[RFI] Re: Fw: Re:K1OA Qrn noise (long)

[Scott Ginsburg]

Lee,

	Thanks for your message! You're the first
person I've heard from who has experienced a similar
type of noise as I'm hearing. I haven't yet found any
smoking guns driving the local roads in my neighborhood.
I also haven't covered every road yet within 2 or 3
airmiles of my location so I have more ground to cover.

						73,
						Scott, K1OA


> From: Lee K7tjr <mailto:k7tjr at comcast.net>
> To: rfi at contesting.com <mailto:rfi at contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 11:21 AM
> Subject: Re:K1OA Qrn noise (long)
> 
> I just listened to your .wav files and I can say I just recently tracked 
> down a noise that sounds the same here in Central Or.
> One of the most fascinating things found during this investigation was 
> how I could receive different signal strengths on different bands until 
> I tried a new type of antenna. I had  just built a shortened dipole for 
> receiving on 160 that has a high impedance buffer amp connected to it. I 
> am able to hear the interference at or near the same levels on many 
> different bands up to 30 mhz in my shack. Now as to the interference I 
> was able to find it after driving around all the local roads with 
> several different radios and antennas until one day I happened to be 
> dialing thru 28 Mhz band on AM.  The interference was immediately 
> detectable as I drove down a long road with local power lines. It was 
> only about a half mile from my antenna farm.  As I drove along a certain 
> road (I had been down this road many times using other frequencies 
> because I had found the noise on 75 and 160) I could hear the noise go 
> up and down in signal strength with each wavelength and increase as any 
> feeder lines crossed over the road. The best antenna turned out to be a 
> simple untuned loop of copper wire stretched in a square around the bed 
> of my pickup. It was insulated from but not spaced away from the bed. 
> Ignition noise from the pickup was a problem and I found myself coasting 
> down most of the hills so I could hear the QRM noise. As I drove past a 
> certain power pole the s-meter was pegged and the wideband and static 
> sounding noise was deafening. There was an undergound feed with a 
> lightning arrestor attached and after the power company came agreed that 
> the arrestor was the problem.. The power company interference man had an 
> ultrasonic small dish and he was able to pinpoint within an inch or so 
> where the actual arc was coming from. The moral to this long story is 
> that I too thought it just may be summertime static but I could find no 
> reason to have an s-3 noise level during the day on 160 meters. The 
> arcing to ground sounded purely broadband as the passband of the 
> receiver would not pass any 60 or 120 cycle component of  the sound. The 
> arcing would occasionaly put out bursts that sounded also like lightning 
> static as well.. I have since been able to find 3 more power poles with 
> arcing and I am grateful that the local power company has a man that 
> cares assigned to interference problems.   Lee K7TJR Oregon