I'm sure at leatst a few of you have experienced interference from
powerlines, distribution transformers, loose hardare, micro-gap arcing, etc
while trying to operate on top band. I hope this isn't off topic for this
reflector, since top band is where I'm having the most trouble, and where I
want to be. I have a constant low-lever growl that my ANC-4 takes out just
fine. However, another problem has plagued me for over a year and I'm not
sure what to do about it.
A year or so ago I began getting these S-9+20 bursts that sounded like an
arc welder. My noise blanker couldn't handle it, and the ANC-4 doesn't seem
to work very well at eliminating it. I don't seem to hear it much above 20
meters. The noise seems to be worse during peak periods, especially on
weekends and at night. I could never locate the source exactly. I had the
source "narrowed down" to one of 3 light poles nearby.
I called the electric co-op that serves this area (about a year ago). I was
told that they couldn't do anything about it, since as a co-op, they didn't
have the resources that larger power companies had. I told the engineer that
I had it localized to a certain area, and he basically said the they would
take a look some day.
We were recently hit pretty hard by hurricane Fran. Light poles broken off,
wires down everywhere, etc. Since repairs were made, the noise is _REALLY_
bad. Full scale at times, and it has me pretty much off the air. I went out
this morning with an AM broadcast receiver and a 5 pound mall. I would place
the receiver near the ground wire of the pole and "smack" the pole really
hard with the hammer. I located a pole that seems to go completely nutty and
generate the exact arc-welder like noise when I hit it. I wrote down the
pole number and all of the other identification I could find.
Now my real question is: what do I do next? The co-op didn't seem interested
at all with the info about the interference, etc. Have any of you worked
through similar problems?
73 de Dave Hockaday WB4IUY
Youngsville, NC
wb4iuy@ipass.net
http://www.ipass.net/~hockaday/
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3489/
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3349/
http://www.ipass.net/~teara/
http://www.RTPnet.org/~fcarc/
http://www.RTPnet.org/~rdrc/
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/topband.html
Submissions: topband@contesting.com
Administrative requests: topband-REQUEST@contesting.com
Sponsored by Akorn Access, Inc & KM9P
|