[RFI] RFI from arcing power pole 1.1 miles away (video capture of the arc)

Grant Saviers grants2 at pacbell.net
Mon Dec 20 18:26:47 EST 2021


What also got a fast reaction (next day) was a safety issue.  A cut and 
loose pole ground wire in my case (Cu theft).  Filed as a normal 
complaint, PSE upgraded it and requested that such problems be reported 
as life safety.

Grant KZ1W

On 12/20/2021 15:21, Hare, Ed, W1RFI wrote:
> If they don't come out quickly, call the fire department and ask them if this is an emergency.  They will probably come out quickly and contact the utility for emergency repairs.
> 
> ________________________________
> From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org at contesting.com> on behalf of Joe <w7rkn.7 at gmail.com>
> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2021 4:00 PM
> To: 'Pete Smith N4ZR' <pete.n4zr at gmail.com>
> Cc: rfi at contesting.com <rfi at contesting.com>
> Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI from arcing power pole 1.1 miles away (video capture of the arc)
> 
> How fast did the power company come out and repair the shorted line, after being presented with this video and information?
> 
> Joe - W7RKN
> 
> 
> On 12/20/2021 2:36 PM, Don Kirk wrote:
>> Utter disappointment Saturday morning when I was getting ready for the Stew
>> Perry 160 meter contest when I noticed new RFI on 160 meters as well as 80
>> meters to my East, and spent the morning tracking it down to a pole 1.1
>> miles from my QTH. My portable flag with laptop based SDR receiver made it
>> very easy to home in on the suspect pole using 80 meters, and then used 136
>> MHz with 4 element Yagi and portable AM radio to isolate the bad pole from
>> adjacent poles. Also used 438 MHz with 4 element Yagi and my laptop based
>> SDR to confirm my findings.
>>
>> I went back last night (Sunday night) after sunset to see if I could see
>> the pole arcing because I was pretty sure I knew where the problem was
>> based on some very up close pictures I had obtained earlier in the day
>> using a 14.1 mega pixel camera with 35X Optical Zoom. I went to the pole
>> about 2 hours after Sunset and before even exiting the car I could easily
>> see arcing where I thought it would be.
>>
>> Today I uploaded a video onto youtube that captures the arcing as well as
>> some up close pictures that captures the hardware problem on the pole. Here
>> is a link to that video for those interested.https://youtu.be/-iU1wbb8Na0
>>
>> It never ends, but at least this case was obvious.
>>
>> 73,
>> Don (wd8dsb)
> 
> _______________________________________________
> RFI mailing list
> RFI at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
> _______________________________________________
> RFI mailing list
> RFI at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi


More information about the RFI mailing list