[RFI] AF4O Power line arc Suggestions to do next

[Charles Plunk]

Hi Mike! Thank You. Go to www.qrz.com and put in my callsign (AF4O) in 
the callsign search in the upper left of the page.

Thanks,

Chuck
AF4O


On 4/9/21 9:14 PM, Mike Martin wrote:
> Hey Chuck can you resend the link to your photo or send it to me 
> please. I have trained TVA for years and I'm also the one that 
> instructed them about the grease. If I can look at your photo I can 
> possibly give you some specifics to pay attention to.
>
> Be safe,
> Mike
>
> Get BlueMail for Android <http://www.bluemail.me/r?b=16696>
> On Apr 9, 2021, at 8:42 PM, Charles Plunk <af4o at twc.com 
> <mailto:af4o at twc.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hi All. Some may have been following my hunt. Weeks ago I triangulated
>     with monitoring retransmitted audio from my station and matching by
>     listening to both it and my 2m HT on AM with tape measure yagi which
>     lead me to the pole in my back yard. To make sure I was tracking the
>     right noise. It got dark that day and the arc was almost non existent
>     for weeks after that day until yesterday.
>
>     This morning with the arc still active, I got out my W1TRC/QST
>     Ultrasonic dish. I took the picture on the top of my QRZ page of the
>     pole and a red circle of where I am hearing the arc. 180 degrees on the
>     other side of the pole I hear nothing but getting in the spot where the
>     picture was taken, I hear it the strongest. The picture is not good due
>     to sun angle. Will try to take another soon.
>
>     In the red circle is bracing hardware, turnbuckles, and an insulator. I
>     do not think its the insulator as I cannot hear the arc on the other
>     side of the pole where the insulator is located.
>
>     Before I contact the power co, will check aiming of my dish & take a
>     better picture. The dishes aim in the past though has been spot on.
>
>     My small local util has stated they will get TVA out (the distributor
>     that has RFI location equipment) but I fear with the highly intermittent
>     nature of this arc, it will be gone when they get here.
>
>     So my question is, when I recheck the dish and do another spot check, is
>     it too much to ask the util to tighten the hardware in the circle and
>     apply dielectric grease? They used grease on other poles and it seems to
>     help. Or should I risk having TVA verify my findings possibly waiting
>     weeks and they possibly (probably) arrive to no arc?
>
>     Are my findings reasonable enough? Any other suggestions?
>
>     It rained tonight and the arc has subsided. Prior to the rain it was a
>     whopping 25db over s9 on 80 meters although one end of my doublet is
>     within feet of the pole. Another doublet is further away but its almost
>     as strong. If it had not rained, I was going to go out in the dark and
>     see if I could see the arc as there is no street light back there.
>
>     Thanks,
>
>     Chuck
>
>     AF4O
>
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