And, when you do the full power off test, be sure to shut down all the
UPS's!
73,
Scott K9MA
On 7/5/2023 7:06 PM, Dave (NK7Z) wrote:
Jim,
When I assist someone, I insist on doing a full power off of the home
first... You would be surprised at how many times that ends the
hunting, and things become a breaker switching action...
One fellow refused to do a full power down, would not even switch a
breaker off... I told him I would hold off until we could do a power
off test.
He got a bit huffy, but in the end when we killed power to his home,
the RFI ended... Turns out he put up with 80 Meter RFI, for around 10
years, (before he asked for help), all the time blaming the power
company to everyone, when it was his own touch lamp...
73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
On 7/5/23 16:41, Jim Brown wrote:
Thanks Frank.
On 7/5/2023 3:02 PM, Frank N. Haas KB4T wrote:
If the source is utility owned, the utility is responsible for
fixing the
problem. Regrettably, most utilities don't possess the talent or
equipment
to do the job. Mike Martin is often their salvation.
At least ten years ago, NI6T, a serious engineer and serious DX
chaser, learned from contacts with PG&E personnel he had befriended
that while the department that CHASES the problem can be motivated by
safety concerns to chase down a noise source, the department that
must FIX the problem is motivated to NOT do so, because management is
rewarded by spending as little as possible of their annual budget.
If the source is privately owned, then one's direction finding skills,
diplomacy, tact, courtesy and resolve will be needed.
All true. But there's another very important factor that began
rearing its head about 20 years ago, when 1) switch-mode power
supplies (SMPS) were mandated as an energy saving measure and 2) more
and more electronics are in nearly everyone's homes. My WAG is that
the average home has at least a couple of dozen electronic noise
sources in the form of those SMPS, other power control electronics
(like controllers for variable speed motors), and systems with one or
more microprocessors.
I'd also bet that the average ham has never gone looking for these
noise sources in his own home, and by virtue of inverse square law,
they're often the dominant source of the noise in his antennas!
My first line noise probe is the wide-band RX in my 20 year old
Kenwood VHF FM talkie.
73, Jim K9YC
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Scott K9MA
k9ma@sdellington.us
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