Topband: MYSTERY NOISE GONE!

[EP Swynar]

On 25th January Bill wrote...

 A short time later I discovered that the dusk-to-dawn mercury vapour light
on the barn had gone dark. Whether the lamp, the ballast  or  the contacts
on the sensor were the cause I don't know, but that light will be removed
and replaced with something  more topband-friendly.Wonder if some of those
noises others have been describing from time to time are caused by either MV
or sodium lights starting to go bad.

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Hi Bill,

Back 16 years ago we lived in a brand new sub-division in town that was
serviced by dusk-to-dawn mercury vapour pole lamps...within just one year I
started to experience the same intermittent noise issue coming from
somewhere within the neighbourhood...

Just by chance one night I happened to be driving by an unlit pole lamp at
dark, with the car AM radio tuned to a weak station --- all of a sudden,
afterseveral seconds of visible fits & starts,  the lamp popped on, and the
radio was full of noise!

I contacted the local utility company, and was told that the ballast in
these things needed to be replaced to correct the problem. In all, I
probably arranged for the repair of a good half dozen such pole lamps in the
10 years that we lived there...

Here's a tip to anyone experiencing problems in this regard: when you call
your local utilities company, DO NOT, under any circumstances, tell them
you're a dis-gruntled (or otherwise) Ham experiencing RFI from the offending
lamp! These repair guys are usually quite busy,  and will most likely
prioritize your concerns to the proverbial back burner...

Instead, tell them that your XYL is worried because she enjoys walking the
dog around the block in the evening,  and the non-working lamp is causing
her to be afraid of venturing out after dark.

I did that every time, & never had to wait more than two days, at most, to
see the ballast being replaced in our community at the time...

~73~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ