I understand this, and as a 50+ year Ham I also have done this Hammer Test.
BUT! I'll raise you by 10db! The vibrations made by the sledgehammer, is
TINY compared to what we used to do all the time.
We had one pole the power company just refused to fix, so at least once
a week we had to go out and quiet it down,
The Sledgehammer made changes, but rarely ever made it get quiet.
What we did was grab onto one of the pole GUY lines, and literally push
and pull on it, like 2 or 3 feet side to side, we would get the wires on
the poles between the poles bouncing up and down a couple feet! that
made them get quiet. we never had parts fall off.
Joe WB9SBD
On 1/29/2024 6:27 PM, David Eckhardt wrote:
OK, Michael. I will cease spreading old and dangerous techniques for
finding bad connections on power poles.
Thank you. I stand corrected 50 years later.
Dave - WØLEV
On Tue, Jan 30, 2024 at 12:15 AM Michael Martin<mike@rfiservices.com>
wrote:
You're right David 50 years ago is right about the time I started doing
this job. I was taught at that time that the method of choice was to listen
to the radio and hit the pole with a sledgehammer. I repeat what A wise man
once said, it was an acceptable practice. I've been doing this job full
time for 45 years. Over 30 years ago I was standing under a pole in College
Park Maryland and thought it was a good idea to put a hard hat on as I hit
the pole with a hammer because people were watching me through a cafeteria
window. I thought I would look more professional. I hit the pole with a
sledgehammer and a galvanized steel j-hook hit me in the head. Luckily I
covered my head with a hard hat. It could have just as easily hit me in the
shoulder and ripped my shoulder apart but a galvanized steel lag falling
from 40 ft overhead has a lot of force. About that moment the light came
on! I vowed to never do that again. And I haven't. But I can tell you there
has been many times since then that things have fallen from a pole and
could have easily fallen on someone's head. Nowadays they call that line of
fire. Part of my practice is to teach people to do the work from beside the
pole and across the street and I do my best to get the point across. I
think the RFI reflector is a very good place to point this out because
unfortunately there are a lot of people that think it's okay to do that. If
I'm ever in your area I hope you attend a presentation I give to a radio
club or one of the ham conventions and you see the slides that I show of
what happens when people hit poles. No offense meant in your statement and
I'm glad to hear that it was 50 years ago. Not everything we do nowadays is
not as good as it was back then. Be safe
Michael Martin
RFI Services
51 W Bay Front Rd
Lothian, MD 20711
240-508-3760
mike@rfiservices.com
www.rfiservices.com
On Mon, Jan 29, 2024, 7:04 PM David Eckhardt<davearea51a@gmail.com>
wrote:
Well, it was sme 50 years ago. So be it.........
Dave - WØLEV
On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 11:23 PM Steve London<n2icarrl@gmail.com>
wrote:
"Believe me, it's
an accepted practice."
No, it is not "an accepted practice". You are not to be believed. It
is a
dangerous practice.
73,
Steve, N2IC
On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 2:32 PM David Eckhardt<davearea51a@gmail.com>
wrote:
A standard procedure for physically exciting loose connections up top
a
power pole: Take a big sledge hammer and beat on the pole from the
bottom
while monitoring for RFI. It looks brutile, but works if your hammer
is
massive enough and you have a gorilla swing the hammer. Believe me,
it's
an accepted practice.
Dave - WØLEV
On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 8:04 PM K9MA<k9ma@sdellington.us> wrote:
On 1/29/2024 12:47 PM, David Eckhardt wrote:
QUOTE: It may not even be a failed component, as any two pieces of
poorly
bonded hardware can produce noise. That could explain the
temperature
dependence. In any case, have them check all the hardware on that
pole.
An almost giveaway symptom for this type of failure is erratic
behavior
of the RFI in a good gusty wind.
True. It is possible to simulate that gusty wind, but power
companies
frown on that.
73,
Scott K9MA
--
Scott K9MA
k9ma@sdellington.us
--
*Dave - WØLEV*
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