[Harc] 145.8 signal - print this to paper

Thu Mar 26 15:20:44 CDT 2020

Howard,
Thanks for the reply! It is definitely terrestrial. I went to get gas to
take advantage of the price drops and the signal stopped once I got about
50 feet from the house. I'll find out if it is cause by my power at the
beginning of April when I do my monthly generator testing. I would not be
surprised if it is caused by one of the many "smart" devices in my house.

Thanks again and 73,
Jason
KA6F

On Thu, Mar 26, 2020 at 12:55 PM Howard, KB6NN via Harc <
harc at humboldt-arc.org> wrote:

> Jason,
>
> Running behind on my email as you can tell by me saying nothing heard on
> that frequency here in Cutten today... (your original question was posted
> more than 24 hours ago).
>
> And after reading, print this to paper if you are using a desktop/laptop,
> etc., (something other than a cell phone) to read this, because some
> troubleshooting steps below require you to turn off your computer.
>
> The audio files you submitted makes me guess it's something terrestrial,
> that it is noise, not a signal.
>
> You said 145.800, so presuming it is only on that frequency, makes advice
> by email more difficult, but there are things you can do right now, if you
> still hear the signal.  (By the way, FLDIGI does have a slightly
> configurable scope, enable it in the View menu.)  The fact that those who
> responded said they don't hear it at their location, strongly suggests it
> is terrestrial and close to you.  In that case, and if the signal is still
> present for you today, suggest you do the following:
>
> 1. First step in almost any case is to rule out the noise/interference as
> something in your house that's powered by AC: if you can hear the noise on
> a portable/handheld radio, turn that on, and while listening to the signal
> on the portable radio, go and turn off the main breaker to your house.  If
> the noise stops, it's powered by AC in your house.  If so, turn AC back on
> at the breaker and when the noise resumes, walk around your house and find
> it by either sussing it out by its strength or by selectively turning
> things off until you locate the culprit.  If not, it might be an AC powered
> device in a neighbor's house.
>
> 1a. If you can't carry around the radio you hear the signal on but can run
> the radio you are hearing it on off a battery, do so.  At least you can
> rule out an AC powered device/appliance in your own house.  Years ago, I
> had PG&E come out to locate a noise, and the technician used a portable
> radio to walk around the block with me and found the problem coming from a
> neighbor's garage.  PG&E opened the meter box, shut off the neighbor's
> power, and the noise stopped.  Simple basic troubleshooting paid off there.
>
> 2. I almost forgot: if you have/have a photovoltaic panels/panel on your
> roof, rule that out by listening for the sound at night.  This also rules
> out your neighbor's solar system, where charge controllers are the most
> likely culprit.
>
> 3. If you have a battery powered device that you are using to get the
> FLDIGI display you attached, that might be the culprit (not very likely but
> not impossible - could be power supply or display), so if you can listen to
> the noise and turn that laptop or tablet off (full off) (battery out if
> it's a laptop - probably unnecessary but gotta say it's easy to do).  If
> the sound disappears, bingo.  If not, keep testing.
>
> 4. If you have not eliminated the source as your own house or a
> neighbor's, turn your gear back on and change frequency, better, listen
> with a radio with a means to change frequency by small increments (it's own
> dial, CAT tuning by computer/FLDIGI), and see if the sound is on other
> frequencies besides 145.800.  Your FLDIGI screen snippet shows a wide
> signal, so you'll need to change frequency in steps of 1KHz or more.  This
> is just to see if it is only on 145.800 and does not reappear every so many
> KHz up and down the dial.  If it does appear on other than 145.800, very
> strong indication that it is noise from a local device.
>
> 5. If it does not appear on other frequencies (repeater outputs, other
> satellite frequencies), check to see if it appears on frequencies well
> below the subject frequency by dividing 145.800 by 2, 3, 1.5, etc. then
> listen on those frequencies for the source "fundamental" and apply the
> crude direction finding technique of walking around with a portable radio
> to sniff it out.
>
> 5a. If it does not appear to be in your house but is likely in your
> neighborhood and you don't have a portable radio to listen to it on, but
> you do have a mobile radio in your car and can hear the signal on that, you
> can do drive around the block to find where the signal is the strongest.
> If you are driving down a street and the noise is constant and strong, but
> if you move to another street and it's negligible or gone, it may be on
> either the power lines or telephone or cable lines.
>
> 6. If you don't have a portable to listen on, someone in the club does.
> Please post back here to say if you found the source, and answers to
> questions like if the sound is only on 145.800, and what you did to find
> it.  Would love to hear you used the steps above to find it.  Or if you or
> anyone else has another troubleshooting step I've overlooked, let me know.
>
> We have not had, to my knowledge, an RFI Committee within HARC, but we
> have had ad-hoc teams formed to solve specific issues.
>
> Hope any of the above helps you or anyone, and hope it is not too long an
> email to read.
>
> Howard
> --
> KB6NN
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 3/26/2020 8:59 AM, Jason Durant via Harc wrote:
> > Anyone know what the signal on 145.8 is? It seems like it is always
> there.
> > I'm guessing it's a geosynchronous satellite or beacon...
> >
> > 73
> > Jason
> > KA6F
> >
> >
>
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-- 
Jason Durant, MS DABR
Medical Physicist and Radiation Safety Officer
Cell (Call or Text): 707-499-5664
Amateur Radio Call Sign: KA6F
Band Page <http://stereotactix.com/>
Facebook Page <https://www.facebook.com/jason.durant.90>
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