Topband: Power Line Noise (long)

[Mike Waters W0BTU]

> From: Brad Anbro <n9en at charter.net>
> Subject: Topband: Power Line Noise (long)
> To: "TOPBAND" <topband at contesting.com>
> Date: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 5:27 AM

[snip]
> If anyone has any ideas on how I can pin-point the
> exact source of the noise, I would sure appreciate
> the information. Thank you in advance.

Hello Brad,

What I used to do to find noisy poles was tap them with a 7 pound hand sledge at about 5 or 6 feet up from the ground. If there was loose hardware, a portable AM radio tuned to a quiet spot would go nuts. Or, in other cases, the noise would stop.

You don't usually have to hit the pole hard. I did once, and the vibration travelled down the wires and made a pole several hundred feet away start (or stop) making noise.

73 Mike