[TowerTalk] high tension power line noise...

[dotravel at aol.com]

Roger on the power lines,  AND  I'd suggest doing a survey for other "domestic" noise.  In my neighborhood and many others it is the "Tap Lights"  that are the RFI devil incarnate!   

They are the little devices that have a 2" touch sensitive pad or even the base of a lamp is touch sensitive and are commonly installed inline  to give 3 levels of brightness to the lamp.  To make matters worse, if they are used to control 12v Halogen lamps they may have a noisy switching "dimmable" wall-wart as part of the system. All of this racket runs thru the house wiring and can be heard from several housed away -- nasty stuff.

I have been fighting this noise for years and even had the TelCo and Electric Utility RFI folks out with no luck.  Below is what I sent out to some pals a few weeks ago.  Now if I can find the source of the intermittent "arc welding" (spark gap) noise I'll be a happy camper! 

Regards, John NA6L



Remember how I was complaining about the wide band, badmuffler motor scooter RFI noise that was about 100 KCs wide that kinda'wandered around, it even changed tone and varied its staccato pulse. All thingsconsidered, it was a very weird noise. One other detail is that the noise was up to S-9 and loudest on thelower bands and it cut off within a few KCs like a SSB signal. 
 
It turned out that it was my neighbors 2 sets of 30 yearold 3 way dimming TAP light systems that fed some 12v halogen lights. There ismore to the story, first I bought a new version of the TAP light system -- sameproblem.  The next step was to buy andinstall a replacement dimmer system using corded slide controls and that gotrid of 50% of the noise.  As it turnedout the other 50% of the noise is from one of the 110v (line) to 12v (halogenlights) transformers -- it really makes a hell of a lot of racket when it isenergized.  The little wall wart typetransformer is labeled "dimmable" but I'm going to try replacing itwith one of my 12v wall warts from the great big box-o-converters. 
  


-----Original Message-----
From: Bob K6UJ <k6uj at pacbell.net>
To: Towertalk <towertalk at contesting.com>
Sent: Sun, Mar 11, 2012 2:22 pm
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] high tension power line noise...


Gary,
I'm with Joe, good idea to take a portable AM radio and tune off a broadcast,  
turn the volume up and check out the property.
Also, do the same with your car radio, drive all around the neighborhood and 
check.  Drive under the power lines with 
a cross street and see what you get.  In our area, when I drive under the big hi 
power lines,  from about 4 houses away I get  RFI noise on AM.  
So the RFI it extends out about 300 feet on each side of the lines.  I can't 
imagine how it 
would impact 160 meters !    I would be very careful about buying property this 
close to the hi power lines. 
I know what you are going thru, we spent a long time looking for our house that 
we were comfortable with putting up a tower/ antennas.
We finally ended up buying in an unincorporated area of the county, it is 
difficult to find antenna/tower friendly property.  I wish you 
good luck on your search !

Bob
K6UJ

On Mar 11, 2012, at 12:55 PM, Joseph or Ruth Patrick wrote:

> Hey Gary
> 
> If you want you could take a tour of the property with a small battery powered 

> am radio. I have located many noise sources this way. All power companies are 
> different. some do little to no maintenance. Some guys are all over it. The 
> bottom line for the power company is if there is noise, there is loss not just 

> in power but money. If this property is the one you have to purchase then 
there 
> will be times you will have to deal with this situation. Keep on looking. When 

> we bought our house we were in 45 homes in 30 days. No HOA, No Deed 
> restrictions, & no CC&R's.
> I know it's getting harder and and harder to find property like this so you 
have 
> to make the decision. Good luck.
>  73 DE K4XZ Joe Patrick
> God Made Man
> Sam Colt Made Them Equal 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: StellarCAT <RXDesign at ssvecnet.com>
> To: towertalk at contesting.com
> Sent: Sat, March 10, 2012 2:24:27 PM
> Subject: [TowerTalk] high tension power line noise...
> 
> Hello... my wife and I will be moving soon to a new area... one of the 
> properties we are considering, 
> 
> and its really difficult to find something anymore that meets ALL the criteria 
– 
> county (no restrictions), 
> 
> no HOA, no deed restrictions, and of course a house... one of the places has a 

> high tension line ~400’ 
> 
> away from where I’d install my tower... and about 600’ from where I’d have a 
> 160/80 receive 4 sq array.... 
> 
> now I’d THINK that this should not be a problem – assuming the power company 
> takes care of any issues 
> 
> (as required by the FCC and as is prudent for them to do for power 
> lose/longevity)... however having 
> 
> never been THAT close I’d love to hear from anyone that says otherwise – that 
> there will be a problem. 
> 
> I operate weak signal from 160 through 6 meters... 
> 
> thanks
> 
> Gary
> K9RX
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
> _______________________________________________
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> TowerTalk mailing list
> TowerTalk at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk

_______________________________________________



_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk