Advice for power company related rfi
 

A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper on the subject. Make
them look stupid. They will respond.

"Brian" wrote in message
nk.net...
A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:
.. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Pop open the base and unscrew the fuses that are in there?

The street lamps in New York have pigtail lampholders spliced in
there....with fuses. I guess removing those would disable the lamp.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

"Stephanie Weil" wrote in message
oups.com...
Pop open the base and unscrew the fuses that are in there?

The street lamps in New York have pigtail lampholders spliced in
there....with fuses. I guess removing those would disable the lamp.


No such luck. This particular lamp is a high pressure sodium type. No
obvious means of disabling it, plus I'm sure that though they've mostly
ignored me to this point, the power company would likely raise much hell if
I screwed with their equipment.

-Brian

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:
"Stephanie Weil" wrote in message
oups.com...
Pop open the base and unscrew the fuses that are in there?

The street lamps in New York have pigtail lampholders spliced in
there....with fuses. I guess removing those would disable the lamp.


No such luck. This particular lamp is a high pressure sodium type. No
obvious means of disabling it, plus I'm sure that though they've mostly
ignored me to this point, the power company would likely raise much hell if
I screwed with their equipment.

-Brian

Does the light interfere with AM broadcast reception? A call to your
local AM broadcaster might get the right people involved.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:
A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Report this to the FCC. If you know an amateur in your neighborhood get
them to complain to the FCC thus sic ing Riley Hollingsworth on them.
At least that part of the FCC is willing to threaten and then fine them
for interfering with radio communications.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

"Brian" wrote in message
nk.net...
A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian
Wrist rocket and ball bearing.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:
"Heterodyne" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:36:11 +0000, Rayburn wrote:

A CO2 pellet gun works wonders!

Here in the wilds of Ky I shoot em with a Weatherby 300 mag.....Instant
quiet.....after my ears quit ringing so damned much???

I've taken a few with my Savage .222 and a Bushnell 12x scope.


As much as that would please me, I'm sure after my incessant complaints it
wouldn't take them long determining who was to blame. I've just contacted
them for hopefully the final time, mentioning the degradation of my radio
communications due to interference, which will hopefully be construed to my
benefit. We'll see.

-Brian


This is perhaps the best reason to get a ham license. While I hold an
extra
class, I may use it twice a year during bad weather events. But it
gives you
some clout when dealing with the cable, telephone and power companies.
As station licensed by the FCC you get some minimal level of help from
the
FCC toward solving noise issues.

Plus in my case with the noisy power meter I think my offer to see what

10000AM would do to it helped the chief engineer arrive at the correct
choice. Because I am certain I would have smoked that sucker and kept
somking it until they fiexed it. If you ar lucky and can find who makes
the
light you may be able to find a service or installation manual on line
that
mentions part 15 and your are home free. They hate to have the rules
tossed in their face.

Another option might be, if it is a regular street light on a fragile
aluminim
pole, to get a red neck friend to knock it over about 3:00AM. Easy, way
too
easy to do. Don't ask. Lets just say a Honda CB350 can knock a street
light pole down and suffer minimal, as in hard to find, damage.

Some day if I get my nerve up I might post my imaginary RFI stories
patterned after the BOFH. None of it is true but it is fun to think
about.

Terry

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Nail some of those spy cameras while you are at it.
cuhulin

Advice for power company related rfi
 

I've never been able to get the power company to come out without
reporting that the pole is sparking.

That apparently puts you on a real list.

--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:
A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

1) Call early and call often to the power company. The squeaky wheel
gets the grease. Call daily. Don't give up.

2) Send a letter to the FCC, saying that they are interfering with local
AM broadcasts (just eyewash, as they won't respond very rapidly), but cc
it to the power company (this is the important part, hopefully gets
their attention).

3) Don't know where you live, but it's getting around hunting season. Go
to a nearby bar and ask "Anybody here a good shot? Twenty bucks to the
first guy that hits that light".

(just kidding on point 3---or not) ;-)

Advice for power company related rfi
 

I had a problem in San Antonio with an offending AM station. It just
took a call to three 50K AM staions (KMOX, WOAI, & KWKH) and complained
that I will now have to stop listening to them because of the
interference. 2 days later that problem was solved by the FCC citing
them for being off frequency to the tune of 25K fine. It will be solvd
if you do what I did. You can also file a complaint with the FCC, but
it may take a year to get results, but they will get the results for
you. You can also contact the ARRL compliance division and they will
also help. Greg


Brian wrote:
A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Advice for power company related rfi
 

In article .com,
wrote:


Brian wrote:
"Heterodyne" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:36:11 +0000, Rayburn wrote:

A CO2 pellet gun works wonders!

Here in the wilds of Ky I shoot em with a Weatherby 300 mag.....Instant
quiet.....after my ears quit ringing so damned much???

I've taken a few with my Savage .222 and a Bushnell 12x scope.


As much as that would please me, I'm sure after my incessant complaints it
wouldn't take them long determining who was to blame. I've just contacted
them for hopefully the final time, mentioning the degradation of my radio
communications due to interference, which will hopefully be construed to my
benefit. We'll see.

-Brian


This is perhaps the best reason to get a ham license.

Snip

That would be called overkill.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Ron Hardin wrote:
I've never been able to get the power company to come out without
reporting that the pole is sparking.

That apparently puts you on a real list.

Good idea. Brian could ask a neighbor to report the problem again but
this time tell the power company the light is sparking.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Brian wrote:

A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/pwr-line-noise/

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Advice for power company related rfi
 

Telamon wrote:
In article .com,
wrote:

This is perhaps the best reason to get a ham license.

Snip

That would be called overkill.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

In my dealings with are locla arc and spark, er I meant RECC,
Blue Grass Energy or whatever their name is this week, the only
time I have ahd any success was when I brought me being a licensed
radio operator. I wasted 2 yeas argueing with them before mentioning
in passing that I was a ham. They were out that afternoon and
changed out an offending street light. Given the modest requrements
to get a ham license, and the minimal expense, it might be well
worth the time, effort and money.

I still discribe myselff as an SWL who happened to pick up a ham
license more by accident then design. Except to the power company
when I become a vital member of the emergency communication
system for the state of Kentucky.

Barf, but it works.

Cheaper then paying the guy 20$ to take out the light, or the several
K$
for a legal defense or fines.

Terry

Advice for power company related rfi
 

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:42:29 GMT, "Brian"
wrote:

A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Contact the FCC. There is a legal requirement that it be in compliance
with part 15.

Advice for power company related rfi
 

"matt weber" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:42:29 GMT, "Brian"
Contact the FCC. There is a legal requirement that it be in compliance
with part 15.


Well, it looks like the squeaky wheel analogy proved true The utility
company was out just before dark and fixed it right up. I only wish it was
my only noise problem here, but every bit helps, and most interference I'm
able to null out. I certainly appreciate all of your suggestions and wish
you all good dx.

-Brian

Advice for power company related rfi
 

On Wed, 15 Nov 2006 16:42:29 GMT, "Brian"
wrote:

A few weeks ago I called Progress Energy to report the malfunctioning
streetlight in front of my house which cycles on and off all day and night
effectively eliminating any sw listening. They said they'd repair it in
three days, and when it hadn't been a couple of weeks later, I called again
and was told their records indicated its repair. I assured them that the
problem persisted, and after insuring they had the correct pole number, was
told another request would be submitted for the light's repair. Well, it's
been another week, and no luck. Any advice on reconciling this problem?

-Brian

Pellet gun.