At 10:00 PM 11/6/02 -0500, WB2JUF wrote:
>But here's the kicker - the most intense levels of the RFI (like a loud
>buzzsaw) are coming from - my rain gutters!!
For what it's worth department... I experience occasional mild RFI from the
IR sensors on my garage doors. When sniffing with a portable HF receiver,
I found the loudest noise was coming from the tracks that the doors move
on. It wasn't very loud really, so I didn't do anything about it, but I
wonder if grounding the rails would have helped, and if something similar
might help with your gutters. Between the seamless gutter material and the
pop rivets that are used to attach cormer sections and downspouts,
conductivity might be fairly good for extended lengths. Can't hurt to try,
anyway.
I have noticed a similar phenomenon with line noise and other RFI on
80. If I bring my receiver close to my large 80m array, I can hear the
noise re-radiated much more strongly than if I walk around the property
away from the array trying to figure out what direction it's really coming
from.
Another thought -- drop an e-mail note to W1RFI@arrl.org and ask Ed whether
the ARRL might be willing to call or write NAPCO. They ARE in violation of
Part 15, there are probably lots of these systems out there, and a
ringy-dingy from a large national organization might make a stronger
impression than any individual ham. This strikes me as somewhat similar to
the wireless modem problem of a few years ago, where ARRL moved with
dispatch to persuade the makers to make changes in their systems.
73, Pete N4ZR
Sometimes a tower is just a tower
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