My local experience was that the utility co was grateful for the
heads-up. They found several nearly disintegrated lightning
protectors that only looked OK from the ground.
The said they would inevitably have failed at 3AM on a weekend
when they'd have to drag someone out of bed for OT pay to do the
emergency repair.
If it was not snowing at the time then it was likely dirty or damaged
insulators on the primary power line. The noise could be conducted quite a
distance on the primary wire so would cover a big area. Noise like that may
sometimes only occur when things are damp because the small amount of
moisture will cause arcing through small cracks or across dirt on the
insulators, but when it is fully wet by rain it may stop... so try to check
in the morning if there is dew, or just as rain starts, or when snow or ice
is melting as you have seen. Be prepared to check a relatively large area,
a mile or two would not be surprising. Since you are looking for arcing the
higher you can go in frequency the closer you can define the source, vhf or
uhf AM or SSB receivers are good, especially with hand held yagis...
ultrasonic dishes are good for locating the source once you have it down to
a pole or two. Beware, there may be more than one source, especially if it
is a contamination problem... if you are downwind of plowed farmland or
industrial area contamination can be a real problem.
David Robbins K1TTT
--
Thanks! & 73, KD4E.com
David Colburn nevils-station.com
I don't google I SEARCH! duckduckgo.com
Network: groups.yahoo.com/group/qrv
Restored to design-spec at Heaven's gate 1Cor15:22
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