[RFI] Just Curious

[K9MA]

And, when you do the full power off test, be sure to shut down all the 
UPS's!

73,
Scott K9MA

On 7/5/2023 7:06 PM, Dave (NK7Z) wrote:
> 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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-- 
Scott  K9MA

k9ma at sdellington.us