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Re: [RFI] RFI on 15 meters at W9RE tracked down to home 0.37 miles away.

To: Alan Higbie <alan.higbie@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI on 15 meters at W9RE tracked down to home 0.37 miles away.
From: Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2023 20:50:40 -0400
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
Hi Alan,

Just need to work with the homeowner to identify the source.  We have
utmost confidence the RFI is originating from their property (we took
direction finding readings from all sides of their property) without
trespassing on their property, and unfortunately we probably even got
into poison ivy when we approached their back property line via an HOA
retention pond.

Mike has monitored the RFI for a long time and sees the RFI disappear
around Sunset.  Mike monitored it today but it was a very overcast day
which turned into a rainy day.  Signal strength was very low early this
morning after sunrise and eventually came up in strength but not as strong
as it was yesterday when it was a nice sunny day.  The system is a year old
and the homeowner said the system is not working (whatever that means) and
that the installer went out of business.  But again the only way to really
prove it's the Solar System (or some other device) is to be able to turn
the RFI on and off by turning on and off the actual device causing the RFI
and until that's done it will always just be a guess (maybe a good guess,
but still a guess).

The homeowners are elderly and were very suspicious of us when we talked
with them in person (and rightfully so) and we therefore all decided it
best that the next step is for Mike to communicate with them via US mail
(and then hopefully with them or a family member via phone) which will
hopefully allow them to better understand the situation and the kind of
help we need from them, etc.

Just FYI,
Don (wd8dsb)

On Sun, Jun 11, 2023 at 8:17 PM Alan Higbie <alan.higbie@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hypothesis: Solar system.
> Next steps: (1) Ask neighbor if recently installed solar system. (2) Have
> Mike park his receiver on frequency of RFI spike 10 minutes before exact
> time of sunrise - then continue until 10 minutes after SR.  (3) ask him to
> report results back to you.
>
> 73,
> ~ Alan K0AV
>
> On Sun, Jun 11, 2023 at 5:56 PM Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Mike (W9RE) has been experiencing RFI on 15 meters when beaming North but
>> not during hours of darkness.  By just driving around he located what he
>> thought was the property generating the RFI using a K3 in his car with a
>> 15
>> meter mobile whip antenna.  Mike asked for my help to confirm his findings
>> using my portable direction finding gear which we did yesterday, and I
>> just
>> uploaded a video documenting this case.
>>
>> I try to avoid guessing what the source of the RFI is, but at the moment
>> we
>> are very suspicious that a small grid tied solar system is the source of
>> the RFI.  Mike will now follow up with the homeowner to identify the true
>> source of the RFI, and then what can be done to mitigate the RFI.
>>
>> For those interested here is a link to the youtube video:
>> https://youtu.be/yD7U-nH-AAg
>>
>> 73,
>> Don (wd8dsb)
>> _______________________________________________
>> RFI mailing list
>> RFI@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
>>
>
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