Power Lines!

[ranger2970]

I just put up a dx-80,im close to power lines and a transformer.From 40 meters to 6 meters no problem,just 75 and 80 with a 10+ line noise.Any info would be Appreciated.rick

 

[W5LZ]

VERY basically, you eliminate all other possible sources of that 10-over noise. If you still have it, you start complaining to the power company. They really are required to fix that sort of thing. After arguing with them for a year or so, tell them you have the perfect way of showing them that their equipment is at fault, but it requires their cooperation. Then tell them you will shoot out their transformers till the noise stops. The last transformer was the culprit. Most of the time it will never get that far. They'll fix things just to get rid of you (and to keep you from complaining to the utilities commission in your state capitol <- the biggy!).
- 'Doc

Wringing out all the obvious B.S. and you have the basic idea. IF you don't find that the noise is originating some where else. Sounds 'hokey', but document everything! It really does make a difference.

 

[Moleculo]

If you're certain it's the powerline transformer it shouldn't be that hard to get the power company to come out if they're as cooperative as mine have been. I've had a few street lights go out that sounded like spark gap generators on HF and they fixed them within a couple of days after I reported it.

 

[WX2MIG]

Some nights on 80 I only get about a 3 worth of noise on the meter, other nights it could go as high as 7 to 8. Someone told me that flat screen TV's in the neighborhood could be causing the increase in the noise level. Don't know for sure what causes it around here, and I'm using a random wire.....

 

[Robb]

I have a friend of mine that gets +/- 20 S-units of noise. Really bad stuff. It is intermittent as well. Sometimes it lasts for a few hours - sometimes shorter or longer. He has been riding the power company like the pony express of old. They have come out a couple of times and checked it and can see the reading on his radio and their own equipment. The power company has replaced a few insulators - but no transformers yet.

My friend who is having this problem is a retired electrician. He has demonstrated to the power company technicians that he eliminated any possibility from his own house. It happens regardless of what radio he uses. He thought they fixed it the last time they were out - but the noise came back. He is pretty disgusted with the situation right now. It's been happening since February. It is frequency-specific - right around 26-27mhz. I don't know if it is on any other harmonics of that freq; the power company guys probably know the answer to that one. Just the facts...

 

[loosecannon]

the easiest way i can think of to determine if the transformer really is the culprit is to run the radio off of a battery, and shut off the main breaker to the house.

yes, you would have to reset all the clocks, but at least you will know if its something else in your house causing the problem or not.

i would do this a couple of times between 2 and 4 AM in the morning to lessen the chances of your neighbors' electronics being on.

good luck in your search.
in my last house, i used to get horrible interference, but only sometimes.
by walking around the neighborhood with a field strength meter i was able to track the noise to the outback steakhouse up the street.
it was their paging system that lets you know when your table is ready that was the culprit.
nothing i could do about it, but at least i knew what it was. LOL

LC

 

[Dave_W6DPS]

If it is 10+ during the day time but drops off at night to substantially less it doesn't sound like the transformer causing the noise.

Transformers tend to radiate consistently when they have poor connections--24/7 with only monor changes. Just a bit of non-linearity can cause a lot of harmonics on the secondary coil. Usually if it RF noise it will be on 160 or 80 meters. You definately should call your power company's customer service office. They should be helpful. (I would refrain from any mention of shooting at transformers, however...)

The company I work for takes RF reports very seriously, since the corroded conections that usually cause it also have high resistance and can generate heat that may cause them to fail.

Again though, if the RF level changes that much from day to night it may well be TVI in reverse. May TV receivers use oscillators with fundamental crystal frequencies of 1.8432MHz, 3.6864 MHz, or 3.579545 MHz. You might check ot see if the noise is on or near those frequencies in particular. Even with the shift to digital TV there are a lot of devices that use these fundamentals to produce signals, including DV players, VCRs (there are still a few around) and even video games. Anything with a channel 3 or 4 F connector output.

I was a bit embarrased once when I called our customer service folks about 80 meter noise, and it turned out to be coming from a VCR in the next room of my house--on the opposite side of the wall my rig sets against. The techs thought it was funny, but the XYL laughed for weeks....

Dave_W6DPS

 

[TonyV225]

Call the power company Ive had that before and it was bad lightning arrestos they fixed it and kept in contact with me until it was fixed. It just seems that 75 and 80 are just noisey to begin with I spend most of my time there so I usually see 6-8 noise level anyways but a transformer yikes that would knock the recieve right out.

Just call they will atleast check it out I thought it was bad insulators but it was arrestors from what they told me. Mine was so bad I couldnt stand to even use the radio!!