Thursday, June 17, 2021

Further investigation of my ongoing RFI.

A nice RFI free evening 

 In a previous post regarding my RFI issues I kinda narrowed it down to my smart hydrometer. I am now starting to move away from that theory. The RFI is still there and I have been doing some reading regarding our smart meter and the frequency they use to transmit data does not jive with an HF harmonic and I have been logging the RFI and there are some on/off times for the RFI and when I visit the meter during off times the noise my AM radio picks up is still there and just as strong. I have therefore removed the smart meter as an issue. 

About a month ago I received an email from a fellow ham who was dealing with some RFI and it seemed to be on a 12 hour on/off cycle. This got me thinking of a timer operated device, the ham had contacted hydro and they came by but really found no issues well none that seemed to connect to a 12 hour on/off cycle. I got to thinking and asked him to check with neighbours if they recently purchased a grow lamp system.  A short time later he emailed me informing me that his neighbour in fact did purchase a grow lamp device. When the device was unplugged his RFI issue went away. He is now filtering up the grow system to remove his RFI issue. 

RFI filled day

Now back to my RFI issue, I have started to log the on/off times for my RFI and it for sure is not on a precise 12 hour on/off cycle BUT it seems to turn off at night. Many times between 23:00 to 23:30. Other times I have seen it off at 21:00 but I can say that it is off each night and the off time my vary. As for the on time it can vary from 07:30 to 10:00. I have also had occasion were it has been off most of the day as well. My understanding is that the device is being turned off/on by the owner and not a timer. Because most of the time the on time is about 12 hours I am thinking it too is a grown lamp. 

I have asked the folks on both sides of me and have been told that neither have a grow system. I do understand they may not be telling me the truth as it really is none of my business. One of my neighbours I have been in his home and I can say that I have not seen a grow system anywhere. I have even wondered close to their homes when I have the RFI and I pick up nothing. 

Sometimes the RFI is not to bad

I do have an MFJ 1026 noise cancelling unit and for this device to work you need to have a listening antenna that hears the same RFI as the main antenna. I have been playing around with noise antennas for a few weeks and my result will be in my next post.....I was very surprised and confused with the results. 

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