>> The real problem, IMO, is if you have a problem it takes an
>> act of Congress to get something done. It is terribly
>> expensive to work on those lines and they never want to take
>> them out of service.
Yes, they really detest taking down the main distribution system for
maintenance. I live 700' from a series of three separate and parallel 230KV
feeders from the Jacksonville Electric Authority. The feeders cross the St.
Johns River and the area around my subdivision is one of the first
sub-station drops.
For the first two years I lived here, there was hardly a trace of noise.
Now, the noise is so bad most of the time, that its no longer enjoyable to
operate. The noise is most pronounced at 7.010 MHz. My favorite band?
40M. My favorite mode? CW. I couldn't have made the circumstances this
bad if I tried. The worst of the arcing must be coupling to one of the
horizontal lines with a resonance near 40M. The time right after a good
rain is best for operating (salt is washed away) and I have to enjoy the
time while I have it.
The person responsible for the maintenance of the system is an extra-class
ham, and he's a registered P.E. He and his support crew are nice guys, but
their follow-through has been abysmal. I once demonstrated the effect of
the +20 dB/S9 noise with an without the noise blanker and his initial advice
was "why not just keep the noise blanker on?" Ever have that feeling like
someone just punched you in the stomach?
Last spring, two of the three 230KV feeders went through an fairly
comprehensive insulator replacement. The glazed porcelain insulators were
replaced with a newer material, the name of which escapes me. With any
luck, they will have the funding next year for the last set of replacements.
I was considering the purchase of the new DX Engineering noise canceling
unit, but if the noise is cumulative from several insulators which emanates
from different directions, I suspect it won't be too useful.
Paul, W9AC
_______________________________________________
RFI mailing list
RFI@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
|