[RFI] Electric company problem

[Ed -K0iL]

Dave,

If you file a complaint with the FCC and haven't already contacted the ARRL,
the FCC will just send you there to start before they'll get involved.

It is true that LV distribution can sometimes be worked live in some cases
and I've even seen inspections done on HV lines live by some utilities, but
most cannot do any HV xmission work live due to the inherent danger and
labor union safety concerns.  My utility will not do HVT line maintenance
live for that reason.

My utility did have a HV transmission line problem that was QRNing a ham
near Blair, NE last year.  They scheduled the work, the Comm Dept kept the
pressure on to make sure it happened, and they got it done last February
expending time & money to resolve the problem.  Then the ham moved.  So
there's always two sides to every story.

73, de ed -K0iL

-----Original Message-----
From: rfi-bounces at contesting.com On Behalf Of David Robbins K1TTT

If it is really strong enough, find someone who is getting tvi from it, or
who has interference to commercial broadcast radio... get the station
engineer on it to bring more pressure from the fcc.  And complain up the
ladder yourself to the utility, after all, anything that is making noise is
wasting energy that YOU are paying for!  There is no excuse to put it off,
most lines can be worked hot these days if they can't take an outage.
Replacing insulators or other leaky hardware can be done from insulated
bucket trucks or with hotsticks.  And if you haven't already, file a
complaint with the fcc and keep the arrl informed, utilities that are
intentionally ignoring interference complaints or delaying repairs must be
held accountable.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: rfi-bounces at contesting.com On Behalf Of Ed -K0iL
> 
> Did the troubleshooter already track the noise source?  And if so, was it
> from a high-voltage transmission line?
> 
> Only in such a case might it be considered reasonable to wait until spring
> in my opinion.  An HV line might feed a substation and thousands or more
> customers require a large outage to perform repairs.  It would be poor
> system design to have such conditions of course, but it's common with
> today's growth and utilities not spending the capital needed to keep up.
> They should be capable of feeding subs from multiple directions, but much
> of
> today's transmission system is overloaded so they might not be able to do
> so.
> 
> If it requires a scheduled maintenance outage under the conditions I've
> stated above, make sure you get it in writing when they will be doing the
> work.  Then hold them to it!  If they fail to do the work, get the ARRL
> involved at that point.  Maybe even just before to make sure they do it.
> 
> If none of the above is the case and it's just on the LV distribution,
> call
> the ARRL to get Gruber to send them a letter.  Be sure to have it sent it
> to
> the CEO or president and copy their telecomm manager who deals with the
> FCC
> licensing (looks this up on www.fcc.gov).  If you let them put it off
> until
> spring, they probably won't have the resources to do it then either.  Put
> some pressure on them.
> 
> 73, de ed -K0iL
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rfi-bounces at contesting.com On Behalf Of Mike Brown
> 
> Early this fall, my 4th case of rfi from electric company hardware in 9
> years, reared its ugly head. Number 1&2 were fixed, although it was around
> 3
> or 4 months on each case. Number 3 took ARRL involvement, and finally a
> letter from the FCC about fines, to get it fixed. That one was about 7
> months.
> 
> I got a call yesterday from the guy who trouble shoots these things, and
> the
> bottom line is that my problem is low on the list, and don't expect to see
> anyone out again until spring. Not surprising.
> 
> Sorry about the boring history, but here's my question. My tower is up
> 40ft.
> If I were to get one up, say around 70ft, will it make it easier to hear
> on
> the ham bands only, or will I just be hearing the Rfi that much better?
> The
> RFI beaming EU is about 20 over with the least being about S7. The source
> of
> the interference is probably 100 yards away, maybe a little less.
> 
> Sorry for the dumb question, but I can see this is going to be an ongoing
> problem, and I am tired of fighting with them. If I can't come up with a
> bandaid fix of my own, I'm about ready to throw in the towel.