[RFI] Interference

[Sam Morgan]

No it's not the power companies affair once it hits the incoming drop on the house.

I had a neighbors doorbell transformer causing me intermittent grief.
Although theirs was in the attic and when the temps went above ~85 it would 
crank up and then went back off late in the evening when it got cooler. It 
behaved it's self in the winter, which does make me suspicious if yours is 
really a doorbell transformer.

Be aware it could just as easily be a garage door opener, or perhaps a something 
related to a furnace igniter or some other thermostat controlled  thing.

If you take an am broadcast radio with a loopstick antenna in it. You can easily 
locate the house yourself, or someone can do the leg work for you, and easily 
find it with that radio.

When you do find the house, approach the owner/renter with the idea that you 
first heard it in your radio and since you're a knowledgeable, licensed by the 
FCC, radio amateur, you know that, the kind of intermittent arcing you are 
hearing, has a real potential for burning down a house.... being the good 
neighbor that you are, you came looking to see which house it was, so you could 
warn your neighbor before it perhaps caused *THEM* a real problem.

In polite terms, make them afraid and keep the
'it's causing me radio listening problems part' at a low key initially.
If it turns out later after you have proven it's their house
and they are uncooperative, only then bring out the
'you are causing interference with a Federally Commissioned
Licensed Radio Station...yada yada yada

Show them the noise with your little am radio, and offer the idea that if they 
turn off all the breakers in their house and it goes away, then it's definatly 
their house. Also that when they turn the breakers back on, one by one, they can 
determine which circuit it is on.

the BIG if in all this is if it's 'so intermittent' that just turning it off, 
makes it stop even when the breakers come back on. You might be better off, to 
try turning off all the breakers one by one and leaving them off until the 
offending one is found.

Sometimes you can ring the doorbell while listening to the radio and determine 
if the noise changes....confirming it is the doorbell transformer.

Good luck and don't give up. I had this problem for a couple of years,
the owner died, so no one to talk to, the power was left on,
as the new owner was going to refurbish the house to sell,
never could catch up with him, summer came and went,
then another summer came around, I was able to contact the guy,
but he never got around to fixing it, he couldn't sell the house,
so decided to rent, and 'Praise the Lord'
the new renter was a college student that had just gotten his tech ticket,
I spoke with him, and with in the hour he had gone up in the attic himself
and cut the transformer out and the next day
presented it to the landlord, talking about how he had saved him from a fire
you just got to love it when a plan comes together <g>

--
GB & 73
K5OAI
Sam Morgan

On 1/17/2012 3:37 PM, Tom Horton wrote:
> I am having a problem that when it happens is horrible.
>   It is an intermittent power line type noise that is a solid s-9+.
> reducing down the lower I go in frequency.
>   In my experience that means it is fairly close. Usually a strong noise on a higher frequency
> means it is fairly close.
> Anyway, I callled the line company, Oncor, in my case and they sent a fellow out and we talked about it and he went looking around. He came back a few minutes latter saying it was a door bell transformer down the street. He said since it wasn't their problem he couldn't do anything about it other than contact the customer and tell them. Well, he could not talk to them that day or the next, I suppose.
> Has anyone ever heard of an intermittent door bell transformer? I would think if that was the case that is would be a dangerous situation.
>   It is also suspicious since that is the first thing the guy suggested when he got here.
>   Anyway, the noise still appears from time to time with no real indication of why it appears. Doesn't seem to be weather or wind related. Again this is an extremely intermittent noise and sounds just like an arc on a power line.
>   I contacted them again by e-mail the other day and I got a reply saying that they cannot assist me any further because the problem is not their equipment causing the proble.
>   My question is...do they have any responsibility to try to get this problem cured.
>   They told me they cannot tell me whose house is causing the problem.
>   Frankly, I am not convinced that the problem is not theirs.
>   In years past I took my power company in WV to court over some noise and finally got it fixed.
> Not sure where to go from here.
>   Ideas?
> thanks, Tom K5IID
>
> "Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
> the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
> its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.."
> -- Winston Churchill
>
> "Democracy depends on well-informed voters; absent that, it is all mud flowing down hill."
> --Charles Harpole
>
> "Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get."
>
> If you don't like my signature, well, I am sorry. But I will use it because it is what I believe.
>
> K5IID Tom Horton Hillsboro, TX
> E sorter for ARRL W5 bureau
> Same call for 55 years!
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