Topband: Wideband Noise on 160

[Roger D. Johnson]

Hi Ford....

For 8 years I lived beside a 12kv 3 phase power line that
was very noisy. Looking at a scope connected to the 940's
IF output, I could see that the noise came in two varieties.
First was the "bad insulator" breakdown noise which was a
fairly sharp spike. The noise blanker did a fairly good job
on this type. The second was a corona discharge which looked
and sounded like broadband noise. When I looked at the line
with binoculars, I could see that many insulator tie-wires
were sticking out from the associated lines. The resultant
points made an ideal corona discharge point! The line was
constructed by a contractor who obviously didn't have a clue
about corona discharge. A big clue to this condition was that
it was much worse in cold dry weather. 

Good luck on finding your problem.

73, Roger


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