Well, yes and no on that last post. Don't expect much help unless you give
help.
>From a Florida Ham:
First of all, not sure where you are located but getting HELP from the power
company is tough and AT NIGHT is nearly impossible. It's called OVERTIME.
Looking for someone's power line interference problem is about as low on the
priority totem pole for a power company as things can get. The fact in this
area YOU would have to find the problem, then ASK the power company to come
to the spot, verify the problem, and then get an order in to get it fixed,
usually 2 - 3 weeks after the problem is verified. It sounds like you have
it narrowed down pretty good already.
But if not, start with the direction from your QTH. If you don't know what
basic direction the noise is from you, you may have a longer time getting
some relief so get busy and get a direction. Using an HF beam may or may not
help. I recommend a 2 mtr beam and a 2mtr radio in AM or CW mode if you can
get your hands on one. If not use 6 mtrs. The higher the freq the better for
searching. I am not trying to sound like an expert here. But, my experience
tracking this stuff spans 25 years or more, mostly from my mobile setup. But
even when you find the POLE the noise may be from, the exact source on the
pole is where you will need the power company and their eqpt to nail it
down, assuming they are sophisticated enough or have the means to do so. In
many cases with an ultrasonic device that can detect the source down to the
bolt, staple, or washer on the pole. It's a mini satellite dish looking
affair and very directional. In my experience power line noises are RARELY a
transformer. It is usually loose hardware, a bad lighting arrestor, or a
dirty insulator that has developed a carbon trace across it that arcs, many
times the ground wire running down the pole to the ground rod which has
staples holding it in place. During the rainy season here there are fewer
problems 'cause the rain keeps things clean. When the climate gets dryer but
WET at night is when it gets hard to live with. The staples on the poles
work loose with the shrinking and expanding of the poles with the seasons
and create problems. You will never see this arcing from the ground. Your
power company guy may have an Oak Labs direction finder/recvr that has an
attenuator built in, or something similar to help in the search I loaned the
local guy here a MJF unit just to have another tool in his truck. But
unfortunately that thing is merely a toy, and not that great. They work on
137mhz and if you have a local FM broadcast station around close you may
hear more of it than of power line noise. When I point it north, sometimes I
hear stuff from the nearby aircraft band on it going in or out of TIA. But
it is better than nothing for getting some direction to start with.
My first line of 'defense' has gotten much simpler the last few years. If
your power line noise is power line noise you should hear it on just about
ALL the HF bands. If when you are turning the VFO knob the noise disappears
but comes back every 30kc or so, you might have a CABLE TV leak. I use a
KENWOOD TH-F6A handheld, set to 14.070 or something like that, with the
handheld put in AM MODE... that's AM MODE, then connected to a 10mter mag
mount antenna. That way I can put it in my wife's car which has no ignition
noise. The handheld is nearly deaf on 20meters using a 10mter antenna which
is perfect. You don't want to hear anything but the POWER LINE NOISE when
you drive up under the offending pole..and you will. Once you think you have
it nailed down, disconnect the mag mount and put the rubber duck antenna on.
If you still hear the power line noise with that (you may or may not) start
calling the power company. This has worked for me almost as well as having a
Kenwood TS480 and a Tarheel antenna. For more ideas take a look at my good
friend Mike Martin's home page at RFIservices.com. If you can send him a
WAVE file of a noise, he will likely tell you what the noise is. In your
case you already think it's power line so this may not help you. Just google
him. He has been in the business for over 30 years and is known
internationally.
I have similar WET noise issues here at night due to the humidity, dew, and
fog off Tampa Bay and the Gulf. It is bad at night, during the day when the
sun is out and things dry off, it goes away. Drives you crazy and the power
company guys cannot find it. So, at night the handheld goes in the car and I
have to track it down at 2 or 3 in the morning when things are really wet
out.
Good hunting ... sorry to be so long winded. - Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Ron W8RJL
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 11:33 PM
To: Tower and HF antenna construction topics.; Chris Merchant KA1LMR
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
Ask the power company to use an infrared camera some cool wet night to see
if they can find it. Arcing will produce heat and it will show up as a hot
spot. If power company will not do it see if someone in your area does home
heat loss studies using an IR Camera. See what they would charge you for an
hour of their time. If all else fails send a letter to FCC with a copy to
the power company explaining the problem, the length of time it has been
going on, if you do emergency work (check into ARES nets etc) explain that
it hampers your emergency communications. Don't do it by phone and not by
email, regular old snail mail and make it polite but serious. Then set back
because the wheels at FCC and the Power company do not turn fast but you
should get results.
One other thing, I have done a lot of power line interference work and
sometimes the problem in much further away than you think. Look on the other
side of where you think it is (further away on same line). S9 problems
(when Yagi pointed at source) can be more than 1000 feet away depending on
many factors (Yagi gain, feed line loss, receiver preamp on/off, etc).
73 and good luck,
Ron W8RJL
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Merchant KA1LMR" <ka1lmr@yahoo.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 9:15 PM
Subject: [TowerTalk] Static source ?
I am trying to precisely locate a strong static source, were familiar with
High tension lines arcing at the insulators on very dry days. this however
is the opposite , it only occurs when its raining or has been raining and
still wet out it is local . its only about 1000 Ft away but when I aim in
the general direction there is a good S9 static, popping sometimes sounds
like oil burning in a frying pan or a motor boat its constant for the most
part and particularly most strong on the 6,10,12,15M bands. With a portable
radio I have narrowed it down to 100 Ft radius in area near the center of 2
streets, There is transformers, caps and splices in some the power lines in
the area but have yet to find the exact location of. power line crews have
looked in the past without finding anything but this has been going on for
10+ years any ideas on exactly what might be the culprit? again once its no
longer raining or wet out it
completely goes away making it more difficult to find.
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