[TowerTalk] Hum and buzz noise

[Frank Norton]

An email was sent privately to Jerry but then I began to wonder how many 
folks have been thru this kind of thing so here is what I recommended,

First of all:  CALL THE POWER COMPANY!!!  TELL THEM YOU ARE HAVING BROWN 
OUTS.  THAT YOUR LIGHTS GO DIM, YOUR TV'S PICTURES CHANGE AND HUM COMES 
FROM ALL THE PARTS YOU RELATE IN YOUR POST.  All capital letters means i'm 
yelling, and yes, i'm yelling because you are in serious danger!   Some may 
seem like exaggeration but it's not, u just haven't noticed it yet (it may 
be going on while the equipment and lights are off.)

You may have a bad transformer connected to your house at best.  At worst 
you will have a massive voltage spike ar any time that will blow out all of 
your valuable electronic gear, causing a fire if u are not at home (or God 
forbid u are asleep) to put it out when your TV bursts into flames (the 
capacitors will explode-->phosphorus release and-----> FIRE!!!!!!  If u 
live thru all these bad things that can happen and only burn up ur tv and 
rig etc., u'll find the insurance company won't pay....they will tell u to 
collect from power company which takes forever.

I hope u have figured out that I am speaking from experience.  My wife and 
I could have been killed in a similar problem several years ago. The 
following occurred in Libertyville Illinois, about 50 miles north of 
Chicago.    I was a technician class ham and should have known better than 
to wait as long as I did.  It started just like u describe....a hum in a 
radio.  Then the TV volume would spike or the picture would flicker and 
occasionally change size or shape.  Then it got worse, and the refrigerator 
started to change temperature....some days it would sour milk and other 
days it would freeze it (not solid, just crystals in the milk).  These are 
not major symptoms to us are they?  I blamed it on appliance defects, or 
line noise etc. but then.....I came home to find the fire department and 
the electric company at our mobile home, and all the others in the 
park.  Our TV had an electrical fire.  U know, the kind where the thing 
stinks but no flames...luckily my wife recognized the smell and called both 
the fire dept. and electric co. (I had been calling the electric co. to ask 
questions for a few days).

We lost our TV, refrigerator, several small appliances, and my entire ham 
setup except a hand held for 2 meters that was not in the charger.  We also 
had "smoke" damage to the carpets and furniture.  The voltage had spiked so 
badly that it did all this in a few minutes or a few weeks....we never got 
a proper answer from the electric company.  Similar things were found in 
many of our neighbors homes.

In anticipation of some questions--Yes they paid for everything but it took 
about 6 months as we recall.  If we had not been awake it could have killed 
us. It was all due to a bad transformer station about 1/4 mile from our 
trailer park.  It went bad and could have killed many of us.  These days we 
would have known to band together after it happened in a class action suit 
and get damages properly.

I hope u will unplug ur electronic gear and call the electric company to 
report ur problem in words like those up in the all caps section.  Ur lives 
could depend on it!!!  If ur problem is not as severe, the power company 
will at least fix anything wrong on their side of the meter/service entrance.

They will usually point out many errors in your wiring as well in order to 
assist clean-up of ur electric service.  They will check ur ground, ur 
service hook-up and anything up to the box.  Most of the service people I 
have had do evaluations on our homes (we have our home service checked at 
least every 3 or 4 years since the near miss) are very good about checking 
all the possibilities once u get them to ur house.  Ur correct though, if 
all you say is that u have receiver noise...they will probably never leave 
the office.  Hence the need to clarify, in no uncertain terms, that 
something is seriously wrong with ur electrical service.

U really can't lose by calling and reporting these symptoms.  If u 
emphasize ur concern...as noted above...."welding noises" can be serious 
and indicate impending danger.  Ur power company will act quickly to 
evaluate ur situation.

Until u get them out to check ur service thoroughly---at minimum all of ur 
equipment, TV, refrigerator motor and any other electric equipment (like 
ham gear) are in jeopardy.

73,

Frank Norton
survivor of a near miss.

  At 05:33 PM 7/21/2001 -0400, jerryc wrote:

I realize this is an issue unrelated to towers and antenna construction but
would greatly appreciate
someone pointing me in the direction of info. about powerline or other
electrical interference.
I am getting video noise in my tv sets (all three),  receiver noise
(sporadic welding like sounds) and
in intermittent (volume goes up and down but never stops) power supply hum
on one transceiver.
Have taken the transceiver to two other friends houses and one repair shop
and the hum is gone but
always returns when I get back home.  I have checked wiring and installed
new grounds.  Turned off all power in the house except on the one circuit
the transceiver is on (its 120vac).  Tried the same with it on a different
circuit.  Still the hum is there.  Have unhooked the doorbell, motion sensor
porch light, and anything else I could think of.  Haven't called the power
co. yet.  Want to do some
research first.  They respond slow if at all to radio interference
complaints.
Thanks for any guidance.
JerryC
jerryc@netscope.net
no call yet (still working on the code)







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