I haven't posted here for quite a while. Its not that I have lost interest however the shack has largely been dismantled and most of the antennas taken down as I am waiting to move house. Of course these things take time and even if all goes to plan it may be a few months before I am at my new QTH. In the meantime the only antenna still in use is my Wellbrook active receiving loop along with a couple of receivers in the shack. So for now I am almost totally an SWL. This would not be so bad if I didn't have a very bad noise problem here. I have been unable to trace this noise. It disappeared for a couple of months in the summer, but now its back. I don't think it comes from my neighbours properties as a while back we had a power cut in the street and checking with a battery powered receiver the noise was still there. The noise it at its worst below about 7 mhz, it wipes out parts of the medium wave, as well as the 160m and 80 metre bands and affects 40metres to a lesser extent.
Here's an example of the effect on medium wave.
I am just hoping my new QTH will be a bit quieter on HF!!
I still have 2 metres FM and HF on my Icom 706 in the car so can operate mobile however 2 metres in this area is a wasteland with very little activity. With the house move and the prospect of no antennas for a while I have even got involved in an area of radio that I had always been rather critical in the past- D-STAR. I will talk more about this in future blogs, it is a way of still getting some radio activity in at the moment but it is cheating and doesn't of course have the same magic at operating on HF!
Hi Kevin, maybe something in the house like a faulty dimming control. Or when outside the house walk around with a fieldmeter to locate the source. When finally moved out you are maybe noise free. ;-) Good luck, 73 Paul PC4T
Its nothing in the house here. i have switched off mains power to the house entirely and listened on battery power- no change. The new house I am hoping to buy, the area seems quieter, I listened sat in my car with the icom 706 and it sounded ok so I hope it will be an improvement! 73 Kevin
Hi Kevin, maybe something in the house like a faulty dimming control. Or when outside the house walk around with a fieldmeter to locate the source. When finally moved out you are maybe noise free. ;-) Good luck, 73 Paul PC4T
ReplyDeleteHi Paul
ReplyDeleteIts nothing in the house here. i have switched off mains power to the house entirely and listened on battery power- no change. The new house I am hoping to buy, the area seems quieter, I listened sat in my car with the icom 706 and it sounded ok so I hope it will be an improvement! 73 Kevin