N6RK wrote:
>I am wondering if anyone has used the MFJ power line noise receiver
>that came out last year.
Funny you should mention that since I just bought a MFJ-852
at the Charlotte Hamfest. Price was $85 before taxes. I've been
having some noise problems recently and decided I needed to try one
of these. This afternoon I used it a bit and it seemed to work
quite well, although occasionally I would get a burst from a pilot.
The RX is somewhere in the 135 MHz band for Air Traffic Control
but the MFJ-852 is a very cost effective way to get an AM receiver
in the VHF area which is perfect for locating power line leaks. It
has a built in dipole made of two telescoping pieces that can be
unscrewed when not in use. You first use the unit broadside to get
the general direction (after first locating the noise on your car's
AM radio on a clear frequency above 1600 kHz) and when you get close
you can null the exact noise location by pointing the end of the dipole
toward the noise source. It includes a meter in addition to the
audio output.
My previous solution was a borrowed Kenwood RZ-1 (GP RX that
covered up to 800 MHz), a motorcycle battery for power and 2 meter
and 440 MHz Yagi's. I could set the RZ-1 on AM detection on any
frequency and it worked well to first use 2 meters to locate the
general noise location (i.e. pole) and then use 440 MHz to locate
the exact location. This was a lot of gear to lug around and was
quite expensive if one had to buy it just for this purpose. I was
lucky to borrow the package from KY0A (now W0YG) but the MFJ-852 is
a very effective, economical, compact (without antenna about the size
of the Autek RF-1) and lightweight package. It is powered by an
internal 9V transistor battery and you only need a lightweight set
of headphones to use it. Another very neat product from MFJ (like
the MFJ-259B) that every Topbander should have!
73, Bill W4ZV
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