[RFI] Just Curious

[Jim Brown]

Thanks Frank.

On 7/5/2023 3:02 PM, Frank N. Haas KB4T wrote:
> If the source is utility owned, the utility is responsible for fixing the
> problem. Regrettably, most utilities don't possess the talent or equipment
> to do the job. Mike Martin is often their salvation.

At least ten years ago, NI6T, a serious engineer and serious DX chaser, 
learned from contacts with PG&E personnel he had befriended that while 
the department that CHASES the problem can be motivated by safety 
concerns to chase down a noise source, the department that must FIX the 
problem is motivated to NOT do so, because management is rewarded by 
spending as little as possible of their annual budget.

> If the source is privately owned, then one's direction finding skills,
> diplomacy, tact, courtesy and resolve will be needed.

All true. But there's another very important factor that began rearing 
its head about 20 years ago, when 1) switch-mode power supplies (SMPS) 
were mandated as an energy saving measure and 2) more and more 
electronics are in nearly everyone's homes. My WAG is that the average 
home has at least a couple of dozen electronic noise sources in the form 
of those SMPS, other power control electronics (like controllers for 
variable speed motors), and systems with one or more microprocessors.

I'd also bet that the average ham has never gone looking for these noise 
sources in his own home, and by virtue of inverse square law, they're 
often the dominant source of the noise in his antennas!

My first line noise probe is the wide-band RX in my 20 year old Kenwood 
VHF FM talkie.

73, Jim K9YC