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Re: [RFI] RFI from street lights - finding source?

To: "Barry N1EU" <barry.n1eu@gmail.com>, <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI from street lights - finding source?
From: "EP Swynar" <gswynar@durham.net>
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 07:35:32 -0400
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
Hi Barry,

When I lived in a sub-division in the city 17 years ago, I had the very same
issue, repeatedly...

My problems stemmed from the neighbourhood's mercury vapour street lamps'
ballast going bad...you can tell which lamp is NFG simply by observing them:
the noisey ones always have the lamps cycling on & off, in an interlude of
several minutes' time.

Final confirmation is easy enough: just tune your car AM radio to a "dead"
spot on the band, then drive over & park beneath the culprit for a brief
interlude --- I guarantee that you WILL, indeed, hear its effects!

A phone call to the municipal public utilities office got results within a
matter of days.

HINT: when you call the works department, do NOT tell them that you're a Ham
plagued with noise! You'll end up on the proverbial back burner. Instead,
tell them that your XYL enjoys walking the dog around the block at sun set,
& she's afraid to venture forth into the neighbourhood now because of the
resultant darkness caused by the defective lamp.

It worked for me, every time...

~73!~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ

*****************************


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry N1EU" <barry.n1eu@gmail.com>
To: <rfi@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 7:21 AM
Subject: [RFI] RFI from street lights - finding source?


> For over a year, I've been plagued by cyclical noise bursts on 160/80M
> of about 30sec duration repeating every 2 minutes or so.  Here are
> some examples (stereo recordings):
>
> http://n1eu.com/29Jan07a.wav   - AM L channel, CW R channel
> http://n1eu.com/09Oct07a.wav   - CW
>
> I've been pondering how to go about locating the source.  Does it seem
> reasonable that the source is likely to be between a quarter and half
> mile distant?  Does the noise correlate with the lamps visibly
> restarting/flickering?  I was thinking of putting a telephone next to
> the rig's speaker and monitoring the audio with a cell phone while
> driving around and observing the street lights.
>
> Any comments/suggestions appreciated.
>
> Thanks/73,
> Barry N1EU
> _______________________________________________
> RFI mailing list
> RFI@contesting.com
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