Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights.

2020-08-22 Thread Jim Brown

On 8/20/2020 6:07 PM, ab2tc wrote:

Does anybody have any experiences like this and/or any suggestions what to
do?


This, and a lot of other noise sources, are addressed extensively in 
these two pdfs.

http://k9yc.com/KillingReceiveNoise.pdf
http://k9yc.com/KillingRXNoiseVisalia.pdf

73, Jim K9YC
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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights (maybe).

2020-08-21 Thread Mark Musick
Hi Phil,
Having worked for Duke Energy/Cinergy/PSI Energy for 35 years in operations, 
system planning, substation design and the rate department doing rate design I 
can tell you there is no revenue lose due to energy losses. It is all rolled 
into the rates. So, all customers pay for system losses.
However, you are correct that it is to the utilities advantage to find and 
correct these situations. Here in Indiana, the Indiana Utility Regulatory 
Commission (IURC) looks at the system losses in rate cases and reviews steps 
taken to mitigate system losses.
System losses is one of many things included in the cost of service study 
presented to the commission when requesting a rate increase. The commission has 
questioned system losses in the past when they seemed out of line with previous 
lose figures given to them.

73,
Mark, WB9CIF

-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net  On 
Behalf Of Phil Kane
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2020 18:31
To: ab2tc 
Cc: Elecraft Reflector 
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights (maybe).

On 8/21/2020 10:36 AM, ab2tc wrote:

> Thanks for your response and I did receive several private E-mails as well.
> It sounds like a phone call to the power company should be my next 
> move. If I just could find a way to get to a live person without going 
> through a million automated responses and interminable waits!

In another life when I was with the San Francisco office of the FCC, I used to 
refer IX calls to Pacific Gas & Electric in California and my contact there was 
Jim Gillespie in General Construction.  Jim was a great help, and I used to kid 
him that if this was too much work for him he could always go back to washing 
insulators!  His counterpart at Southern California Edison was also well-known 
as an IX-finder.  We're all retired from IX-chasing now and I wouldn't have any 
idea who to refer such calls to today.

As Ken Brown (W2KB) has pointed out over the years, it's to the advantage of 
the utility to find and fix such leaks (if that is the
problem) because it loses money to have energy delivered to a non-paying load.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402

>From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon
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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights (maybe).

2020-08-21 Thread JP Douglas
A friend of mine had same issues a couple of years ago here in Maine, turned 
out it was marijuana growers using non approved chinese grow lights brought in 
illegally through Canada and being sold in Portland, ME.
We put an end to that, the FCC deputised my friend...even got in the Portland 
newspaper.
73 de Jose Douglas KB1TCD

Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 21, 2020, at 2:31 PM, Phil Kane  wrote:
> 
> On 8/21/2020 10:36 AM, ab2tc wrote:
> 
>> Thanks for your response and I did receive several private E-mails as well.
>> It sounds like a phone call to the power company should be my next move. If
>> I just could find a way to get to a live person without going through a
>> million automated responses and interminable waits!
> 
> In another life when I was with the San Francisco office of the FCC, I
> used to refer IX calls to Pacific Gas & Electric in California and my
> contact there was Jim Gillespie in General Construction.  Jim was a
> great help, and I used to kid him that if this was too much work for him
> he could always go back to washing insulators!  His counterpart at
> Southern California Edison was also well-known as an IX-finder.  We're
> all retired from IX-chasing now and I wouldn't have any idea who to
> refer such calls to today.
> 
> As Ken Brown (W2KB) has pointed out over the years, it's to the
> advantage of the utility to find and fix such leaks (if that is the
> problem) because it loses money to have energy delivered to a non-paying
> load.
> 
> 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
> Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402
> 
> From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
> Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon
> __
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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights (maybe).

2020-08-21 Thread Phil Kane
On 8/21/2020 10:36 AM, ab2tc wrote:

> Thanks for your response and I did receive several private E-mails as well.
> It sounds like a phone call to the power company should be my next move. If
> I just could find a way to get to a live person without going through a
> million automated responses and interminable waits!

In another life when I was with the San Francisco office of the FCC, I
used to refer IX calls to Pacific Gas & Electric in California and my
contact there was Jim Gillespie in General Construction.  Jim was a
great help, and I used to kid him that if this was too much work for him
he could always go back to washing insulators!  His counterpart at
Southern California Edison was also well-known as an IX-finder.  We're
all retired from IX-chasing now and I wouldn't have any idea who to
refer such calls to today.

As Ken Brown (W2KB) has pointed out over the years, it's to the
advantage of the utility to find and fix such leaks (if that is the
problem) because it loses money to have energy delivered to a non-paying
load.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402

>From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon
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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights (maybe).

2020-08-21 Thread ab2tc
Hi Ralph and all,

Thanks for your response and I did receive several private E-mails as well.
It sounds like a phone call to the power company should be my next move. If
I just could find a way to get to a live person without going through a
million automated responses and interminable waits!

Loose connectors and clamps can apparently cause many different types of
interference so can not be ruled out in my case either. I have had several
cases like that over the years and they sounded and look quite different
from my current interference. But it sounds like nothing should be ruled
out. 

Thanks again, all.

AB2TC - Knut


RALPH TURK wrote
> Hi
> I had a similar situation here in Tucson AZ  My spectrum analyzer,a Tek
> 492 showed groups of carrier like indications 10-20 db above the noise
> floor.  First think I thought "Grow Lights"  I was told that the osculator
> in a grow light is about 2.3 Mhz.  The interference looked like it was
> every 2.3Mhz up the band.  Levels were all over the place.  Called the
> local Power Co and after lots of pleading they finally sent a tech to
> check it out.  He connected up to my dipole antenna and looked at the
> pattern and concluded it was a ground connection proble.  Got a crew out
> the next week and traced it to a pole out about 2000ft from me.  The
> problem was radiating 
> from the HV line for about 2 miles.  Fixed the ground and problem
> solved.  I had traced to one of three poles using a portable radio tuned
> the my main problem freq of about 5.2 Mhz and was able to hear the
> problem.  The main problem was a loose ground clamp up on the pole.  The
> power company also used an acoustic parabolic mike which pin-pointed the
> exact connector.  New connector problem solved
> Ralph, W7HSG/AFA9RT
>  
>> On 08/20/2020 7:07 PM ab2tc 

> ab2tc@

>  wrote:
>> 
> 





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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights.

2020-08-21 Thread Harry Yingst via Elecraft
 It could also be Metal Halide lights over someone's Saltwater Aquarium.
I run Metal Halide lights over my aquarium and mine are quiet.But I knew a guy 
who did not have his grounded and shieldedand they put out so much noise they 
wiped out his TV reception.
I gave him a bunch of snap on chokes and as I recallhe also grounded the 
reflectors and it quieted it down.





On Thursday, August 20, 2020, 09:09:03 PM EDT, ab2tc  
wrote:  
 
 Hello all,

https://www.edn.com/how-cops-are-finding-grow-ops-with-am-radios/

The above is a link to an article in the EDN magazine (a technical journal
primarily aimed at EEs). The article is more than five years old, but maybe
it is only recently this type of interference has started to show up in
upstate New York. I have one of these noise sources somewhere in my
neighborhood (it’s not that easy to pinpoint due to the low frequency). I
know this is OT and maybe somewhat controversial, but this type of strong
interference is of great concern to the amateur radio community. I am not
after anybody in my neighborhood getting arrested, but I very much want to
see the interference stop. Even if the operation is legal, the emission is
definitely way outside FCC part 15 limits. Quote from the article:

“..conducted emission data clearly shows peaks as high as 100+ dBuV (50 dB
over the limit) in the range 6 to 8 MHz, with lower peaks at 14, 18, and 21
MHz.”

My interference is primarily in the 7MHz band. 14 MHz is virtually free of
it. See here for a screenshot:

http://www.ab2tc.com/growlights.png

There are three peaks, approximately 49 to 50kHz apart. The center one is
centered under the cross hair cursor. As you can see, the band is starting
to come to life at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The interference is on 24/7
as far as I can tell.

Does anybody have any experiences like this and/or any suggestions what to
do? If you want to keep this confidential, E-mail me privately. My E-mail
address is OK on qrz.com.

AB2TC – Knut

PS. I have previously reported power line noise to the electrical company
and have had positive responses (fixes) from them. I suspect that this kind
of interference is not easily detectable on their UHF based sniffers;
besides I am not sure if conducted interference from residences lies under
their jurisdiction (there are only residences here for many blocks).





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Re: [Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights.

2020-08-21 Thread RALPH TURK
Hi
I had a similar situation here in Tucson AZ  My spectrum analyzer,a Tek 492 
showed groups of carrier like indications 10-20 db above the noise floor.  
First think I thought "Grow Lights"  I was told that the osculator in a grow 
light is about 2.3 Mhz.  The interference looked like it was every 2.3Mhz up 
the band.  Levels were all over the place.  Called the local Power Co and after 
lots of pleading they finally sent a tech to check it out.  He connected up to 
my dipole antenna and looked at the pattern and concluded it was a ground 
connection proble.  Got a crew out the next week and traced it to a pole out 
about 2000ft from me.  The problem was radiating 
from the HV line for about 2 miles.  Fixed the ground and problem
solved.  I had traced to one of three poles using a portable radio tuned the my 
main problem freq of about 5.2 Mhz and was able to hear the problem.  The main 
problem was a loose ground clamp up on the pole.  The power company also used 
an acoustic parabolic mike which pin-pointed the exact connector.  New 
connector problem solved
Ralph, W7HSG/AFA9RT
 
> On 08/20/2020 7:07 PM ab2tc  wrote:
> 
>  
> Hello all,
> 
> https://www.edn.com/how-cops-are-finding-grow-ops-with-am-radios/
> 
> The above is a link to an article in the EDN magazine (a technical journal
> primarily aimed at EEs). The article is more than five years old, but maybe
> it is only recently this type of interference has started to show up in
> upstate New York. I have one of these noise sources somewhere in my
> neighborhood (it’s not that easy to pinpoint due to the low frequency). I
> know this is OT and maybe somewhat controversial, but this type of strong
> interference is of great concern to the amateur radio community. I am not
> after anybody in my neighborhood getting arrested, but I very much want to
> see the interference stop. Even if the operation is legal, the emission is
> definitely way outside FCC part 15 limits. Quote from the article:
> 
> “..conducted emission data clearly shows peaks as high as 100+ dBuV (50 dB
> over the limit) in the range 6 to 8 MHz, with lower peaks at 14, 18, and 21
> MHz.”
> 
> My interference is primarily in the 7MHz band. 14 MHz is virtually free of
> it. See here for a screenshot:
> 
> http://www.ab2tc.com/growlights.png
> 
> There are three peaks, approximately 49 to 50kHz apart. The center one is
> centered under the cross hair cursor. As you can see, the band is starting
> to come to life at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The interference is on 24/7
> as far as I can tell.
> 
> Does anybody have any experiences like this and/or any suggestions what to
> do? If you want to keep this confidential, E-mail me privately. My E-mail
> address is OK on qrz.com.
> 
> AB2TC – Knut
> 
> PS. I have previously reported power line noise to the electrical company
> and have had positive responses (fixes) from them. I suspect that this kind
> of interference is not easily detectable on their UHF based sniffers;
> besides I am not sure if conducted interference from residences lies under
> their jurisdiction (there are only residences here for many blocks).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
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[Elecraft] OT: RF interference from grow lights.

2020-08-20 Thread ab2tc
Hello all,

https://www.edn.com/how-cops-are-finding-grow-ops-with-am-radios/

The above is a link to an article in the EDN magazine (a technical journal
primarily aimed at EEs). The article is more than five years old, but maybe
it is only recently this type of interference has started to show up in
upstate New York. I have one of these noise sources somewhere in my
neighborhood (it’s not that easy to pinpoint due to the low frequency). I
know this is OT and maybe somewhat controversial, but this type of strong
interference is of great concern to the amateur radio community. I am not
after anybody in my neighborhood getting arrested, but I very much want to
see the interference stop. Even if the operation is legal, the emission is
definitely way outside FCC part 15 limits. Quote from the article:

“..conducted emission data clearly shows peaks as high as 100+ dBuV (50 dB
over the limit) in the range 6 to 8 MHz, with lower peaks at 14, 18, and 21
MHz.”

My interference is primarily in the 7MHz band. 14 MHz is virtually free of
it. See here for a screenshot:

http://www.ab2tc.com/growlights.png

There are three peaks, approximately 49 to 50kHz apart. The center one is
centered under the cross hair cursor. As you can see, the band is starting
to come to life at about 2:30 in the afternoon. The interference is on 24/7
as far as I can tell.

Does anybody have any experiences like this and/or any suggestions what to
do? If you want to keep this confidential, E-mail me privately. My E-mail
address is OK on qrz.com.

AB2TC – Knut

PS. I have previously reported power line noise to the electrical company
and have had positive responses (fixes) from them. I suspect that this kind
of interference is not easily detectable on their UHF based sniffers;
besides I am not sure if conducted interference from residences lies under
their jurisdiction (there are only residences here for many blocks).





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