[RFI] 2 MW Solar Farm

[Jpock]

Ed,

I have a  RSPduo SDRplay and Kenwood TH-D74 handheld radio setups.  
Someone is putting in a large solar farm just north of me in Sturgis 
Mich., about 10 miles.  It is not in service as of yet, but it will soon 
be operational.  If you wish, I can take some measurements once it is 
operational.

Is there anything extra or special you want me to do, just let me know.

Respectfully,
Jim N9PXO

------ Original Message ------
From: "Hare, Ed W1RFI" <w1rfi at arrl.org>
To: "rfi at contesting.com" <rfi at contesting.com>; "Jpock" 
<jhpock at gmail.com>
Sent: 9/22/2020 09:46:07
Subject: Re: [RFI] 2 MW Solar Farm

>If any of you all have an HF mobile set up and can go to one of these 
>farms, please do and provide a report.
>
>Date/Time:
>Location (GPS coordinates and/or street address. Describe location if 
>necessary).
>How far was the measurement location from any part of the solar system?
>Sun conditions:
>Band:
>Receiver:
>Antenna:
>Antenna height:
>Mode (AM preferred, SSB useful):
>Bandwidth (6 kHz preferred, 3 kHz useful):
>Preamp off, if possible:
>Noise level:
>Is the noise relatively constant across a large part of the band, or 
>does it get louder and weaker at regular intervals as the receiver is 
>tuned.
>
>If the receiver is an SDR, a waterfall or spectral sweep can be useful. 
>If possible, remport the received signal level in absolute units, ie 
>dBm, dBuV, uV, etc.
>
>If anyone has a spectrum analyzer and, even better, a calibrated loop, 
>sweeps of each band made in RMS and quasi-peak (if available), 9 kHz 
>bandwidth, with a known reference level at the top of the analyzer 
>screen, so much the better.
>
>If you can make the same measurements on 6 meters, so much the better, 
>because if we have an absolute receive level, a known-gain antenna and 
>known receiver conditions, we can estimate whether the system exceeeds 
>the FCC emissions limits above 30 MHz.
>
>If you make these reports here, I will pick up on them and see what we 
>can determine about the interference potential based on actual reports.
>
>Ed Hare, W1RFI
>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org at contesting.com> on behalf of 
>Jpock <jhpock at gmail.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, September 22, 2020 8:48 AM
>To:rfi at contesting.com <rfi at contesting.com>
>Subject: [RFI] 2 MW Solar Farm
>
>To rfi at contesting.com
>
>Kim, I am in the same type of situation about Commercial Solar Farms in
>LaGrange Indiana.  The county commissioners passed a ordinance allowing
>agricultural property to be transformed into solar farms.  This type of
>change can cause alot of problems for amateur radio operators.
>
>Any type of information that can be shared will be useful!  Thank-you
>Scott K9MA for sharing.
>
>Respectfully,
>Jim N9PXO
>
>------ Original Message ------
>From: "K9MA" <k9ma at sdellington.us>
>To: rfi at contesting.com
>Sent: 9/21/2020 23:42:36
>Subject: Re: [RFI] 2 MW Solar Farm
>
> >Hopefully not as bad as the 2.3 MS Siemens wind turbines in New 
>Zealand. ZL6QH had to abandon a huge antenna farm because of RFI. Their 
>noise floor went up 50 dB on 80, and only a few of the planned turbines 
>were in operation. While not quite the same, solar and wind power 
>systems both use high frequency switching converters capable of 
>generating lots of RFI.
> >
> >http://www.zl6qh.com/rf-noise-measurements-quartz-hill-2009-v3.pdf
> >
> >73,
> >Scott K9MA
> >
> >
> >
> >On 9/21/2020 11:56 AM, Kim Elmore wrote:
> >>I just learned that a 2 MW solar farm is being built about 3/4 mi 
>from my QTH. I don’t know who is behind it, though I ssume it’s a 
>utility company of some sort as 2 MW sounds moderately large. Does 
>anyone have any experience with these? How much of an RFI source are 
>they?
> >>
> >>Kim N5OP
> >>
> >>"People that make music together cannot be enemies, at least as long 
>as the music lasts." -- Paul Hindemith
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>RFI mailing list
> >>RFI at contesting.com
> >>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
> >
> >
> >-- Scott  K9MA
> >
> >k9ma at sdellington.us
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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> >RFI at contesting.com
> >http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
>
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