Power Line Noise and Passing the $

[W7KKK]

"At the Dayton FCC Forum last year, Laura Smith stated that power line noise and uncooperative utility companies was going to be one of their priority enforcement issues. Have you tried contacting her directly?"

my guess this is only because line noise probably plays hell with bpl

My guess is that as she was addressing hams she was telling us what we wanted to hear.
I don't know how aggressive she is or isn't but I guess we will find out.

[G0GQK]

Very often being patient and tolerant and doing things the official way doesn't have any results, but as proven, when vandals cause problems the power line supervisors spring into action. However, don't try this in the UK !

G0GQK

[N5PVL]

Very often being patient and tolerant and doing things the official way doesn't have any results, but as proven, when vandals cause problems the power line supervisors spring into action. However, don't try this in the UK !

G0GQK

If you do, make sure the vandals do not shoot the transformer from your property, thereby creating a mistaken impression that you might have done it.

[AE1P]

Quote:

"This is frustrating to say the least and I am just starting to understand what many have been through."

Hang in there Ken, I have been going thru what your going thru for well over
a year also..... and I have also thought about just walking away from the hobby...
it has been that frustrating.
It is sad that I am not alone in this feeling or predicament,and I fear, it will only get worse.

I was lucky enough to have finally gotten the Power Utility
to start trying to pin-point the source(s) of noise, I have had the line crews out in the neighborhood 3 times now,
for 3 different fixes to 3 different poles....each time they leave, the noise is back within a coule of days...grrrrrrr
( Bill (LIX), I feel your pain!!!)
Just 2 weeks ago, the line crew found 2 bad insulators on one pole, and I
had hoped that this was "finally" the "fix".....boy, if only wish's came true....
as now the noise (buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) is worse than ever....
and, like Bill, I am just trying to work K4M, I can barely even hear them, and I know its becuase of the S-9 noise......
oh well, lots of wood to stack for winter....
But...
Don't give up!! and fight it everyway you can!! Letters to the ARRL, the Utility Co., recordings, (very helpful in my case), whatever it takes!!

Good Luck, Ken... hopefully, some time down the road, we can have a ragchew in peace and quiet, and look back and joke about the terrible times we had with the powerline noise....(one can sure hope anyways!!)

[KB3LIX]

You know,

All the time we hear about threats to amateur radio and threats from commercial interests taking our spectrum, but in many ways,
POWERLINE INTERFERENCE and the utility companies lack of interest in correcting the problem is more of a threat to amateur radio than commercial interests or even BPL.

Iffin you can't hear anything, what good is the spectrum ???

BPL takes a huge investment in equipment to deploy.
Commercial interests would have to invest beaucoup dollars to
utilize out spectrum.

BUT,
Powerline interference requires NO INVESTMENT.
In fact, it comes from a LACK of INVESTMENT in repair and maintenance
of their facilities.

The ONE thing necessary, is for the Commission to put some TEETH in the regulations concerning harmful interference from incidental radiators.

As it stands now, utilities can cause interference for YEARS before the Commission becomes involved, then they can continue for many MORE years before the Commission takes REAL action. By REAL action, I mean, issue utilities a Notice of Violation (NOV) or a Citation for causing harmful interference and failure to resolve the issue.

I would venture a guess, that on any given day hundreds of amateurs across the country experience powerline interference and do not have a clue where it is coming from and what is causing it.


Yeah...I know...It is JUST a hobby !...RIGHT !!!

[W0UZR]

I know all about power line noise. about 8 year with it here. My power company was very accommodating though and had a crew here several times. They hired an expert with special equipment from Minneapolis. He had something that looked like a satellite dish that he was carrying around and a helmet with a special lens to see the RF radiating. He couldn't find it either. So it wasn't able to get fixed after several days and hours. It remained a mystery what was causing the noise.

I was talking to someone that told me that the Timewave ANC-4 works wonders on noise. It isn't a noise limiter, it's an actual noise Canceller. I got that and my whole world changed! That thing erases the noise! In fact, it works so well that I can't even tell if the noise is still there until I turn it off. I wish that you and the others didn't wait a year to post because you could have had wonderful enjoyable radio experience all this time with the Timewave instead of eating all that noise all this time. I have the external antenna hooked up on mine, and it cancels the noise. So while you are fighting the power company, you can be enjoying noise free radio. It's worth the money.

And about fighting the power company, I would have danced with them only 2 month, and then got a lawyer and showed the lawyer the law about the part 97 rules that says about interfering with a licensed service and put him to work on getting the FCC to do their job. If a couple of lawyers say they can't do much, I would just keep talking to other lawyers until I find someone that said he can. Or file a law suit possibly. I'm glad I didn't have to go that rout. My power company was very cooperative.

Get the Timewave.

[N0WVA]

Same problem here. Although I think the powerline noise may not be as bad because Im using a balanced antenna and wire and its on the back lot.

What seems kinda funny is the fact that the ARRL carries any weight in this matter. Why would the utility listen to them and not an individual? Sad that the ARRL even has to be dragged into the picture because the FCC doesnt want to enforce their own rules.

All I can figure is get used to it because when BPL gets spread out, we may be digging every signal out from under a 20+ noise level.

[KJ3N]

The process for me has been:

File the written complaint with the utility.
(Phone complaints go NO WHERE, it MUST be in writing)

The process for me on the first try:

Call Customer Service before I go to work. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: "I've got some TV and radio interference that seems to be coming from pole numbers ##### and #####. I need to have someone come out and look at this."

Them: "I'll put a trouble ticket into the system and pass this on to the Engineering department. Someone will get back to you. Is there a number were they can reach you?"

I give them my work number and leave for work at 8:30 AM.

**One hour later*** I get a phone call from the Engineering department **at work**. This conversation goes something like this:

Engineering: "I've got this trouble ticket about TV and radio interference here. I'm curious about how you're so sure these pole numbers are the problem."

I explain how I tracked down the poles in question. The next thing I hear:

Engineering: "Well, you're probably the first ham radio operator I've talked to that has given me specific pole numbers. I'll send one of my guys up there next week to have a look."

A week goes by and the guy they sent to look at it gives me a call. Turns out, he's a ham. He tells me that only one pole is actually the problem, but it was one of the ones I identified. Told me it would take a few weeks to get it scheduled and done. It was about 3 weeks later I noticed the noise was gone. Got a follow-up call to check and see if everything was OK.

The second episode of power line noise went pretty much like the first one described above. That one took about 3 weeks from complaint (filed by phone) to fix.

The third episode of power line noise (at a different location; we moved) took a bit longer to find and took a bit longer to get fixed. In no case did I ever have to wait more than 90 days for a resolution.

The engineering guys at Delmarva Power know who I am. They know that when I call, I've done most of the legwork for them. I don't send them hither and yon, searching on their own. Of course, they seem to at least have a grip on what they're doing.

I am at 2.5 years and counting.

The fight continues, I am NOT willing to let the utility "off the hook" until
ALL the noise sources locally are eliminated and I see them gone for a substantial length of time.

I'd have ripped my power company a new orifice long before that.

[KB3LIX]

The process for me on the first try:

Call Customer Service before I go to work. The conversation goes something like this:

Me: "I've got some TV and radio interference that seems to be coming from pole numbers ##### and #####. I need to have someone come out and look at this."

Them: "I'll put a trouble ticket into the system and pass this on to the Engineering department. Someone will get back to you. Is there a number were they can reach you?"

I give them my work number and leave for work at 8:30 AM.

**One hour later*** I get a phone call from the Engineering department **at work**. This conversation goes something like this:

Engineering: "I've got this trouble ticket about TV and radio interference here. I'm curious about how you're so sure these pole numbers are the problem."

I explain how I tracked down the poles in question. The next thing I hear:

Engineering: "Well, you're probably the first ham radio operator I've talked to that has given me specific pole numbers. I'll send one of my guys up there next week to have a look."

A week goes by and the guy they sent to look at it gives me a call. Turns out, he's a ham. He tells me that only one pole is actually the problem, but it was one of the ones I identified. Told me it would take a few weeks to get it scheduled and done. It was about 3 weeks later I noticed the noise was gone. Got a follow-up call to check and see if everything was OK.

The second episode of power line noise went pretty much like the first one described above. That one took about 3 weeks from complaint (filed by phone) to fix.

The third episode of power line noise (at a different location; we moved) took a bit longer to find and took a bit longer to get fixed. In no case did I ever have to wait more than 90 days for a resolution.

The engineering guys at Delmarva Power know who I am. They know that when I call, I've done most of the legwork for them. I don't send them hither and yon, searching on their own. Of course, they seem to at least have a grip on what they're doing.



I'd have ripped my power company a new orifice long before that.

Jim,
This is a perfect example of how different utility companies are around the country. Some take ownership of the problem, others try to blow it off.
I have heard of complaints over 10 years old, I have heard of complaints where the affected individuals have files suit (LUCKY @^%@&^% to have THAT kind of money) and still no resolution.

It does NO GOOD to get nasty.
NASTY has NOT WORKED here.
That just makes them LESS COOPEATIVE !
Handle it any way you want.

[N5FOG]

I had a really bad problem with power line noise for several years. The power company played the game of waiting till the day after it rained really good to come out and give me the can't find a problem speal several times.

Finally a vandal by the name of IKE sneaked in the neighborhood and the power company had to come through and check and repair/replace everything.

So now I have zero power line noise and all it took what a category 3 hurricane nearly destroying much house to get it

Also Charles if you run into those "vandals" again tell them I got a tip from a big game hunter that steel core ammo works allot better when hunting those notorious pole pigs.

FOG