[RFI] Just Curious

[Dave (NK7Z)]

Jim,

When I assist someone, I insist on doing a full power off of the home 
first...  You would be surprised at how many times that ends the 
hunting, and things become a breaker switching action...

One fellow refused to do a full power down, would not even switch a 
breaker off...  I told him I would hold off until we could do a power 
off test.

He got a bit huffy, but in the end when we killed power to his home, the 
RFI ended...  Turns out he put up with 80 Meter RFI, for around 10 
years, (before he asked for help), all the time blaming the power 
company to everyone, when it was his own touch lamp...

73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources

On 7/5/23 16:41, Jim Brown wrote:
> 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
> 
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