Paul,
Thanks for the update on your noise fixes. It sounds like the power company
has finally got to do some basic maintenance of their equipment.
I have one question regarding your Alinco receiver. How is it for ease of use?
Do you need the manual along to operate it. The reason I ask is I already
have an Alinco DJ-G7 which is a bear to program without the manual. I've been
looking for a wideband receiver, portable, but it has to be easy to use on the
fly. I have considered the Icom, I believe it's a R5 or something.
Appreciate any comments regarding the Alinco rx.
73
Dale, K9VUJ
On 09, Oct 2012, at 7:16, N1BUG <paul@n1bug.com> wrote:
> Several months ago I posted about my severe power line noise. I honestly
> wasn't optimistic about a cure and had a very unfavorable opinion of the
> utility involved (partly due to past experience with issues like this). I am
> happy to report as of last week 80% of my noise has been eliminated. This is
> a very abbreviated summary of what took place.
>
> The company T&D Construction Planner came out in June to investigate my noise
> complaint. While some of my offending poles were quiet that day he found 9
> that were not and the following week wrote a work order to address issues on
> those.
>
> Eventually word of slow progress gave way to word the job was complete except
> for one pole where they were waiting on another company to set a new pole.
> But nearly 100% of my noise remained!
>
> The tone of conversations with the utility were going down hill. He had been
> trying to blame it on devices in homes, etc. which I wasn't buying into. I
> know that happens a lot but I had done my homework carefully. Reluctantly he
> agreed to come out and take another look in late September. This time I
> presented a list of my 6 worst and confirmed poles. He checked all 6 and
> agreed all were noisy.
>
> Three working days later the troubleshooter showed up with a line crew. They
> worked on all 6 of those poles and it made a huge difference. I haven't seen
> noise levels this "low" in years.
>
> Here is a summary of what was done last week in case it may be of interest:
>
> Pole 1 : 3/4 of a mile from me and my worst noise offender. S9+ noise on all
> bands through 6 meters, also conducted noise from here radiating from many
> poles for a half mile in either direction. Suspected to be a lightning
> arrestor, but changing it out did not help. It turned out to be the
> transformer, which they replaced.
>
> Pole 2 : 1/2 mile from my house, intermittent but very strong noise. The
> problem was a burned insulator on the 46 kV transmission line. The insulator
> was replaced.
>
> Pole 3 : 150 yards from me. Two insulators on 46 kV line loose on mounting
> bracket. Replaced.
>
> Pole 4 : 300 yards from me. Sparking/burning hot-line clamp. Replaced.
>
> Pole 5 : 3/4 mile from me and my other really bad offender. Lightning
> arrestor replaced.
>
> Pole 6 : Over 1 mile from me. Tie wires replaced and or re-tied. This was an
> area of recent storm damage where hasty repairs had been done on a Sunday to
> clear the road and restore power to several hundred customers.
>
> Before leaving the area that day, he told me to monitor and let him know if
> any problems remained. I assured him I would! I have been monitoring for 6
> days since this work was done. I have in that time identified two remaining
> noise sources. One is from that spot where a new pole has finally been set
> but shifting everything over still needs to be completed. The other is my
> "mystery" noise signature that eluded me all summer. I knew there was one I
> had not located. I could clearly identify the particular signature using very
> directional antennas from home but could not find an exact match for it in
> the field. It was near one of my really bad 24/7 offenders and got lost in
> the din. Now it is the only remaining source in that direction, so it should
> be easy to find. I haven't had time to investigate yet but I do have a
> suspect structure from earlier work as a starting point (and of course
> antenna bearings from home).
>
> My RFI hunting tool kit has grown since my last report. I never leave home to
> hunt power line noise without:
>
> 1) Modified MFJ-856
> 2) Alinco DJ-X11T 50 kHz-1300 MHz all mode receiver with 445 MHz yagi
> 3) 40 kHz ultrasonic locator (Midnight Science new & improved model RX3)
> 4) On-demand ability to retransmit audio from my station receiver via UHF FM
> so I can listen to it while out hunting noise (VERY useful!)
> 5) digital camera, binoculars, notebook, spare batteries, etc.
>
> At some point I will probably add HF DF loops and possibly other VHF/UHF
> directional antennas to the setup. I am now chair of the club RFI committee,
> so no doubt will have use of these tools beyond my own situation. Here is a
> link to a picture of my "RFI Mobile".
>
> http://www.n1bug.com/N1BUG-RFImobile.jpg
>
> Paul
>
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