TopBand: Power Line Problems AND CO-OPs (LONG)

[Billy W. Cox]

To Dave and the group ... 

Local Co-ops can be a 'gray area' to deal with as to laws/etc ..
Here in Tennesse, due to private (members) ownership the 
Public Service Commission (and their laws) do not apply.

I have suffered and still do to a large degree with problems
similar to you. Here's my notes ... and you need to keep
DETAILED NOTES ... they will not, you MUST keep notes !

What did not work here ? Calling and PLEADING for them to "come
find the problem that is messing up 'my ham radio hobby' ....

What did work ?  After over a year of being "Mr. Nice Guy" and
waiting and waiting... I walked in the local office in my best suit,
asked to speak with someone who could give me the names, addresses, and
telephone #s for ALL the board of directors, and the dates they would be
meeting next. That statement resulted in me being ushered into the
office of the manager to speak with their 'public relations' person.
She asked me why I wanted such info ... So I told her, and then she
brought my account number up on the screen and verifed the dates/names
of my requests over the past 12 months. I asked her why this had gone
on for so long without attention ? She had no answer. I told her that
after a year of waiting perhaps the board of directors would be able to
answer my questions, BUT ALL THAT I REALLY WANTED was the problem
solved NOW. I offered to be at my home the NEXT day to meet with and
show the problem to their "tech". I provided her in WRITING with all
the groundwork I had done, maps drawn, poles that were questionable,
etc.... and I noted that the TVs of myself, and several neighbors
had the "interference" on them also. (and names/address for them also)
when NOT on cable. Well, the NEXT day I met with their "tech" and it's
amazing what TOOLS he brought with him. Small VHF yagi gizmo, a loop
antenna, and a Motorola portable IFR. Sadly he did not have working
knowledge of how to use them. He also stated the "How do YOU know it's
NOT your antennas just picking up too much signal" and so forth ... I
noted his name and showed him the interference on the TV AND ham rigs.
And made notes WITH HIM THERE as to the noise being confirmed to have
been heard AND seen on the IFR while he was there and that it was or
seemed to be "power line related". While he was here, I called the
inside person at the co-op office that I had met the day before. I
THANKED her for her follow thru and that their tech was presently
there and WE had confirmed that the problem was "power line related".
Then I asked her what THEY would do next as the tech did not seem
interested in doing anything to solve the problem due to other jobs.
I realized that they were busy BUT I had now been waiting for OVER a
year just for one visit. Then I offered a 'compromise' ! I would do
the "leg work" IF they would aggree to RESPOND within 10 days to my
requests. If not I would take my case to the board of directors...
She AND the tech agreed. Over the next year 'we' did try several
things to solve the noise and they did followup within our agreement.
They knew I would not hesitate to go further if I needed to ...

Did we solve ALL of the noise problem, NO ... but it was better ...
After a year I met in their office again with the new "public relations"
person as the other person had moved out of state. We agreed that the
co-op had done all that could be done for NOW, but that if I came up
with other ideas to try, that they would respond. I also offered copies
of
the ARRL interference book, the book written by the retired W6 on power
line problems, and my name to help others with similar problems.

Is the QTH "noise free" today. Sadly NO .. But I have learned ALOT that
has helped others. For example, I found that the OLD telephone lines
were still on the road poles and NOT GROUNDED. Years ago the telephone
company went to a newer style, and for some reason on our road, left
the old wires "floating". So when the co-op did check/tighten the
hardware on this road, the 'old telephone wiring' was coupling the
noise from 'bad poles' a couple of miles away ... So that meant getting
the telephone folks involved to solve that, and THEY make the dealing
with the co-op look EASY as compared to getting the telephone company to
solve anything ! But finally they did respond and that dropped the noise
down by another level. I have also helped repair several electric fences
over the past 14 years ... and learned more than I care to on this !

Summary:
1. Be firm, but not a smart A**, offer to work with them. We need
   positive PR now more than ever, not "it's that D*NM HAM again" ...
   Document every step you take, names/dates/who did what.
2. Check with KC2X as he did have to get the FCC involved there when
   the local coop did NOTHING. There are federal laws that do govern
   "interference" caused by power utilities !
3. Read the texts mentioned above, I even built my own "VHF sniffer"
   from the QST article and others have used it to find problems.
4. Understand that LOTS of things can influence "power line noises"
   such as the telephone lines "coupling" the noise into the lines.
   The co-op can't touch those lines as they belong to the phone co.
5. Realize that most of the 'leg work' is going to have to be done
   by YOU. I estimate I have invested about three weeks of time over
   the past 14 years to solve problems. At it's worst it was S7 on
   10m and higher on other bands... today while not as quiet as it
   was 14 years ago, the efforts have made 20>10 just about "clean"
   and 160>40 are still being worked on ... sadly Topband is still
   the worst and tends to make me quite the alligator there ... :(

With Fran coming thru, your local folks are going to be DEAD TIRED
and not really concerned about "one ham's problem" as compared to
ALL their other problems. When we lost lines/poles here due to TWO
bad ICE storms the noise was BETTER (ie LESS) until they restored
all the services out here in the countryside. So that confirmed 
that "the noise source" here is still in a 2-3 mile radius and I
have yet to find it. But WHEN I do, they will followup. Give the
local folks time to catch their breath, BUT tell them WHAT you are
doing to isolate the problem and set a reasonable time frame for them to
act, and then hold them to it ...

Hang in there ! Don't give up ! 73 Bill AA4NU  aa4nu@ix.netcom.com

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