On Jan 17, 10:42 pm, Aaron Kreider wrote:
I have a rfi noise that is throughout the entire shortwave spectrum
(0.1-30 mhz) at about an equal strength - it occurs approximately
every 60 khz (and sometimes every 30 khz).

The noise is very strong - S9 - S9+20 db, on a very short antenna (6
feet) to my Drake R8, despite my radio being 25 feet or more from the
noise source. The noise comes from a nearby appartment.

The noise is 24 hours/day and has been going on ever since I moved
(over 1 year). It occasionally drops in strength for 1 second. A
couple of the noise spurs have a beep noise that is happening once per
second (could it be some kind of clock/timer?). It generally sounds
like a digital hash (eg more of a hash than a buzz sound).

I'm wondering - what kind of device would produce this noise?

You face a tough task.

Finding RFI in a subdivision with separate homes can be daunting,
but in an apartment or condo complex is almost impossible. Try to
obtain a battery operated receiver such as a DX398. While you can
carry a R8 around, it will attract unwanted attention, trust me on
this,
and it is really hard to carry a R8B, a gel cell and actually use the
receiver.

A sensitive MW (AM BCB 540~1700) may work.

First just do a walk through, floor by floor and hallway by hallway.

If you are lucky you will find a 'noise bubble' that is centered on
one area. If the noise bubble covers the entire building, then you
are in all probability out of luck. If the RFI is being distributed
by
power lines, phone lines or other conductors the situation is almost
hopeless. Even if you manage to find a single RFI source, you will
almost certainly not be able do anything about it. Apartment managers
really won't care about your RFI complaints. Getting the FCC
(assuming
you are here in the USA) interested will be almost impossible. I have
fought several nasty RFI sources and only in one case could I get
the FCC interested. And in that case it really wasn't me it was the
FAA because the noise was causing them problems. I found spurs
in the aircraft band and when I contacted the local FAA flight service
station and found they had the same RFI. Since I had it pretty much
pinpointed, down to 2 houses about 4 miles from me and 2 miles from
the local airport, the FCC 'swooped in' and shut down a guy who was
building a massive parallel processing computer. He had over 50 PII
motherboards in bread racks. No RFI shielding at all. They (FCC) gave
him the option of shutting it down, or having it all confiscated. He
decided
to move to Californica where I assume he is noisily working madly away
on his monster.

The point I am trying to make is that the FCC is seldom interested,
and
unless the RFI is causing problems for the local police or fire, there
is
almost no chance of forcing anyone to act on the RFI problem.

A friend lived in a downtown condo here in Lexington, KY, finally saw
the light of reason and simply moved. He fought RFI for 10 years and
in the end accepted that in such a communal living situation,
eliminating
RFI was a fruitless and hopeless task.

Sorry to be so negative but I try to be a realist.

You might find it useful to consider doing your DXing from a city,
county
or state park or wild life refuge. For serious DX I go to a friend's
cabin
that is located deep in the Daniel Boone National Forrest, far away
from
all man made noise sources.

We had 4 power outages in late December and into New Year's eve. And I
had a wonderful time with all of the local, within a mile, AC QRM was
simple
gone. If it wasn't so cold, another power outage would be fun. Of
course
it will get down to 4degrees F Saturday night, which might make DXing
less
then fun.

Terry