Today I walked the fence (well, most of it..the internal divide in 1 spot
was not accessible as there were 4 big Clydesdales there and nobody home at
the house)
I trimmed 9 or 10 tree branches hard up against the fence, 30 or 40 good
sized raspberries bushes, 100+ various types of weeds, but had to leave the
grass. I was only 1 guy with grass shears, tennis elbow and only so much
energy.
All this seemed to make a SMALL difference in the fence's QRM level, though
it does vary from day to day somewhat, so only over time will I know if I
have made any real change with my hour and a half of trimming.
The far end of this rectangular fence is nearly due north of my property
line. When I beam due North, NW or NE, no change in signal level. When I
beam ENE/E, the signal comes up indicating to me the most problematic area
is in the original small paddock in that direction (about East/NE from me).
I can put the back of my hand against the fence near my property and not get
knocked on my butt, so there's very little voltage close to me.
I did come upon a place at the original paddock (ENE) where there was gate
hooks that were merely looped onto some wire rope and one of the hooks was
audibly sparking. I mean, my hearing isn't the best, but I could hear it
from 5' away.
I played with the placement and stopped the arcing, but when I got back to
the shack, there was still noise. He has nice new hardware everywhere, but
is missing the 2 parts of the hooks that would attach to the stationary part
of a gate.
Owner not around, so I really didn't touch the fence nor anything else on
his property. Just trimmed weeds/branches on the outside perimeter.
I have noticed on a couple early mornings when it's been very
rainy/foggy/drizzly, the arcing "signal" is quite weak.(one day I could've
sworn it was off) Whether that means gobs of current are being dumped to
ground all night and the battery is dead, -OR- some of these places that
have less than a stellar connections (galvanized fence wire wrapped around
conductive rope and no u-bolts) are being bridged partially by water, I
don't know yet.
That's all for now.
Mike VE9AA
Mike, Coreen & Corey
Keswick Ridge, NB
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