On 22 Mar 2002 at 11:56, Bill Gerhold wrote:
> I had a very similar problem here (snip) originating from a bad
> insulator 1.5 miles away. (snip)
> The feeders are acting like an antenna so, coming close to any pole or
> drop line, you will find a strong signal. The way I found the source,
> was to use an aircraft AM receiver. At VHF frequencies, the noise is
> much reduced in amplitude. (snip)
> I was amazed the
> problem was so far from the house. I should mention, I made the issue
> a public safety hazard by calling the local police who then called the
> utility because I really didn't get anywhere with the utility. The
> reason I used the police, was because the noise was so powerful at the
> source that even FM VHF receivers could not function in the source
> area. Knowing this, when the police arrived, I told them to contact
> headquarters and let them know what's going on. Of course they had to
> leave the area to make the contact. Hence, a public safety hazard
> because communications in that area was poor.
>
> Bill
> K2WH
>
Very good, Bill-
Getting the police involved was a stroke of genius. You might have
a promising career awaiting in politics. :o) That must have been
a heck of an arc to wipe out VHF.
Here in the MD suburbs of DC, we are very lucky to have a great
and responsive utility, Pepco, that has on staff a ham- K3RFI,
Mike Martin. His power line RFI expertise is impressive!
He even travels occasionally to train personnel from other
utilities. We sometimes get same day service with power line
RFI diagnosis. I have even had same day service from the
lineman crews as well, on occasion. Pepco is a model for how
electric utilities across the country should be run.
73, David K3KY
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