The 40 Meter Foxhunt is tonight and from the first moments, I had Pat KZ5J in my sights. It was only a matter of time until I worked him as he was an honest 549/559 here. Then the local neighborhood QRN turned up. I was able to watch the K2s S meter go from 3 bars to full scale in a matter of a few seconds, totally blanking out Pat's signal.
If there's any money left over from the KX3 purchase, I think I am going to invest in an MFJ 1026 noise canceler. Mike VE3WDM uses one, I believe, to get rid of heavy hydroelectric power line noise near his QTH. Hopefully, it can do the same kind of job here. I am getting tired of missing out on the 40 Meter Foxhunts and other evening 40 Meter operations because of a lousy faulty appliance somewhere in the neighborhood. This seems to happen mostly in the evenings, and at random times, so I am suspecting a plasma TV or other RFI generating appliance.
45 minutes to go in the hunt. I sure hope this "thing" gets turned off and the noise goes away; but I am not holding my breath. Thank God for the Tuesday night 80 Meter hunts! The noise is all but non-existent on that band.
Ken Newman N2CQ, announced today on the QRP reflectors that December will be the last month for the N2CQ QRP contest calendar. Ken has been doing a superb job for many years. He will be missed. As the saying goes, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got til it's gone".
Thanks for the many years of effort, Ken.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Larry,
ReplyDeleteI've heard an interference problem can be caused by a flaky photocell unit that's mounted on a street lamp.
Does the QRN only happen at night?
Bill N5AB
Good morning Larry, I use the MFJ 1026 to remove the power line noise which basically is bothersome in damp weather. I do however have a plasma TV and when it is on puts the power line noise to shame. The 1026 does a great job of removing it. I do have an audio example on the blog of how it works with the plasma TV noise. It is from February 7th entitled "Can you hear me now" Just go to the monthly listings on my blog and click on February that is the best way to look it up. Have a listen and see what you think of it.
ReplyDeleteI have the MFJ unit as well, Larry. It does a good job on noise that comes from one direction. I'm not impressed with the internal construction at all, though.
ReplyDeleteI found a schematic for a noise canceler that looks interesting but I'm unable to try building it myself at the moment.
Bill,
ReplyDeleteWhen this first started, I went around with an AM radio all throughout the neighborhood checking for a particularly noisy utility pole and couldn't find any that stuck out like a sore thumb. The main reason I think it's a TV is that occasionally this noise will raise its ugly head on Sunday afternoons too - particularly during football season.
Larry W2LJ