[RFI] Power outages and RFI

[Kenneth G. Gordon]

On 29 Mar 2021 at 8:30, Christopher Wawak wrote:

> Just a short personal story:
> 
> My entire neighborhood lost power early last night. I sat around in the
> dark for a few minutes, then realized that this is a rare opportunity and
> sprinted down to the shack. I quickly hooked up my 7300 to a battery,
> flicked on the radio, and saw a thing of beauty. NO RFI! For a few short
> hours before power was restored, I had the lowest noise floor across the
> bands I've seen in the 6 months I've been active on HF. On the one hand, it
> was good fun catching contacts that were buried in the noise before. On the
> other, realizing that there's this much noise holding me back is a little
> discouraging.
> 
> Who else runs to the radio when the power goes out? Anyone have similar
> stories to share?

Yes. I most certainly do. We have power outages here in Moscow, Idaho at infrequent 
intervals, but when we do, the bands are all "unusually" quiet, and I then fire up our family 
generator and operate.

I remember one of my Elmers, Woody Davey W7CJB, in Missoula, Montana telling me that 
the overall noise level had risen drastically beginning in the 1930s, and he blamed the Rural 
Electrification Administration for most of that rise. The electrifying of the U.S. coincided with 
this rise in the noise level.

Like some of you, I am planning on going out into the wilderness somewhere and operating 
from there....especially on our 630 meter band.

Ken W7EKB