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Re: [RFI] Power Line Noise

To: K9MA <k9ma@sdellington.us>
Subject: Re: [RFI] Power Line Noise
From: "Michael Martin, RFI Services" <mike@rfiservices.com>
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2020 18:22:21 -0400
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
That's a good find Scott, especially if you get it repaired and find that 
you're correct.
The results of your investigation and the symptoms you followed to find the 
result are not uncommon at all. It's very common for HF directional antennas to 
be inaccurate when looking atsources that close to your antenna. That's a daily 
occurrence for me. As far as the polarization is concerned oh, I'm betting when 
you go back out there tomorrow to check out what I'm telling you you'll find 
that as you approach the source your antenna will be polarized more diagonally 
with the closer to the source you get. I use 143 megahertz 95% of the time and 
if my noise is strongest when my antenna is horizontal I know I've got further 
to go, not that I wouldn't do it otherwise.
using a small portable oscilloscope along with that receiver would enable you 
to see if both of those are wrestlers are creating noise. the oscilloscope will 
allow you to see you all the noise is affecting your antenna not just the one 
you're closest to the height of the oscillations on the scope will determine 
the strength of the signal coming in.
Has Jim replied to your post, his scenario is also common. However each 
investigation is different and can bring different results. The noise sources 
that are closer to you are more elusive to an HF beam. The noise is radiates 
from the pole and wavelength matching whatever frequency you're using to 
receive the noise. so if a noise source radiates from the pole and arrives at 
your antenna at the peak of the wavelength you get a very strong signal. If it 
arrives at your antenna at a null in the wavelength, that noise source can be 
very weak and sometimes so weak you don't even receive it. 
When I'm investigating noise it's affecting HF and I swing a being around and 
it gives me for example, a northern direction, I go outside I hold my 143 
antenna and I do a search and I see if I see the same noise pattern from the 
qth. If I do I walk to it. If I don't I get in my truck and I go in the 
direction of the beam heading and I go everywhere the power lines cross that 
beam heading and look for wherever than antenna is receiving the signal from.
I would urge you to keep in mind that the lesson learned isn't what you're 
going to see every time it's going to change depending on the source the 
hardware around it and how far away it is as well as how it gets to your 
antenna.
If I were you oh, I would report it to the parent company tell them about the 
two arrested as you have noise on has a suggestion. I would not tell them that 
is my noise I would let them make that determination. It isn't likely that you 
have to causing your noise problem and it may not be the arrest you at all. The 
mfj or Homebrew ultrasound devices are not extremely sensitive and have a hard 
time picking up noise sources that are blocked or covered up with something. 
Meaning, it's very uncommon for them to detect I like me arrested that's bad 
unless it's blown open and is split so the ark is exposed. what you normally 
find them picking out is Corona off of pin type Brown insulators. That's 
extremely common, but is not the source of your noise.
Corona is almost never the source of your noise but is a result of arcing. It's 
very common to have several Corona sources on a structure and none of them be 
your noise as common as it is to not be able to detect the noise with the 
ultrasound receivers that are not very high quality. 
Best wishes
I apologize for any typos for I'm using voice to text so I can do this quicker 
and I don't have time to proofread.
K3rfi

⁣RFI Services
Michael Martin
240-508-3760
rfiservices.com

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On Apr 16, 2020, 5:32 PM, at 5:32 PM, K9MA <k9ma@sdellington.us> wrote:
>I think I just learned something interesting. I'm in the city, 
>surrounded by 14 kV overhead lines. I went out today to track down a 
>noise source, which on the HF bands appears to be coming from the east.
>
>What I found, with a VHF tracker and an ultrasound tracker, is that it 
>appears to be coming from two lightning arrestors across the street to 
>the NORTH.  (The ultrasonic tracker points to one particular arrestor
>on 
>each of two different poles.) So why does it seem to be from the east
>on 
>HF? (Yes, I'm absolutely sure it's the right source.)
>
>It has to be the polarization. My tribander is, of course, horizontally
>
>polarized, so it's most sensitive to vertical polarization off the
>side. 
>But, something I never realized before, one should expect line noise to
>
>be mostly vertically polarized. The current from an arcing device like
>a 
>lightning arrestor flows in BOTH directions away from the source on the
>
>horizontal lines, so the horizontal component largely cancels out. It's
>
>like the top of a "T" antenna. The radiation then mostly comes from the
>
>vertical ground wire.
>
>Generally, I've found the HF beam heading to be pretty accurate for
>more 
>distant sources, perhaps because the vertical component is attenuated 
>more quickly. With the VHF tracker (135 MHz), I do find I have to 
>sometimes turn it vertically, but not consistently up close. I expect 
>the shorter wavelength has something to do with that.
>
>In any case, the moral of the story is don't just look in the direction
>
>your HF beam thinks it's coming from!
>
>73,
>
>Scott K9MA
>
>-- 
>Scott  K9MA
>
>k9ma@sdellington.us
>
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