[NCC] Tracking noise

[Tim Jellison]

I thought this might be of help to some of you.  There has been a lot 
written over the years detailing how to track down noise sources, but 
here's a couple of reasonably cheap pieces of equipment I've used with 
good results.

First off, this receiver works well.  Tecsun PL-660.  K3LR and I both 
have them.  They have rechargeable batteries, are wide-banded, and work 
on SSB.  The receiver is quite sensitive and works well for tracking 
noise.  I've used it to find troublesome devices in my own home (shut 
off all the breakers, then enable one circuit at a time).  I've also 
found that some noises generated by various homeowner devices are not 
wide band so being able to tune through the HF spectrum with the PL-660 
is handy.  I won't go into the methods of how to quiet down devices 
because that's a whole 'nother story.  If you walk around your house 
with this receiver, and everything in your house is powered up and 
running, I think you'll be surprised how much RFI there is these days.  
Modern technology comes with a price.

Recently I had a problem with external power line noise.  To find it, I 
first found the bearing with my HF Yagi then I took the PL-660 out for a 
walk.  I was able to hear the noise weakly at my house and it kept 
getting stronger as I walked down a couple of poles.  I had it pinned 
down to two poles, but I couldn't determine which one was the 
generator.  Now for the second piece of hardware.  The MFJ 5008 
ultra-sonic receiver.  The scheme and theory behind these devices was 
written up in QST a long time ago.  I'm sure you could find the article 
if you search on-line.  With this device, I was not only able to 
determine which pole was generating the noise, but I was even able to 
figure out which device on the cross arm was bad.  Yes, the MFJ 
parabolic dish, ultra-sonic receiver actually works!  Go figure.

I'm lucky to have a good contact at First Energy.  He has been very 
cooperative in the past and he immediately wrote up a work order for 
their line department to come out and replace the faulty hardware. I can 
promise you one thing, if you locate the defective pole for them they're 
much easier to deal with.  If you just call the power company and 
blindly say that you have power line noise, you likely won't get very 
far.  Some guys have had luck with a power company coming out and 
finding noise sources for you, but you're much further ahead if you do 
the diagnostic leg work for them.  In my case, First Energy seems to 
really want to maintain quality service, they'll fix things that are 
wrong, but I can tell that this engineer really appreciates not having 
to drive out to my QTH with whatever equipment he might have to find the 
trouble.  Twice now, I've given him the pole number and he dispatches a 
line crew to fix the problem.

One other note.  If you get a commitment from them to send a line crew 
out - be patient.  They have a normal workload going all the time and 
they often times get backed up after a recent storm. Fixing line noise 
isn't a high priority, but once the work order has been submitted they 
will eventually get out there.  Just be patient with them and then send 
them some love when they finally get out there to fix your problem.  
They remember friendly people even more than they remember grumpy ones.  
And you WILL need them again some day.

73,
Tim #2