An update, for anyone who has been watching the saga of my trying to get our local electrical utility to maintain their equipment and to stop running accidental spark-gap transmitters all over the place.

TLDR: one pole was fixed (after 2 months), but there's another, secondary source, stronger yet further away, which has gone unrepaired for almost 2 months since I reported it.

RFI repair is fire prevention, but PG&E would rather run PR campaigns than do any actual maintenance work.

https://n6ol.us/2024/07/07/pges-resistance-to-fixing-qrm-is-getting-old/

#PGE #QRM #RFI #RTVI #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #interference

I made a thing.

Because I collect data once a minute, every minute, 24 hours a day, I am able to summarize when the secondary source of PG&E powerline noise is most likely to occur on any given day. This is useful for being able to tell the RFI-hunting crew when they should come out looking.

The summarized data begins the day after the PG&E crew fixed the primary noise source (the one that had been just two houses down).

I'm probably not going to win many friends by telling them they'll need to come during lunch, but that appears to be the best opportunity, followed by 13:30-14:45 each day.

#PGE #Powerline #Noise #Interference #RFI #RTVI #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #QRM

PG&E has definitely fixed the primary noise source. Hurrah!

But now that the primary noise source is quiet, I've discovered a secondary noise source. Boo!

This one appears to be coming from a high-tension pylon adjacent their substation, about 250 meters away. Fortunately or unfortunately, it's also a lot more sporadic.

It's progress.

#PGE #RFI #RTVI #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #QRM #interference

PG&E is here with a significant work crew to rebuild the pole which hosts their accidental spark-gap transmitter!

#PGE #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #QRM #RFI #RTVI #interference

PG&E just came back from their noise hunting and told me they agree with me- it is the pole I told them it was. And one of the guys could even hear it arcing while he was standing underneath of the pole. I am not crazy! They're going to have a crew come out and "rebuild" what's on that pole. No ETA, but at least we're on a path to resolution.

I probably prevented a fire, property damage, or someone getting hurt.

#PGE #RFI #QRM #AmateurRadio #HamRadio #RTVI #Interference

I finally have an appointment with PG&E's communication tech to come out and take a look for the godawful interference they're spewing in my neighborhood. Luckily it's on Thursday, when our weather forecast is sunny and dry-- if past data collection is any indication, this should exacerbate the issue and it should be buzzing like hell when they come out. 🤞

From the time I reported the problem to the time they finally set up an appointment with someone who is able to look into it was 56 days.

I also learned that the high voltage lines that run across the top are 12kV. More than enough to cause trouble.

#PGE #QRM #RFI #RTVI #AmateurRadio #HamRadio #Interference

55 days after I opened my radio interference ticket, I finally got a call today from PG&E from someone who can look into the actual problem and trace out the RFI... or in this case, confirm it's coming from where I already told them it's coming from after my own troubleshooting.

They really need a better way of responding to this kind of problem.

#PGE #RFI #RTVI #QRM #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #Interference

I have now determined with high certainty which utility pole is causing the #RFI problem in my neighborhood. It's very near my QTH.

To differentiate it, I stood directly in front of it where turning to the left would point me at the other suspect pole but put the pole I was facing in the 45° null in the antenna pattern.

When I turned to face the other suspect pole, the sound went away as the first pole fell into the null in the pattern.

Then I walked around to the other block and pointed around from the other direction just to make sure it wasn't some other utility pole in the same direction but further away.

I'm about 99.44% certain I've found the culprit. Now I just need to get PG&E to do something about it.

#PGE #RFI #RTVI #HamRadio #AmateurRadio #Interference