constant for the most
part and particularly most strong on the 6,10,12,15M bands. With a portable
radio I have narrowed it down to 100 Ft radius in area near the center of 2
streets, There is transformers, caps and splices in some the power lines in
the area but have yet to find the exact location of. power line crews have
looked in the past without finding anything but this has been going on for
10+ years any ideas on exactly what might be the culprit? again once its no
longer raining or wet out it
completely goes away making it more difficult to find.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:47:37 -0500
From: K8RI <K8RI-on-TowerTalk@tm.net>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Message-ID: <4ECDE889.6060505@tm.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
On 11/23/2011 11:32 PM, Ron W8RJL wrote:
> Ask the power company to use an infrared camera some cool wet night to see
> if they can find it. Arcing will produce heat and it will show up as a hot
> spot. If power company will not do it see if someone in your area does home
> heat loss studies using an IR Camera. See what they would charge you for an
> hour of their time. If all else fails send a letter to FCC with a copy to
> the power company explaining the problem, the length of time it has been
> going on, if you do emergency work (check into ARES nets etc) explain that
> it hampers your emergency communications. Don't do it by phone and not by
> email, regular old snail mail and make it polite but serious. Then set back
> because the wheels at FCC and the Power company do not turn fast but you
> should get results.
Many movie cameras now days have an IR setting and they are very sensitive.
If you don't have one, borrow one and just watch the viewfinder. They
have tremendous zoom ranges that let you look at things like that in
detail from quite a distance. Mine is digital tape and I loaned it to
my daughter/grand daughter long ago as we used it very little.
73
Roger (K8RI)
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:49:55 -0500
From: "Mike Ryan" <mryan001@tampabay.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
To: "'Tower and HF antenna construction topics.'"
<towertalk@contesting.com>
Message-ID: <001e01ccaa75$46589dd0$d309d970$@rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Well, yes and no on that last post. Don't expect much help unless you give
help.
>From a Florida Ham:
First of all, not sure where you are located but getting HELP from the power
company is tough and AT NIGHT is nearly impossible. It's called OVERTIME.
Looking for someone's power line interference problem is about as low on the
priority totem pole for a power company as things can get. The fact in this
area YOU would have to find the problem, then ASK the power company to come
to the spot, verify the problem, and then get an order in to get it fixed,
usually 2 - 3 weeks after the problem is verified. It sounds like you have
it narrowed down pretty good already.
But if not, start with the direction from your QTH. If you don't know what
basic direction the noise is from you, you may have a longer time getting
some relief so get busy and get a direction. Using an HF beam may or may not
help. I recommend a 2 mtr beam and a 2mtr radio in AM or CW mode if you can
get your hands on one. If not use 6 mtrs. The higher the freq the better for
searching. I am not trying to sound like an expert here. But, my experience
tracking this stuff spans 25 years or more, mostly from my mobile setup. But
even when you find the POLE the noise may be from, the exact source on the
pole is where you will need the power company and their eqpt to nail it
down, assuming they are sophisticated enough or have the means to do so. In
many cases with an ultrasonic device that can detect the source down to the
bolt, staple, or washer on the pole. It's a mini satellite dish looking
affair and very directional. In my experience power line noises are RARELY a
transformer. It is usually loose hardware, a bad lighting arrestor, or a
dirty insulator that has developed a carbon trace across it that arcs, many
times the ground wire running down the pole to the ground rod which has
staples holding it in place. During the rainy season here there are fewer
problems 'cause the rain keeps things clean. When the climate gets dryer but
WET at night is when it gets hard to live with. The staples on the poles
work loose with the shrinking and expanding of the poles with the seasons
and create problems. You will never see this arcing from the ground. Your
power company guy may have an Oak Labs direction finder/recvr that has an
attenuator built in, or something similar to help in the search I loaned the
local guy here a MJF unit just to have another tool in his truck. But
unfortunately that thing is merely a toy, and not that great. They work on
137mhz and if you have a local FM broadcast station around close you may
hear more of it than of power line noise. When I point it north, sometimes I
hear stuff from the nearby aircraft band on it going in or out of TIA. But
it is better than nothing for getting some direction to start with.
My first line of 'defense' has gotten much simpler the last few years. If
your power line noise is power line noise you should hear it on just about
ALL the HF bands. If when you are turning the VFO knob the noise disappears
but comes back every 30kc or so, you might have a CABLE TV leak. I use a
KENWOOD TH-F6A handheld, set to 14.070 or something like that, with the
handheld put in AM MODE... that's AM MODE, then connected to a 10mter mag
mount antenna. That way I can put it in my wife's car which has no ignition
noise. The handheld is nearly deaf on 20meters using a 10mter antenna which
is perfect. You don't want to hear anything but the POWER LINE NOISE when
you drive up under the offending pole..and you will. Once you think you have
it nailed down, disconnect the mag mount and put the rubber duck antenna on.
If you still hear the power line noise with that (you may or may not) start
calling the power company. This has worked for me almost as well as having a
Kenwood TS480 and a Tarheel antenna. For more ideas take a look at my good
friend Mike Martin's home page at RFIservices.com. If you can send him a
WAVE file of a noise, he will likely tell you what the noise is. In your
case you already think it's power line so this may not help you. Just google
him. He has been in the business for over 30 years and is known
internationally.
I have similar WET noise issues here at night due to the humidity, dew, and
fog off Tampa Bay and the Gulf. It is bad at night, during the day when the
sun is out and things dry off, it goes away. Drives you crazy and the power
company guys cannot find it. So, at night the handheld goes in the car and I
have to track it down at 2 or 3 in the morning when things are really wet
out.
Good hunting ... sorry to be so long winded. - Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron W8RJL
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 11:33 PM
To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.; Chris Merchant KA1LMR
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
Ask the power company to use an infrared camera some cool wet night to see
if they can find it. Arcing will produce heat and it will show up as a hot
spot. If power company will not do it see if someone in your area does home
heat loss studies using an IR Camera. See what they would charge you for an
hour of their time. If all else fails send a letter to FCC with a copy to
the power company explaining the problem, the length of time it has been
going on, if you do emergency work (check into ARES nets etc) explain that
it hampers your emergency communications. Don't do it by phone and not by
email, regular old snail mail and make it polite but serious. Then set back
because the wheels at FCC and the Power company do not turn fast but you
should get results.
One other thing, I have done a lot of power line interference work and
sometimes the problem in much further away than you think. Look on the other
side of where you think it is (further away on same line). S9 problems
(when Yagi pointed at source) can be more than 1000 feet away depending on
many factors (Yagi gain, feed line loss, receiver preamp on/off, etc).
73 and good luck,
Ron W8RJL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Merchant KA1LMR" <ka1lmr@yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 9:15 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
I am trying to precisely locate a strong static source, were familiar with
High tension lines arcing at the insulators on very dry days. this however
is the opposite , it only occurs when its raining or has been raining and
still wet out it is local . its only about 1000 Ft away but when I aim in
the general direction there is a good S9 static, popping sometimes sounds
like oil burning in a frying pan or a motor boat its constant for the most
part and particularly most strong on the 6,10,12,15M bands. With a portable
radio I have narrowed it down to 100 Ft radius in area near the center of 2
streets, There is transformers, caps and splices in some the power lines in
the area but have yet to find the exact location of. power line crews have
looked in the past without finding anything but this has been going on for
10+ years any ideas on exactly what might be the culprit? again once its no
longer raining or wet out it
completely goes away making it more difficult to find.
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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End of TowerTalk Digest, Vol 107, Issue 56
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