Does anyone living in Pierce County having Powerline Noise Issues? When I lived in Puyallup, my noise floor was a steady S2. When I bought a 5 year old house in Graham I seem to have 20 Over noise that I cannot find. I have done all of the searches and unplugging that I can do, but still cannot find the culprit. Our Power Lines are underground, I can only guess that it may be the issue. The noise is steady across all of the HF bands. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Power Line Noise?
- Thread starter ashleyct3
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JBLM maybe??
How far are you from any RF source?
How far are you from any RF source?
devicelab
Whacker Extraordinaire
Buy a portable shortwave receiver and verify you can hear the noise outside. Walk around the neighborhood with the radio and you'll likely find the culprit. These days there's so much crap that generates noise especially on HF. I've dealt with pet fences, PLN devices and spark gap issues from utility pole insulators. If it's that strong then it's likely coming from a neighbor.
Check your power meter as well. These newer digital versions have been known to cause issues in the past. I think the newer models have mostly been fixed however.
Check your power meter as well. These newer digital versions have been known to cause issues in the past. I think the newer models have mostly been fixed however.
iMONITOR
Silent Key
Make sure you don't have something like this this running through your back yard! Seriously, I see this more and more in the last 15 years. They're building new subdivisions in very close proximity of these high voltage power alleys. It used to be a big taboo and classified as danous, possibly cancer causing, etc. Now nobody seems to care.
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Make sure you none of your in wall switched lights have dimmers. You do not say how far away is your nearest neighbor. Do not use "unplug" to test your house - instead pull all the breakers or fuses except the one for your radio then move it or run an extension cord to check if that circuit is the problem. You do not say what your antenna is and that may help those responding.
Thanks for all of the information. I will try the breaker test tomorrow. I have the same Loop antenna and a dipole in the attic that I had at the previous house. Even when I test for noise in the attic, nothing there. No nearby powerlines that I can see. And the neighbors are an a good enough distance away to not cause 20 over noise I wouldn't think. I took one of my shortwave radios around the house and same noise everywhere. I can't seem to pinpoint it.
also do you have Solar Panels that can be a culprit also along with smart electric & water meters--there were a few reports on a facebook site they had bad power supply on their laptop pc and a few with wall wart power supplies --just something to mention--good luck
devicelab
Whacker Extraordinaire
Generally, what's frequencies where the noise is strongest? The only thing I know to cause a complete wipeout of the HF band are those cheap marijuana grow lights. A room with several of those can kill HF for a half-block or so. Police departments have been working with power companies to come up with RFI maps... to spot illegal grow operations (in residential neighborhoods...)
ridgescan
Member
Can you get a short video or sound clip of the RFI? I've had much experience with a growhouse here (look where I live) and I had excellent results using a transistor radio set to AM, because the ferrite loop antenna in there is extremely directional, moreso than a shortwave. Tune to a spot between stations and walk around with it. You can pinpoint noisy adapters even with it. Not only did I pinpoint one of my neighbors as a huge RFI source, that little pocket radio even sniffed out one of my A/V receiver's digital face as an offender.
If it turns out to be those underground power lines I wouldn't be surprised. I've read they can do it too.
If it turns out to be those underground power lines I wouldn't be surprised. I've read they can do it too.
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