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Re: [RFI] RFI from small indoor Xmas tree lighting 0.22 miles away.

To: Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI from small indoor Xmas tree lighting 0.22 miles away.
From: Dave <dave@nk7z.net>
Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2022 16:57:05 -0800
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
Thanks sir... I watched the first one you mentioned, and did not see it. I spotted it in the one you just linked. THANKS!

73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

On 1/5/22 10:55, Don Kirk wrote:
Hi Dave,

You can see details on this loop at the 3:08 mark of this youtube video: https://youtu.be/vDB8rAwVt5Y <https://youtu.be/vDB8rAwVt5Y>
The video also shows how I use it.


73,
Don (wd8dsb)

On Wed, Jan 5, 2022 at 12:27 PM Dave <dave@nk7z.net <mailto:dave@nk7z.net>> wrote:

    How about a photo of your small loop...

    73, and thanks,
    Dave (NK7Z)
    https://www.nk7z.net <https://www.nk7z.net>
    ARRL Volunteer Examiner
    ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
    ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

    On 1/4/22 20:07, Don Kirk wrote:
     > I work hard keeping my noise floor on 160 meters low and
    hopefully equal
     > between my 3 different pennant RX antennas that point 40, 160,
    and 300
     > degrees from my QTH.  This winter I've struggled with an
    increased noise
     > floor on my 40 degree pennant, and a few weeks ago I located a
    power pole
     > that was arcing badly and this pole was subsequently repaired as I
     > mentioned in a previous post.  The noise level on my 40 degree
    pennant came
     > down substantially after repair of the pole, but I noticed it was
    still
     > higher than my 160 and 300 degree pennants as well as its
    historical level
     > by about 3 or 4 dB.  Yesterday I tracked the cause of the 3 to 4 dB
     > increase in my noise floor to a home 0.22 miles away, and this
    afternoon I
     > worked with the homeowner to quickly identify the root cause of
    the problem
     > which turned out to be a power supply running the lights on his small
     > indoor Xmas tree located on the second floor of his home.
     >
     > I once again used a very small loop to sniff each circuit breaker
    in his
     > circuit breaker panel to identify the suspect circuit, and when
    we shut off
     > the suspect circuit breaker the RFI vanished.  The homeowner then
    unplugged
     > one device at a time from the circuit until we found what device was
     > generating the RFI.  Finding the suspect circuit took about 30
    seconds
     > using my sniffing loop, and then it took about 10 minutes to
    figure out
     > what device on the circuit was the root cause of the problem.
     >
     > I can't stress enough how important it is to not try and guess
    what device
     > is causing the RFI because the homeowner was pretty certain it
    was due to
     > his recent addition of a blower fan that he installed on his
    fireplace, and
     > he even had me worrying about how difficult of a fix it would be
    if that
     > was indeed the case as the wiring was within his walls.  I told the
     > homeowner I never guess what device is causing the RFI because
    the problem
     > is almost always different from case to case, and after we were
    done he
     > fully appreciated my comment.  I use my laptop SDR receiver a lot to
     > visually see what's going on (behavior of the RFI), but I don't
    use it to
     > guess what the guilty device might be except for trying to
    determine if the
     > RFI might be power line related RFI.
     >
     > Using my small loop to sniff the circuit breaker panel is
    definitely a game
     > changer for me, and it sure makes working with homeowners a much
     > simpler task (very efficient, and least intrusive to the homeowner).
     >
     > Here is a link to a video documenting this case for those interested:
     > https://youtu.be/J6OjwTRNIvY <https://youtu.be/J6OjwTRNIvY>
     >
     > 73, and Happy New Year.
     > Don (wd8dsb)
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