I work for the cable company, and were dealing with this very thing-RFI-PLN . I usually can track it (RFI) with the AM radio station, but the substation had a dead short and a fire last week and this whole area is one big RFI, makes it very difficult to track exactly where the source is. Sounds like a great tool to have. Thanks
Jeff’s software is great for identifying the problem poles. Then his home brew dish-audio detector pinpoints the exact hardware that is causing the arc noise. I so appreciate Jeff.
Yes, I’ve covered that ad nauseam in other videos. This video is about power line noise. This is after you’ve performed the breaker test to eliminate devices in your home as being the cause.
I had the pleasure of Jeff contacting me on a PLN issue. He offered some great advice and helped me pinpoint the issue. Had the electric company down the next week and I pointed out the effected pole. Problem solved!
Here in the UK I have investigated a fair number of power line noise cases both professionally and as a licensed ham operator using similar techniques and equipment as that being used by Jeff in the video. I built the same ultrasonic pinpointer as the one Jeff is using, from the design available on the ARRL web site. On one occasion, I used my device to accurately locate the exact spot on a very large national grid power line insulator stack, where the arcing was taking place. The power line engineer confirmed my findings using a thermal imaging camera costing many £1000's and was so impressed with my £35 ultrasonic device that he asked for the design details, in order for their apprentice engineers to build one as a project to use during their own investigation work 😁
MFJ also sell an ultrasonic pinpointer MFJ 5008 and an RF line noise meter MFJ 852 which is basically a superhet AM receiver with a built-in dipole antenna for simple direction finding.
Something not mentioned here, is many times this arcing is as stated, " Broadband " ! With that said many times for the Radio Amateur, there will be noise on the VHF 2 Meter band, that can be used to help locate the source ! Once close, you should then switch to UHF, and listen at the 3rd Harmonic ! Which allows for even greater accuracy ! For this video, there beam was built around 136 mhz. ! Where 408 is the Third Harmonic. And for the Radio Amateur, I would be remiss if I didn't relate my own discoveries, Two being Touch lamps, or anything using that technology ! Horrible noise generators on Ham frequencies ! And Keurig coffee makers, where they have to actually unplugged from the outlet ! Horrible noise generator, especially at 6 meter band !
137MHz (technically 136.950) was used to provide a general location. That’s what the Yagi was used for. Jeff finds that frequency to be a sweet spot for locating the general area of noise. But the acoustic dish provided the pinpoint analysis as to exactly which piece of hardware was causing the arcs.
I would love to see a video on how to deal with lightning crashes on the ftdx10. Currently lightning crashes are destroying 40m for me locally for about a week.
You can’t stop lighting crashes with any radio. You can somewhat minimize the crashes with the same techniques I show for normal 40m operation. Always IPO, 6 to 12dB of ATT, and roll the RF Gain back until your S-Meter reads 1 or 2 of S-units less than the strength of the station you’re listening to. Finish it off with DNR at 5.
I’m not holding my breath. I mean, the power company isn’t even returning calls from their own engineer, who already identified noisy hardware. CW has been my friend for 2 years. I can duck into the 50Hz of CW bandwidth and block the noise. Actually, it affects CW, but not nearly as much as it does SSB.
It’s extending to my radio. Depending upon terrain, and the antenna, you might hear it a mile away. These are 150-200 yards away, with one at 1/4 mile away. There are 4 poles. The least measured 12dB, with another at 18dB.
@@n4hnhradio It is amazing how far out the noise propagates. Well, you are talking to someone who knows nothing about pole noise, other than I'm afflicted by it like yourself, but to a lesser degree.
I encourage you to click the links in the description to check out Jeff’s slideshow and watch his video presentation. You can then approach your power company speaking a language they understand, regarding the equipment on the pole that probably needs attention.
Hi Martin! There is a link in the video description that takes you to Jeff’s slide presentation at a local ham radio club. Later in the presentation he provides information about the RFI Mapper and how it must be connected. The software currently supports the Kenwood TS450/690, Elecraft K3, and Icom IC-705. Jeff wrote the RFI Mapper software himself. There is more information about possibly getting a copy in the description of this video.
@@n4hnhradioHi Doug. Long time lurker, 1st time commenter. 😂I’ll soon join Patreon I promise! I hoped to find the info and slideshow. 😂hen I tap the …more which usually takes me to a description, the only thing I get is a blank screen with the video minimized to the bottom. Any other place I can locate additional info? (I am fortunate, Florida power and light FP&L is very responsive. And the agent who handles the calls in my area is actually a friend of mine. But I try to do my own legwork and also help other guys in the club. Thanks for your great channel!!
@HowToHam_Tom I think UA-cam changed something. I click more for any video and it does what you describe. I click on the title of the video and I can read the description.
@@n4hnhradio Thanks for looking. It’s all jacked up right now. No luck, but different results on my iPad Vs. the phone app. I’ll try again in the future. Would love that app. Thanks for all you do!
@HowToHam_Tom if you click the video title it open the description. Well, mine does. It might be different on a different device. I’m using the UA-cam app on an iPhone.
How can the staples cause noise? I understand if theyre shorting or something, but theyre just staples? Presumably holding the ground wire in place, but that should be it?
The staples are supposed to hold the ground wire to the pole. Over time, the staples loosen, leaving a gap between them and the ground wire. Static buildup on the staples discharges to the ground wire and you have a spark gap transmitter. I covered this and more in the video description.
Thanks for the reply. I have actually shut down all power to my shack. (it is in my shop building) I have not powered down the house tho. Thanks for the tips! KN4UXO
It could be worse. This is where we call for technical support for our computer. media.gettyimages.com/photos/an-electricity-pole-festooned-with-multiple-wires-illegally-tapping-picture-id496085304
Thank you for another excellent informative, practical video and special thanks to W4DD. In case fellow readers haven't discovered this there is a more thorough explanation if you click on "more" in the description box below the video. KD6KXT
I work for the cable company, and were dealing with this very thing-RFI-PLN . I usually can track it (RFI) with the AM radio station, but the substation had a dead short and a fire last week and this whole area is one big RFI, makes it very difficult to track exactly where the source is. Sounds like a great tool to have. Thanks
Jeff’s software is great for identifying the problem poles. Then his home brew dish-audio detector pinpoints the exact hardware that is causing the arc noise. I so appreciate Jeff.
@@n4hnhradio Thank you Sir !
You’re very welcome.
LED lamps and battery chargers are also big RFI contributors. Thank you for sharing this video. 73.
Yes, I’ve covered that ad nauseam in other videos. This video is about power line noise. This is after you’ve performed the breaker test to eliminate devices in your home as being the cause.
Very informative Doug! I did not realize there were so many potential sources of RFI on a single power pole.
The transformer gets a bad rap. It’s all these other things. I explained in more detail in the video description.
Thank you both, Doug and Jeff for a very well presented video. 73.
You’re very welcome. I’m glad you liked it.
I had the pleasure of Jeff contacting me on a PLN issue. He offered some great advice and helped me pinpoint the issue. Had the electric company down the next week and I pointed out the effected pole. Problem solved!
That’s great! My power company was once responsive like that. Not anymore.
Awesome info Doug! Thanks 👍👍👍
Glad it was helpful!
Terrific video with superb detail and practicality! TU.
You’re very welcome! Just trying to keep it real and practical. 73, Doug
Here in the UK I have investigated a fair number of power line noise cases both professionally and as a licensed ham operator using similar techniques and equipment as that being used by Jeff in the video. I built the same ultrasonic pinpointer as the one Jeff is using, from the design available on the ARRL web site. On one occasion, I used my device to accurately locate the exact spot on a very large national grid power line insulator stack, where the arcing was taking place. The power line engineer confirmed my findings using a thermal imaging camera costing many £1000's and was so impressed with my £35 ultrasonic device that he asked for the design details, in order for their apprentice engineers to build one as a project to use during their own investigation work 😁
Jeff was referred to me by the ARRL. He wrote the code for the mapping program.
MFJ also sell an ultrasonic pinpointer MFJ 5008 and an RF line noise meter MFJ 852 which is basically a superhet AM receiver with a built-in dipole antenna for simple direction finding.
Something not mentioned here, is many times this arcing is as stated,
" Broadband " !
With that said many times for the Radio Amateur, there will be noise on the VHF 2 Meter band, that can be used to help locate the source !
Once close, you should then switch to UHF, and listen at the 3rd Harmonic !
Which allows for even greater accuracy !
For this video, there beam was built around 136 mhz. !
Where 408 is the Third Harmonic.
And for the Radio Amateur, I would be remiss if I didn't relate my own discoveries, Two being Touch lamps, or anything using that technology !
Horrible noise generators on Ham frequencies !
And Keurig coffee makers, where they have to actually unplugged from the outlet !
Horrible noise generator, especially at 6 meter band !
137MHz (technically 136.950) was used to provide a general location. That’s what the Yagi was used for. Jeff finds that frequency to be a sweet spot for locating the general area of noise. But the acoustic dish provided the pinpoint analysis as to exactly which piece of hardware was causing the arcs.
I would love to see a video on how to deal with lightning crashes on the ftdx10. Currently lightning crashes are destroying 40m for me locally for about a week.
You can’t stop lighting crashes with any radio. You can somewhat minimize the crashes with the same techniques I show for normal 40m operation. Always IPO, 6 to 12dB of ATT, and roll the RF Gain back until your S-Meter reads 1 or 2 of S-units less than the strength of the station you’re listening to. Finish it off with DNR at 5.
Hope you can get it taken care of soon. Hate that you're having that much trouble with the power company.
Thank you, Allen! I’m not getting my hopes up too high yet. But I’m cautiously optimistic.
Looking forward to seeing the video where the power company comes out and fixes the issue... Then you can show the "after video".
I’m not holding my breath. I mean, the power company isn’t even returning calls from their own engineer, who already identified noisy hardware. CW has been my friend for 2 years. I can duck into the 50Hz of CW bandwidth and block the noise. Actually, it affects CW, but not nearly as much as it does SSB.
@@n4hnhradio 30-33dB of noise. How far out will that noise extend from the pole?
It’s extending to my radio. Depending upon terrain, and the antenna, you might hear it a mile away. These are 150-200 yards away, with one at 1/4 mile away. There are 4 poles. The least measured 12dB, with another at 18dB.
@@n4hnhradio It is amazing how far out the noise propagates. Well, you are talking to someone who knows nothing about pole noise, other than I'm afflicted by it like yourself, but to a lesser degree.
I encourage you to click the links in the description to check out Jeff’s slideshow and watch his video presentation. You can then approach your power company speaking a language they understand, regarding the equipment on the pole that probably needs attention.
Is RF Mapper commercially available? Thanks for the video Doug.
Hi Martin! There is a link in the video description that takes you to Jeff’s slide presentation at a local ham radio club. Later in the presentation he provides information about the RFI Mapper and how it must be connected. The software currently supports the Kenwood TS450/690, Elecraft K3, and Icom IC-705. Jeff wrote the RFI Mapper software himself. There is more information about possibly getting a copy in the description of this video.
@@n4hnhradioHi Doug. Long time lurker, 1st time commenter. 😂I’ll soon join Patreon I promise! I hoped to find the info and slideshow. 😂hen I tap the …more which usually takes me to a description, the only thing I get is a blank screen with the video minimized to the bottom. Any other place I can locate additional info? (I am fortunate, Florida power and light FP&L is very responsive. And the agent who handles the calls in my area is actually a friend of mine. But I try to do my own legwork and also help other guys in the club.
Thanks for your great channel!!
@HowToHam_Tom I think UA-cam changed something. I click more for any video and it does what you describe. I click on the title of the video and I can read the description.
@@n4hnhradio Thanks for looking. It’s all jacked up right now. No luck, but different results on my iPad Vs. the phone app. I’ll try again in the future. Would love that app. Thanks for all you do!
@HowToHam_Tom if you click the video title it open the description. Well, mine does. It might be different on a different device. I’m using the UA-cam app on an iPhone.
How can the staples cause noise? I understand if theyre shorting or something, but theyre just staples? Presumably holding the ground wire in place, but that should be it?
The staples are supposed to hold the ground wire to the pole. Over time, the staples loosen, leaving a gap between them and the ground wire. Static buildup on the staples discharges to the ground wire and you have a spark gap transmitter. I covered this and more in the video description.
What would the noise sound like or feel like?
Buzzing. I’ve shown numerous examples in my HF Noise/RFI video playlist.
will be interesting to see if the power company will fix the problem since you are narrowing it down for them.
Hopefully.
where does one find "rfi mapper"?
Read the video description.
Thanks for this! Struggling with some terrible intermittent noise. Jimmy KN4UXO
I hope you can get it solved. I recommend trying the circuit breaker test first, to be sure the noise isn’t from within your own home.
Thanks for the reply. I have actually shut down all power to my shack. (it is in my shop building) I have not powered down the house tho. Thanks for the tips! KN4UXO
Well, you have certainly narrowed it down. Do you have chargers in your shop for lawn tools or cordless drills and the like?
I forgot to mention that I actually operate my gear with batteries. That was the best test I could think of. Thanks Jimmy@@n4hnhradio
pge wiring errors on youtube.
looks like in a 3rd world country ?
It could be worse. This is where we call for technical support for our computer. media.gettyimages.com/photos/an-electricity-pole-festooned-with-multiple-wires-illegally-tapping-picture-id496085304
Thank you for another excellent informative, practical video and special thanks to W4DD. In case fellow readers haven't discovered this there is a more thorough explanation if you click on "more" in the description box below the video. KD6KXT
I’m glad you liked the video. It’s one of the videos on my Patreon portal that I decided to make public.
Thank you and another reason to become a Patreon.@@n4hnhradio