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[TowerTalk] PAT--YOUR strategy for line noise problem?

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Subject: [TowerTalk] PAT--YOUR strategy for line noise problem?
From: leewical@lava.net (LEE ROGER WICAL)
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 07:50:01 -0400
PAT:
        TOM'S GOT GOOD ADVICE.
        ALSO IT CAN BE DONE BY USING A "SHOTGUN MICROPHONE" OR A SHARP 
MICROPHONE
INTO A SMALL HAND HELD PARABOLIC DISH TO A PORTABLE AUDIO AMP TO A
HEADPHONE OUTPUT TO HEADS. 
        WHAT YOU HEAR CAN BE PIN POINTED EXACTLY BY LINING UP THE SHOTGUN OR 
BORE
SIGHTING THRU THE DISH.
        KILL'EM WITH HIGH PHYSICS! GIVE'M SOMETHING THEY CAN UNDERSTAND.
        REMEMBER, PAPER YOUR FILE FIRST. 
        AND REMEMBER" IF YOU ASK THE FCC A QUESTION, YOU'D BETTER BE PREPARDED 
FOR
THEIR ANSWER!
GOOD LUCK
LEE

At 12:12 PM 6/21/99 -0500, Tom Hammond - N0SS wrote:
>
>Pat:
>
>>Does anyone have any experience contacting the FCC
>>about non-responsiveness by an electric utility for dealing
>>with line noise?
>>
>>I've been after mine for almost a full year, and its obvious
>>to me that they are never going to fix it. 
>>
>>Tips and/or contacts at the FCC would be appreciated.
>>(Yes, I am contacting the state public service commission
>>as well).
>
>Had the very same problem about 18-20 years ago.
>
>Wound up writing two letters:
>
>  FCC Field Office in KC MO
>  Missouri Public Service Commission
>
>I wrote the the level of line noise from the nearby powerlines 
>was making shortwave communications IMPOSSIBLE and the power
>lines are NOT supposed to emit RF signals which will interfere
>with FCC-licensed communications.
>
>MAN!!!  Did THAT turn the trick!!!  
>
>As soon as the letter(s) hit their intende addressees, they 
>(apparently BOTH of them) contacted the Missouri Power &
>Light office and apparently told them to get their 'stuff' 
>together.  I promptly received a call from the local MP&L
>service office offering to come out 'immediately' to try
>and fix the problem.  Actually, what the guy said was, "Man,
>we wish you wouldn't have written that letter!".  To which
>I responded that I wouldn't have had I been able to get their
>attention any other way.
>
>NOTE: If what you experience is anything like what experienced
>once they finally did come out, it's gonna be YOUR RESPONSIBILITY
>to locate and identify the noise source.  These bozos appeared
>at my doorstep with a solid state Zenith Transoceanic receiver
>with a short whip antenna, tuned to the local AM station, and
>professing, "Listen... there's NO NOISE here."  Didn't take me
>long to tune the RX off-freq., to a slightly less strong signal
>to show them that, in fact, there WAS line noise present.
>
>Their efforts at locating the noise were for naught though.  They
>had NO clue what to look for OR HOW to go about it.  I finally
>sent them home and built my own noise locator out of a Radio
>Shack AIRBAND (AM-VHF) receiver and a single dipole antenna, cut
>to the airband.  
>
>With this receiver and antenna, I can pinpoint 90% of the line
>noise leaks I've had to find.  It's really easy 'cause the hand-
>held dipole (on a 3' fibreglas mast) has a REALLY DEEP null right
>off its ends (just like the books say it should), and if I point
>one end of the antenna AT the suspected noise source, and it goes
>away, there's a reallg strong chance that that's the spot they need
>to look.
>
>The P&L company likes the device so well that they had me make two
>for them  I guess they're still in use today.  More info if you're
>interested.  I tried to get an article on building this noise locator
>published in QST but they weren't interested.  Not sure if it was
>the content or the writing style... or both.
>
>Good luck.
>
>73 - Tom Hammond   N0SS
>
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>
>

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