[RFI] Working with Utilities

[Stephanie WX3K]

All

I live near the territory boundary of two utilities. My work with PP&L has fruitful and they have been very cooperative in resolving RFI issues i would report to them over the years.

I have been struggling with MetEd for the same powerline noise for at least 5 years now. I recently got their attention again and reopened a new work order. I spoke to their tech today and learned they have been replacing cut-outs and repairing resistive connections. All good but my RFI issue continues mostly driven by drier windier weather conditions, the RFI swamps the 25-150 MHz spectrum.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ekn6xpl0960qrm7/IMG_9711.MOV?dl=0

 
There are old bell type insulators on poles near this suspected line area. I consistently request they replace those problematic antiquated bell insulators that are notorious for RFI issues. They(MetEd) seem to avoid this. With my work with PP&L, replacing those bell insulators have completely resolved those reported issues. The techs from MetEd use their ultrasonic detectors to find issues but it is my impression these bell type insulators do not show up as issues when they look around with their ultrasonic detectors. True statement ? How does one convince a utility to actually listen to the RF spectrum for issues ? Is there a specific model spectrum analyzer that the utilities tend to use to scan for RFI ???

Stephanie WX3K