Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Tracking down power line noise
I have been wrestling with power line noise here for almost a year.
Power company hasn't been very successful in locating it so I started a coordinated search on my own. Thinking if I can tell them for certain which poles have the problem they can confirm and maybe fix. The noise is a deafening 20 over 9 on 80 meters which makes DXing on 80 and 160 impossible. The noise can be heard at my QTH as high as 10 and 6 meters but it isn't troublesome on those bands because it can only be heard at about an S7 level when the yagi is pointed at 210 degrees. I thought maybe my means of analysis might be interesting to discuss and maybe others would have other suggestions. There are 7000 volt lines running on a highway past my house. Tracking the source on 80m seems impossible. I made a 2 ft square loop antenna, which has some directivity but the noise level using it seems to not change much as I travel the highway. On 10 meters, using a 4 ft whip on the car, the noise is also hard to localize but seems to increase in the vicinity of 1 mile from home. 6 meters using a whip is similar. I found that if I'm close enough that the 6 meter signal is around S7 I can switch to 2 meters and again peak the noise by driving slowly up and down the road. So using this technique and driving 2 miles in each direction I have managed to find 2 spots, one on the highway and one on a cross road, each about 1.2 miles from the QTH. I then built a 432 MHz 8 element quagi beam which enabled me to pinpoint the offending pole at these two locations. (I have put a LOT of effort into this project !) At this time I am waiting (hoping) for a return call from the power company to verify my dicovery. So my question for the group - Can either of these locations 1.2 miles distant cause such horrendous noise levels on 80 meters? Is it possible that a weaker noise source much closer to me is the culprit or are all of the power line malfunctions detectable on 440 MHz? Rick K2XT |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Yaesu-857 great for power-line noise locater | Antenna | |||
Power Line Noise | CB | |||
AC Power line noise | Shortwave | |||
NTIA Claims BPL Could Help Alleviate Power Line Noise | Shortwave | |||
Power Line Noise - Gone | Shortwave |