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Re: [RFI] 80 meters RFI at N9CJT tracked down to an AT&T line (probably

To: Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] 80 meters RFI at N9CJT tracked down to an AT&T line (probably VDSL)
From: Steve London <n2icarrl@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2023 11:24:29 -0600
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
Apparently, a customer didn't know that he had no internet service, since
his router couldn't sync up ?

I wonder how much AT&T was charging for that ?

73,
Steve, N2IC

On Thu, Oct 5, 2023 at 7:27 AM Don Kirk <wd8dsb@gmail.com> wrote:

> Here is followup & resolution regarding the RFI we tracked down about 3.5
> weeks ago at the QTH of N9CJT that we suspected was DSL/VDSL as we had
> identified the RFI was coming from a box and associated line on a utility
> pole that were identified as Ameritech (now AT&T).   Noel (N9CJT) had great
> difficulty getting a response from AT&T, and finally a local ham who is a
> senior regional director at AT&T wrote an internal "Presidential Letter" to
> the AT&T President's Office and as a result of that internal letter Noel
> received a direct call from the office of the president of AT&T on Tuesday
> of this week (Oct 3rd).  The response time when an internal letter like
> this gets submitted is typically a response time of 24-48 hours and sure
> enough the RFI was resolved yesterday (Oct 4th), and below are details for
> those interested.
>
> *Below is copied text from an e-mail from Noel (N9CJT) with names redacted
> for privacy reasons.*
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> On Tuesday, October 3rd, I received a telephone call from the office of the
> president of AT&T.  The young lady advised me that XXXXXX (the regional
> director) had been in touch and they were on it.  Also on Tuesday, XXXXXX
> (the regional director) received a request to forward the YouTube video
> which Don WD8DSB had recorded at the beginning of September.
>
> On Wednesday, October 4th, I received a telephone call from YYYYY, an AT&T
> employee dispatched from Shelbyville, who stated that he was parked in
> front of my house.  He had already watched the video, and asked that I
> assist not only by showing him what Don and I had found, but also by
> checking again when the repairs were completed.  As it turned out, he
> didn't need my help -- my 10-minute drive home from work was all it took
> him to find the problem.  He stated that he could see immediately that the
> involved pairs (2) had been damaged by lightning.  He stated that the
> every-4-KHz signal from 3.75 to 5.2 MHz was the normal sync-up signal that
> comes every time the customer's router/modem attempts to sync up, and that
> the subsequent 1.4 MHz wide hash came when that device was temporarily
> successful in its efforts was also typical.  He stated that there had been
> an internal system trouble report on those lines, initially generated
> sometime between August 11th and August 13th and persisting, and that he
> was puzzled that no one had been contacted for repairs.  He said it would
> take perhaps 45 minutes to clear everything, so I went back to my office.
>
> When YYYYY called again, he stated that he was ready for me to double-check
> his work.  I went home and found complete absence of the harmful
> interference, even right at the twisted pairs on the pole.  YYYYY stated
> that once he had replaced the damaged pairs, the customer's router /modem
> was able to sync up immediately and stay linked, and that those signals
> became properly contained once balanced pairs had been restored.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Just FYI, and 73,
> Don (wd8dsb)
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 11, 2023 at 9:53 AM Jeff (W4DD) <w4dd09@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > FYI,
> > Tracked a VDSL problem a year or two ago which seemed confusing at the
> time
> > (was actually 2 DSL sources).  Figured it was DSL as it had a strong
> > increase in strength at 3.750MHz (this is where the DSL uplink starts).
> > Ended up being a problem at two different nearby houses:
> > House 1 - one of the 4 wire pairs ( 4 pairs used for increased DSL
> speeds)
> > had a broken wire.  The other wire was acting like an antenna for the DSL
> > uplink.
> > House 2 - DSL in the house was using split pairs, aka, one wire from one
> > twisted pair and another wire from another pair.
> >
> > The ATT technician was excellent and found and fixed both issues.  Noise
> > gone after his work and both customers mentioned their Internet had not
> > work
> > this well in years.
> >
> > Jeff, W4DD
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: RFI <rfi-bounces+w4dd09=gmail.com@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Don
> > Kirk
> > Sent: Sunday, September 10, 2023 9:04 AM
> > To: RFI <rfi@contesting.com>
> > Subject: [RFI] 80 meters RFI at N9CJT tracked down to an AT&T line
> > (probably
> > VDSL)
> >
> > I was asked to help locate the source of RFI at N9CJT and yesterday we
> > tracked down/identified the source to be from an AT&T (formerly
> Ameritech)
> > system and all indications are that the system is VDSL or similar.
> >
> > For those interested here is the link to a video that documents this
> case.
> > https://youtu.be/3sYZTXGnLjY
> >
> > Once again the portable flag with DX Engineering preamp allowed us to
> > quickly narrow in on the property where the RFI was originating and then
> we
> > used a small sniffer loop to identify a specific line (cable) on the
> wooden
> > utility pole where the RFI was emanating from, and this line turned out
> to
> > be an AT&T line.  Noel (N9CJT) will now follow-up with AT&T.
> >
> > Just FYI, and 73.
> > Don (wd8dsb)
> > _______________________________________________
> > RFI mailing list
> > RFI@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/rfi
> >
> >
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