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

[Hare, Ed, W1RFI]

I like the approach of asking the fire department if an arc on the power line poses a fire or safety hazard.  As I have said to a number of people in various electrical utilities, every line that dropped on the ground made RF noise for some time before it did.   IMHO, a visible arc, not a spark, is a sign of danger, of fire or a distribution line dropping, either of which can cause serious damage or harm, or worse.

________________________________
From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w1rfi=arrl.org at contesting.com> on behalf of Jeff Blaine <KeepWalking188 at ac0c.com>
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2021 6:25 PM
To: 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)

That's a very good idea.

With one of the pole arc issues locally which was particularly bad, I
asked the power guy what the chance of that arc starting a fire.  After
all, the pole is near a farmers field with lots of dry and flammable
stuff.  Sure would be bad if we let this one go and then a couple of
houses burned as a result.  Yuck.  They had it fixed the next day.  :)

73/jeff/ac0c
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie
www.ac0c.com<http://www.ac0c.com>


On 12/20/21 5:21 PM, 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)
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