This is a long thread and I hope I read enough and am not repeating.

I've been involved in a power line noise problems here in McHenry
Illinois for the last year and can make a few comments.

There are some very good references on the ARRL Web site. I've read
them, one of the books and consulted with Gene Preston, K5GP a pro and
one of the paper's authors. They should be top on your list of things
to read.

Main page:
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfi-elec.html

This is good, but long:
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfi-elec.html

A good summary:
http://www.ctdxcc.org/powerlines/

Some others:
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/0112068.pdf
http://www.egpreston.com/RFItalk.ppt

There's lots more on-line, but these will make you an expert quickly.
(:-)...

Power line noise is almost always quite broadband. It won't just be
on one band. Therefore, it is best to hunt on the highest frequency
available that hears the noise. The noise travels further at lower
frequencies and pinpointing a source is more difficult. Three pros I
have talked to say this. The author of one of the books uses a
modified TV antenna to get up to 900 MHz and above. An Engineer at
the equipment manufacturer, Radar Engineers, says the same thing :
hhtp//:www.radarengineers.com

They make an ultrasonic ear, a 330 MHz beam/Rx, and a wide range
receiver/spec analyzer for power line noise hunting. The local power
co here (ComEd) uses all these.


In addition, at higher frequencies you can get more gain in a
relatively small size and a resulting narrower beamwidth to better ID
the pole. I happen to have the same Cushcraft beam Gene Preston uses
(shown in his paper below) and it works nicely to pinpoint a pole or
when further away, a region of radiation.

My measurements show the same thing. The noise is at a lower level at
higher frequencies, so some gain may be in order. I also use preamps
at times.

I have access to the very same ultrasonic and 330 MHz.equipment. I
also have a 2M beam, 450 beam, 700 beam and 1296 beam, spec analyzer,
yadda, yadda....

We're pretty heavy into this and getting impatient with ComEd.

The ultrasonic will ONLY hear arcing that is in the air OUTSIDE
things. Our arrester problem has NO ultrasonic signature (our problem
appears to be up to 100 arresters causing noise 15dB above the level
when the line is de-energized).
The ultrasonic dish can identify an individual insulator or arcing
component.
Hot clamps and ground wires, yes ground wires, can be a significant
source. Including the large staples that hold the ground wire to the
wooden pole !!

The comments about making sure *your* noise is fixed is right on as
well. Identifying the particular signature of the noise should also
be done. This is with an O-scope so you can see the time signature
(the wave shape) This can also help identify multiple sources.


We currently are waiting for the manufacturer to test 30 arresters
that were swapped out. These arresters are 100% tested for RF noise
and I'm worried that the test is bad.

FYI:
They also have a 22 blank cartridge in them. If the arrester fails
such that is conducts and heats up, the cartridge fires and blows the
snot out of the ground connection to free up the line.

Good luck
73, Steve, K9DCI at arrl dot net