[RFI] [TowerTalk] 115 KV Lines

[Fred Stevens K2FRD]

Down here in Arizona, APS (AZ Power System) could also take some lessons from NYSEG. There are continuous MILES of leaky lines which are so bad, the noise drowns out my car's AM radio and I have a tough time on both xmit and rcv on my 2m rig. I don't do mobile HF, but I can only imagine what it would sound like on SSB. There is a main HV (550kv? 750?) line about 1/2 mile south of where I live in the desert in winter. There's apparently an insulator leak which sparks on the few occasions when it rains or if the humidity happens to reach 50% (with a high dew point), so the noise is intermittent. I'd complain, but this line is the main feeder from the huge Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (west of Phoenix) to southern California and I'm not quite up to doing battle at a nuclear level. I've tried a little RFI direction-finding, but the lives are well fenced off and I'm not into driving my Jeep across no-trails private and BLM land. I've been able to filter out some of the RFI through an expensive combination of common mode and line filters, but the noise is so pervasive (worst on 20m, of course, the only reliable daytime band these days) I just turn off the rigs, read a good book, and wait for the sun to come out. :-D

73 de Fred K2FRD

At 11:15 AM -0500 23/5/07, Bill NY9H wrote:
>too bad ComEd / Exceleon  (Chicagoland) can't adopt some of the user
>friendlyness from NYSEG....
>
>ComEd blatantly ignored the ARRL , the FCC & me but dramatically
>awoke to the ICC Illinois Commerce Commission's call. This on  LV
>distrib issues.
>
>on 115 .... I'll NEVER forget driving thru the Florida Keys !!!  In
>Marathon, FL the hi tension stuff  was LOUD non stop  hum  buzz snap
>crackle & pop and more hum as the humid ocean air got to the lines.  ,,,
>
>bill

-- 
73 and Yours In Scouting de Fred Stevens K2FRD, VO2FS
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