[SCCC] Power Line Noise - Countermeasures

[Richard J. Norton]

I live on somewhat of a hilltop. It is a pretty good QTH toward the east and
Europe. Toward Japan, there is a nearby hill that blocks all radiation below
7.5 degrees, but until I put up my 700 foot tower, I won't be able to do
anything about that direction.

I have a 100 foot tower, with some kind of ancient tri-bander and a Mosley 2-L
40 meter beam on it. It sees the northeast quite well, although computations
made with N6BV's terrain program show I don't have strong radiation at some
useful mid-elevation angles.

The antenna has a nice view of the boulevard running through the canyon. It has
an excellent coverage pattern at the vertical angle needed to receive energy
transmitted by the power poles.

This last week I put up a 3-L 20 meter beam on a 6 foot tower about 50 feet
down the hill from my house. The reflector is about 6 inches above the ground.
It actually has a decent view to the northeast.

Although I can see the power lines clearly from the antenna, the antenna does
not seem to have any vertical coverage at the ground-scraping path toward the
power lines. With this new antenna, I can actually hear.

The bad news is that most of the time, signals are 1/2 an S-unit louder on the
high antenna. But the good news is that there are signals that I can easily now
copy effortlessly that I can hardly tell are there on the high antenna.

The new, no-longer-secret, weapon was transmit-tested in the practice Sprint
last night. It was effective in snaring 9 guys. I'm kinda ready.

GL Spt.

73,

Dick, N6AA