[RFI] PG&E IR line fault detection advertisements

[Jim P]

The 'piece de resistance' and a case study all in one:

Radio Interference (RI) Case Study
by: David Shields

The Complaint: Radio Interference

This case study is about resolving a radio interference (RI) problem for the
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) air traffic control tower at the
Rochester New York airport.


location & inspection

The interference was created on a 12.47kV distribution tap to the customer.

Inspection commenced using directional radio finding equipment, but it was
not possible to locate the specific defective elements causing the RI.

Finally, the problem was resolved with the DayCor Camera.
“…It took 20 minutes for the line crews to arrive and 30 minutes to replace
the defective hardware causing the radio interference, saving time, money
and a quick resolution of the radio interference problem...” D.S.

Corona spotted:

DayCor video clip of the 12.47kV distribution tap which shows the cause of
the radio interference:

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Karlquist" <richard at karlquist.com>
To: <rfi at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 1:33 PM
Subject: [RFI] PG&E IR line fault detection advertisements


> PG&E is running a TV ad campaign touting some infra-red
> power line fault detection system.  Does anyone have info
> on this?  I am wondering if I should add it to my arsenal
> of power line noise diagnostic equipment.  Is there a
> correlation between faults that are detectable with IR
> and faults that cause RFI.
>
> The system might be just some simple minded thing that
> measures power transformer temperature, in which case
> we don't care.  A power company engineer once told me
> that they just wait for transformers to boil over and
> go up in flames before they replaced them.  There was
> no preventive maintenance.
>
> Rick N6RK
>
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