[TenTec] Strange RFI update

[wb5jnc at juno.com]

Greetings again,

The mysterious RFI seems to come and go: hasn't been there when I had time/decent WX to chase it down (as Murphy would predict, of course!). I did check with the power company; they are not into the PLC trial so that can be eliminated as a possible culprit. One other possibility that has been mentioned is that a transformer on the power line is in the process of dying, but what I'm hearing doesn't sound like I would expect it to if that were the case. (Of course, I've been known to be wrong at least once or twice before HI HI!!)

One post said not to associate the problem with interference to ham radio, as that's a good way to be ignored. Perhaps so, except in my case I'm an Assistant EC for the county: and as we all know, _any_ ham frequency may be needed in an emergency situation. I recently experienced another unrelated interference situation with cable system leakage showing up on 2M. I called the county Dept. of Emergency management, got the name of the cable company contact they used, called him, and was referred to the tech supervisor for the company. I explained the situation to him: the leakage from their system was interfering with the signal from the 145.35 repeater used by the spotters/ARES/RACES in the next county -- and the fact that I do need to communicate with them on occasion. The fellow was very nice; he indicated that contractors working in the area installing new cable for an upgrade had probably damaged his system. He sent a tech out the next day; the tech found and repaired two breaks, which eliminated the interference. The tech supervisor even called back to follow up.

The bottom line here is that if you do have an interference problem, let the people you are talking to know that the frequencies in question could be needed in an emergency situation. Your problem is much less likely to be ignored if put in that light (even if resolving the interference does benefit your "hobby" use of the frequency).

TNX/73, Al

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!