[TowerTalk] Summary: Powerline Noise

[RONALD MCLEAN]

Thanks to all who answered my call for help.  Many good comments and
suggestions greatly appreciated by both me and the power company.

The first order of business is to find the proper contact  with the power
co. .  I sent a letter explaining the situation to the General
Superintendent of the district.  The time frame covered was three years, as
accurate as possible, very polite yet letting him know of the frustration.
Three days later two crews and the RFI specialist were in contact with me
and working on the problem.  I had all of the replies printed out and had
them stop byt the shack to hear exactly what they were looking for and to
read the suggestions.  The response was gratifying.  They had little
knowledge of where to start so all hints were noted.

The equipment the power co. had was the Oak broadband noise detector, 50 to
270 Mhz and the ultrasonic probe by UE systems.  The AM radio, broadcast
band, in their van was used to get into the ballpark range then to the Oak
to pinpoint the pole and the UE probe out of the bucket.  The tough part was
the number of sources.  At least six or eight different poles which made it
difficult.  They found bad mechanical joints, splices, loose mounting
hardware, tracked insulators and poor grounds.  One bad transformer was
changed out also.  The moral of the story is if you have a little bit of
noise find it and correct it before it becomes a real chore.  I almost
forgot, pray for a good rainstorm to wash away the contamination and dust,
saves a lot of time.  If the noise stops for whatever reason be certain to
let your power company know so they do not send a crew out to case a Wil O'
the Wisp.  The dispatcher will be thankful for the thoughtfulness.

One of the replies made this comment, "Be Patient, Persistent and Polite".
Above all do try to be available when the crew is trying to clear the noise.
After all they are there to help YOU.

Thanks again to all who answered,  it's tough to be specific but if I can
pass on info drop me a message and I wil respond.  73 de KK4CR Ron



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