[RFI] Fwd: I could see the arcs with binoculars last night! (Resolved?)

Fri Apr 16 20:21:28 EDT 2021

Thanks Don

On 4/16/21 5:08 PM, Don wrote:
> There are a couple ways to use a cell phone as a FLIR.
>
> https://tectogizmo.com/4-ways-to-turn-your-cell-phone-into-a-thermal-camera/ 
>
>
> Otherwise, check your ham club for a volenteer fire fighter. Some 
> departments have one to see the hot spots in a fire.
>
> -------- Forwarded Message --------
> Subject:     Re: [RFI] I could see the arcs with binoculars last 
> night! (Resolved?)
> Date:     Fri, 16 Apr 2021 21:28:14 +0000
> From:     n0tt1 at juno.com
> To:     af4o at twc.com, RFI at contesting.com
>
>
>
> "Still looking at night vision toys, lol."
>
> Chuck,
>
> When I had my garage floor "mud-jacked" with a hot mix of "plastic",
> one of the guys had a tablet computer with it's built-in camera that was
> sensitive to infared. He
> showed me where the hot mix was going under the concrete on the screen.
> Now I'm thinking that something similar would show any higher temperature
>
> areas on any powerline hardware.
>
> There might be a "app" for that for use with a cellphone....just
> thinking out loud. :O)
>
> 73,
> Charlie, N0TT
>
> On Fri, 16 Apr 2021 02:24:08 -0500 Charles Plunk <af4o at twc.com> writes:
>> Dave,
>>
>> Yes I would try the binoculars. Surely cannot hurt. One difficultly I 
>> had was a streetlight in my front yard is LED and another is mercury
>> about 200' in another direction. They would reflect off shiny 
>> hardware like insulators and fool me into thinking it was arcs but 
>> when I saw the tiny arc between the wire and that square washer I 
>> realized that indeed was very likely an arc as that stuff is dull and 
>> not that reflective.
>>
>> Chasing this stuff is certainly time consuming but can be rewarding.
>> This group is the best around. Their tip to match the noise somehow 
>> was my big breakthrough. Doing that was not easy but that one day 
>> when the noise had a distinctive pattern and I was able to listen at 
>> the same
>> time to the retransmitted audio from my station receiver on one HT 
>> and to my triangulation audio on another HT made the difference in 
>> finding the right pole. Lots of noise out there that will mislead 
>> you. Other
>> poles, houses, etc many seem to all have noise if you get close 
>> enough but may not be affecting your station receiver significantly.
>>
>> Then ultrasonic and the flashlight. Still looking at night vision 
>> toys, lol.
>>
>> My utility was great! They were on the front page of the local paper
>> this week for their reliability rating. The new CEO must have it 
>> going on.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Chuck
>> AF4O
>>
>> On 4/15/21 11:05 PM, David Decoons wrote:
>> > Hi Chuck,
>> >
>> > Thanks for the detailed description of your problem and how you 
>> were able to find it. I have power line noise prevalent when dry and 
>> windy. You can watch the noise floor jump up and down. When it rains 
>> or not windy it usually is not present. When present the noise floor 
>> on 40 and 15 meters is 20 to 25 dB higher. Using the Flex Wide Noise 
>> Blanker I can get the noise to drop almost to normal, but as the 
>> arcing comes and goes rapidly with windy day the WNB keeps trying to 
>> reobtain lock.
>> >
>> > I have narrowed it down to what I think is a single pole on right 
>> front corner of my property. I will try the binocular trick at night. 
>> It is supposed to be windy tomorrow with drying conditions.
>> >
>> > The good thing is I know the person in charge of the group that 
>> would respond to RFI noise complaints at the local utility company. 
>> He has been very cooperative in the past.
>> >
>> > 73
>> > Dave wo2x
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPad
>> >
>> >> On Apr 15, 2021, at 9:30 PM, Charles Plunk <af4o at twc.com> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> ?I notified the utility on Sunday evening. They come out today and 
>> did the work. I will be updating the website below as I got a chance. 
>> After such a long time I am hesitant to believe its fixed until 
>> listening for about a month but it sure appears to be fixed. I am not 
>> hearing a peep of the same noise.
>> >>
>> >> I have 2 doublets and a 6BTV vertical on HF, a 4 el 6m beam, and 
>> some 2m beams and am hearing some noise on some bands on one and 
>> other noise on the other bands on the other but nothing like the 
>> intensity of the 120hz noise I was hearing on all of them. I am 
>> probably hearing these noises now since they were masked by the other 
>> far more stronger noise. At any rate these pale in comparison to the 
>> other and go away for the most part at night as the humidity rises. 
>> Will chase them as I get time. They may not even be 120hz.
>> >>
>> >> At any rate I am happy happy right now!
>> >>
>> >> 73
>> >>
>> >> Chuck
>> >> AF4O
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>> On 4/11/21 1:47 PM, Charles Plunk wrote:
>> >>> Last night I tried my digital camera and binoculars. I could see 
>> the arc's with binoculars! Looks like ground and neutral wires are to 
>> close to other hardware. The digital camera captured one arc but was 
>> so dark could not see the pole. Anyone ever use a night vision camera 
>> like used for hunting etc for this?
>> >>>
>> >>> Updated details at
> https://www.qsl.net/af4o/Powerline%20RFI%20QSL.net%20Webpage/Arc%20Webpag
> e.html
>> >>>
>> >>> Great group here. Thanks for everyone's help!
>> >>>
>> >>> 73
>> >>>
>> >>> Chuck
>> >>> AF4O
>> >>>
>> >>> (Soon to be W4NBO, a call my Elmer (SK) had for 20 years)
>> >>>
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