[TowerTalk] Tower location and house noise

[Patrick Greenlee]

MY "lot" is 1/2 mile by 1/2 mile (a quarter section, 160 acres) with 
nearest neighbors about a quarter mile away in multiple directions.  As 
far as I can tell none of them are running industrial rated grow lamps 
for "indoor farming."  I usually have an S-3 20m noise.  I typically 
choose panafall display on my SDR and can be entertained watching 
"little critters" and other manifestations running up and down the band. 
Not my wall warts. My current main antennas are a 90 by 180 OCF Carolina 
Windom and a Hy-Gain Hy-Tower vertical.  Noise levels are similar but 
the OCF is sometimes quieter, especially with precipitation static.

Looking forward to installing a new tower with DB42 SteppIR. Hoping the 
directivity will give a better S/N ratio as well as reducing the noise 
floor, at least in some directions.

Patrick        NJ5G


On 5/22/2017 11:45 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On Mon,5/22/2017 5:34 PM, Bob Shohet, KQ2M wrote:
>> There are many good reasons for locating a tower away from the shack.
>
> Yes, but the better question to ask is, what's the quietest location 
> where I CAN put a tower? If, for example, you put the tower far from 
> your home but close to your neighbor's, you'll hear their noise 
> better. :)
>
> My primary tower is about 100 ft from my house, 200 ft from my shack, 
> and the nearest neighbors are at least 400 ft from it. I've worked 
> very hard to kill all my own noise, but it's a never ending battle. :) 
> The antennas on that tower are the quietest in my antenna farm, by 3-6 
> dB. But I have 8.5 acres. Few hams have that luxury. And even with 
> that buffer between me and neighbors, the solar system 400 ft away at 
> 120 degrees kills me on 6M during the daylight hours.
>
> Remember that the noise we hear in our receivers is the sum of all the 
> trash produced by our own electronics, by those of our neighbors, and 
> from strong distant sources like defective power line insulators, 
> street lighting, etc. We have the most control of what's in our own 
> homes, so my inclination is to stay closer to my own home than to 
> noisy neighbor homes.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
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