powerline noise

[CHARLESPG]

 

Hello I have a problem with very bad powerline noise

I have called Dominion North Carolina power twice
and got a promice to send sombody out.(this was july 3)
What are my opitions if I
start getting the run around?

Thanks Charlespg
KI4VMD

[WW5AA]

In many states the public utilities commission, or public service commission, who ever regulates the utilities is the place to call....I had the run around several years ago from the power company. One call to the public service commission did the trick.

73, de Lindy

[KG4RUL]

They promised to send someone out and this happened on July 3.  You wrote complaining on July 5, the day after a national holiday.  

Be a little realistic about this.  Your problem is in a queue and is probably relatively low in priority.  Do a follow up call in about 2-3 weeks.  If that doesn't get results then find out the name and address of the responsible party and send a letter.  If that doesn't get results then it is the time to get spun up.

Dennis KG4RUL

[AF4O]

This is a topic near to me :<)You need to give them more time, maybe a couple of weeks. Hopefully they have access to RFI location equipment and the people that know how to use it.

If you are really serious about this, in the meantime consider trying to locate the noise your self. This goes a long way towards getting it fixed. I can usually locate the pole with my FT-817 on AM mode with a 2mtr portable quad. Takes practice but is very doable, especially if your noise sources are few. With many sources it can get confusing as to where they are coming from but perseverance will pay off. Only ones i don't try are when they are on private property that i do not have permission to get close enough to the pole.

Then i use my ultrasonic locater built from the article last year in QST. I can usually locate the individual hardware on the pole then. Last time i emailed the power company with a digital picture of the suspect hardware encircled. They fixed in about 2 weeks!

For the occasional noises that pop up i use a TimeWave ANC-4. This works fairly well for certain noises.

Currently enjoying noise free reception but with power poles all around. Its possible....

73
Chuck
AF4O

[N1UK]

I missed out on that issue of QST. I would really like to  build that ultrasonic locator. I haven't seen it on the arrl web page - is it there?

I have had the Progress Energy interference guy out here twice and he has been very helpful. A lot of work has been done on the poles around my QTH but I still have some noise problems. I don't want to loose his goodwill so if I can locate the bad hardware it will go a very long way to get the problems finally fixed.


Mark N1UK G3ZZM

[N1UK]

Amazing what you can find with google

http://www.arrl.org/qst/2006/04/hanson.pdf

[WB5PDW]

I built the ultasonic noise detector and it did NOT help one bit in finding the powerline noise. Yes, it does work.  I can find grasshoppers real easy!

What did work was a Bearcat scanner tuned to 132.000 mhz, AM (aircraft band) and a homebrew 4 element yagi out of the ARRL handbook.  I made the yagi out of a 4 foot or so piece of 1" x 1" woodtrim and some steel 1/8" rod. You could use clothes hanger wire.  I drilled the holes in the wood about the same size as the rod. The lenght and spacing of the rods approx. to the handbook. Close is OK. I glued them to the woodtrim (boom) with "Liquid Nails" I trimmed about 8" or so of the braid off of the coax for a capacitive match.  I put the braid over the driven element rod AND the insulated center conductor of the same coax.  I connected the center conductor to the driven element, out about 6 to 8" from the woodtrim.

I have found several poles with a LOT of noise on them. The electric Coop has been out 6 times in the last 3 months to fix poles. Mostly it has been loose staples, ground wire touching something, and one bad bell insulator.  It has been my recent experienc that YOU will have to find the noise, them maybe they  will fix it.    

[AF4O]

The ultrasonic detector does work IMHO if constructed and used properly and within reasonable expectations. Use the radio/directional antennas to find the pole, then use the Ultrasonic Detector to pinpoint the individual piece of hardware on the pole.

The U.D. is about useless to initally find the radiating pole (unless you have 2 or more poles very close together) but very effective in pinpointing the individual hardware down to within a couple of feet on the average height pole.

If you have another piece of hardware blocking the radiating part, then you may not hear it with the U.D. Again, use with reasonable expectations.

The last pole i had radiating, the power co could not find the bad hardware by shotgunning the pole (tightening all hardware, staples, etc) . But with patience, i found the individual hardware with the Ultrasonic Detector. They then fixed quickly. I highly recommend it as one of several tools in your RFI location toolbox.

Finding the individual hardware on the pole allows the ham to get rid of the RFI quicker and allows the power company to fix in minimal time thus fostering good relations between the parties IMHO.

Chuck
AF4O