I thought people might want to read a positive power line RFI story for a
change. as long-time readers know, I have been rassling with the power
company for 4 years now. 2 months ago a new engineer was assigned to work
on my case and those of others with RFI in the area. He doesn't
particularly like the work, but is one of those people who take pride in
doing their jobs well.
Anyhow, I've been identifying poles for him, and he's been sending crews
out to rework them. This week, his crew struck pay dirt. I turned on the
radio this morning and it was so quiet I thought the feedline was
disconnected. Checked the SWR, and it was OK, so I listened to 15 and 10
for a while and then called CQ. I was answered by an S0 YO running an
apartment balcony antenna. Easy copy, even with the S-meter at zero and
not moving a bit.
I'm sure there will be other problems, particularly because this morning is
calm and wind always seems to go along with noise, but for the moment I'm a
happy Allegheny Power customer. I'm going to make sure the engineer knows
it, too, because success is sweet and an effusive thank-you can't hurt,
especially followed up with a letter to his boss.
73, Pete N4ZR
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