On Wed, 2 Jan 2013, N1BUG wrote:
On 01/02/2013 04:41 PM, Hisashi T Fujinaka wrote:
I'm just looking to tell WHICH POLE is arcing.
The tool for that, as Lee said, is a VHF/UHF AM receiver, preferably with
directional antenna. You find the pole with RF, specific hardware with
ultrasound, if you care. Ultrasound won't always work, as experts seem to
agree even the professional units will only hear about half of the power line
sources which generate radio noise (exact numbers vary).
I think one of the issues with people trying to find exact
parabolic reflectors vs something "good enough" is what sort of
resolution they're looking for.
For me it is mostly about sensitivity, not pinpointing accuracy. A poor
parabolic reflector will collect and focus less sound energy and limit your
ability to hear weaker sources. Remember, even the very best detectors don't
hear every source. Some of the power line sources are quite weak ultrasound
emitters, even though they emit strong radio noise. If being able to find
only a few of the noisy poles is good enough, then by all means go with a
"good enough" detector.
It is nice, though, to be able to determine which piece of hardware is
responsible. That makes it easier to tell (visually) when it has been fixed.
Once I can determine which pole it is, can I see the arcing through
binoculars?
Very rarely will anything be visible.
Thanks for all the info. That makes great sense. I've been using an MFJ
RFI detector which gets me in the neighborhood and I need something that
gets me closer. I was considering a hokey ultrasonic detector (I was
going to repurpose a kid's "Spy Ear") or a ~400MHz AM receiver and a
directional antenna at the same frequency.
So this points me towards the 400MHz receiver. Unfortunately, that might
mean that I have to get my buddy who is the world's laziest man to help
with that. :)
Thanks again for the advice.
--
Hisashi T Fujinaka - htodd@twofifty.com
BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte
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