[TowerTalk] Line Noise Problem

[Greg Gobleman]

I had terrible line noise at my last QTH.  50 & 60 db over 9.  Random sort
of.  I mean it sounded like a discharge every 10 sec or so lasting 2 sec
roughly.  But it would happen no matter what the weather and time of day was
never an absolute.

Every time the Power Co. guys would pull up it would have stopped 15min to
an hour before they arrived.  Talk about frustrating.  WB9RJY came over one
night with a little AM radio when it was really bad.  Any type of metal
within a block was radiating noise.  Fences, poles, guy wires.  I happened
to be particularly pissed off, I grabbed ahold of the guy wire to the power
pole out front and gave it a good shake.(Disclaimer: This is not a
recommended procedure, proceed at your own risk!)  Lo and behold, the noise
came and went with the shaking.  Turned out, every time the wind was from an
easterly direction, it would push the power line a bit to the west.  When it
did, the neutral running from pole to pole wrapped around a wire and I guess
there for support from pole to pole would get real close to the guy wire on
my pole and start arcing.  Never saw it, but you could hear it in a radio.

The Power Co. guys put a big rubber insulator around the guy wire and I
never had more than just minor line noise from then on.  Look an see if you
have a guy wire on a pole close to the neutral or maybe a cable TV line.
Again, I only had the problem with an easterly wind.

73
Greg K9ZM


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