Your Local Power Company

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

Just got off the phone with Central Vermont Public Service, the company that supplies electricity for much of the state. I called yesterday about a bad street light that repeatedly cycles and makes a really obnoxious BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ that wipes out reception for a minute or two each time it happens. To make it worse, the thing cycles every 5-10 minutes, which can raise hell with all but the strongest AM conversations. The offending party is three poles up from my house, I can watch it from the radio room window as it spazzes out.

Turns out the fellow who called me back is also a ham, KE1IP. He's nearing retirement and hopes to get more active. He understood the issue and said they'd replace the entire light rather than trying the bulb and have to come back later for the eye, ballast, etc. Unfortunately, it will probably not be until next week, so the HMR will be a PITA for me as a result. He was surprised that I had the pole number and a description of the location for him.

Funny part is, I had the same issue a couple weeks back with a light close to a mile away, and they had it fixed the evening after I had called in. Sure do hope they find time before tomorrow night to get it repaired.

I know others have mentioned problems working with their power company, but I've always had very good luck in all dealings. We even got them to donate poles for antenna systems at the Office of Emergency Management and the alternate EOC. So, not all power companies are created equal, and approach may have a lot to do with the end results.

[w3jn]

Some have just not learned that starting out with an angry confrontation usually yields less than desireable results. 

[WA1GFZ]

bet your power co isn't owned by towel heads

[KI4OWV]

I had a simular problem here with a pulsing light. Called Progressive Energy and the girl there ASKED if I had the pole #. I got it and called her back. Next evening problem solved. THEN I went to Long Island to pick up a boat and transport back to sc (gone a week - my daughter and her family live there also so good excuse for a visit) and when I get back and turn on the old HQ-129-X I thought a filter cap had puked! 60 cy. hum just about everywhere.  . But it ain't in my reciever - Its RFI and also it is daylight so no street lights. Sh&%! I got in my truck, turned the am on and cut the block. Problem now is located in a THREE pole section and is 24/7. Called Progress Energy again. They send two engineers (non hams) when I was gone. They found two sections of bad insulators in completely different locations from the noise and had those repaired. Still got the noise. I called the "engineer".I asked if they had turned on the radio in the truck and checked it before and after. Their reply was "we checked the grid with our RFI detectors and this is all we could find".  Now I even got it slightly on 6 meters!! I called again. Now they're gettin' a little chapped. They will get back after the First. I asked them to let me know a day or so ahead.  I will be here with *MY* RFI detector. ('92 chev pkp with a built-in RFI detector - an AM radio) Now for the Heavy Metal rally I guess I'll load the old hammarlund and all the audio chain I use for recieving along with a borrowed honda generator, ground rods and a spool of 14 ga. copper wire into the conversion van and head toward the coast and salt water for the night. Probably better reception anyhoo. But --I won't miss it!

[W1RKW]

bet your power co isn't owned by towel heads

Frank,
Are the foreigners wacking you good with their rate increase yet?  I've seen our electric bill increase considerably over the last year.   Looking forward to the next increase, not.  I"ve been buying up some photovoltaics and batteries to supplement lighting in the house.  Screw NU.

[WA1GFZ]

Bob,
I'm so glad I spent all those extra weeks super insulating the new place.
Sore hope the A.G. gets on their case but the crooks in Hartford seem bought.
All the rich A.H s will drive us out and turn the state into a big gaming reservation
how the heck do you run any kind of a business in this state?
and were worried about a crook in Iraq?

[n3lrx]

They are steady hiking rates here!

My biggest problem with electrical RFI is Oil Burners. Most of my neigbors hace Oil Heat. So I get to listen to the spark Gap signals coming from the igniter.

In the Mobeel I get allot of Video RFI from cable TV. I can tell it's a video source and it just so happens that it's in  the area within eye shot of a pole mounted cable TV amp.

The cable provider here is CrapCast so complaint's go unanswered, they've somehow found it cheaper to pay the fines instead of fixing their leakage.

The only other source I get is when a life sized Lionel cruises by on the Amtrak line. I can hear the pantograph arcs. Surprisingly enough, there is a Sub-Station right down the street too for the RR Tracks, and it's actually pretty clean!

[Ed/KB1HYS]

I've noticed an increase in RFI since Christmas...  Sounds like a batteriy charger/powersupply.  I'm hoping who-ever was the lucky recipient gets bored with their new toy soon...

street lights and cable boxes can ususally be fixed with a .22 cal and steady aim.    the cable box is very effective if you do it on the day of the Super Bowl or some other similar event 

Really though,  in my neighborhood, I've got a substation about 500 ft away, an it is cleaner than the shooping mall half a mile down the road.   I could make it a full time job hunting down just the power line buzzies, let alone the chirps, bleeps, and whirs...

Then the fun of  having to explain to my neighbor, your new Plasma TV has an issue... 

[W1RKW]

Bob,
I'm so glad I spent all those extra weeks super insulating the new place.
Sore hope the A.G. gets on their case but the crooks in Hartford seem bought.
All the rich A.H s will drive us out and turn the state into a big gaming reservation
how the heck do you run any kind of a business in this state?
and were worried about a crook in Iraq?

Frank,
I sent you a PM with a couple of links that might interest you.  It looks like CT residents now have an alternative to UI and CL&P. 

[WA1HZK]

I love it. .22 cure! I forgot about my childhood street light modifications. I need to make one comment about the neighbors surrond sound system. The rear speakers with their 50 feet of #30 speaker cable will be picking you up. I came in loud and clear on two of my neighbors sets. The cure was small RFI filters designed for 120VAC that you can find at the surplus shops & festers. Stick those right on the amp at the speaker outputs and the problem goes away. You might need them on the front speakers but in my case I have not had to do that. This is a better cure than showing up with some home made thing in a box. It looks like a professional factory made thing which it is. You can explain that this is the item that due to it's extreme expense is always left out of the new amplifiers but being a good neighbor you will offer to splice a couple of these in line on his new amp for free. The filters also help on the phone lines. Cost about a buck.
Keith
WA1HZK

[W1VD]

Frank

Living in CT I feel your pain...but IMHO I think the legislature rather than CL&P is mostly to blame on this one.

To bolster perceived competition (that didn't materialize) the legislature mandated that the power company divest itself of electrical generating equipment. CL&P became simply a delivery company and now purchases power on the open market. These independant sources of electricity have their own sets of overhead and profit requirements and prices from different suppliers tend to move in unison like all energy prices - there are no bargains.

Perhaps realizing the error of their ways, the legislature is now looking at letting CL&P back into the generation business. What town is going to let CL&P put in a new nuke...or other generating plant? Where will the environmentalists let them put up new dams? Wind power is great...but yuppies don't want it where they can see it. Buy back the old plants at an inflated price? The generating equipment that they were forced to sell off was paid off and just humming along making megawatts.

I don't see any solution to the problem - the pinheads in Hartford screwed this up big time. Last electric bills here ran between 17.5 and 20 cents per kwh with higher rates yet to come! When government gets involved better hold onto your wallet!

Jay W1VD



       

 

[W3SLK]

Ed said:

I've noticed an increase in RFI since Christmas...  Sounds like a batteriy charger/powersupply.  I'm hoping who-ever was the lucky recipient gets bored with their new toy soon...

It very well could be from the outdoor AND indoor lights. Those ones from Chinka with the different modes of flashing and so forth are RFI hash generators. The ones we had were so bad that they overloaded the my FM receiver in my truck. Also I have noticed that traffic lights especially those with the sensors are very prone to creating this crap. I'll be listening to a station when I pull up to the light and all I get is tat-a-tat-a-tat.......

[K6IC]

Hi Todd,

Over 30 years ago,  when HeNe Lasers were first becoming surplus,  we found that if the laser was pointed at the photocell sensor of the street light,  the light would go off.  If we teased off and on a number of times,  it would reset off 5 or so minutes.

SSOOOO  if your problem light has a functioning sensor,  you might be able to get a laser of some sort,  shine it on your problem light's sensor and have it go off while you need it to be silent.

Being three poles up might be a problem getting a view of the sensor from your QTH,  but just thought that I'd mention it.

73,  GL   HNY to all on this board.   Vic   K6IC

[WA1GFZ]

3 poles up.....22 long rifle. Jay, Bob wanna really get P.O.ed. Learn how rates are set each day based on the highest price. BTW the nuke plant is the cheapest but get paid the rate based on the highest provider. Say you have a crappy old natural gas plant running at 3 times the cost of the nuke plant and the nuke palne gets the highest rate. good money if you can get it.
Yup the crooks in hartford really put it to us. A. G. ( my hero) wants to tear  them a new ah.
Well Lego is moving out of our town.
 

[WA1GFZ]

ah 80 degrees here in the sun sitting with my shirt off sipping ice water.
Love that solar heat.

Might have to go to the shack and cool off soon....

[KB2WIG]

Up in Oswego, NY thers an "old" coal fired(?) gen plant thats only used for 'peak' power. Its about 3 miles from the local nuke plant..   The $$ cost is about $4.00 per person in the state..  I think its 80 mil. total of state subsidy...  "We" can buy Canadian Hydrow if we want, but for "energy independence"   NO !  not a good idea....  and so it goes......

[flintstone mop]

Penn Power in Western Pa. promised us a rate increase coz they have been unable to re-coop their losses since 1992. Thank you de-regulation.
I'm all for the .22 solution too. That way it is dead as a door nail.
Fred

[Carl WA1KPD]

Frank

I think the legislature rather than CL&P is mostly to blame on this one.

To bolster perceived competition (that didn't materialize) the legislature mandated that the power company divest itself of electrical generating equipment. .........<snip>

The pinheads in Hartford screwed this up big time.
Jay W1VD       
 

 Jay,
You nailed it. Spent the 28 years in the industry. Got to "explore new options" as the result of mergers in the business. Not unhappy, it worked out.

What I really like is some of the same elected officials in CT who insisted that deregulation would save the consumer because of "free markets" are now angry because "free markets” also mean prices go UP.

Given the long permitting and construction times for power plants as well as uncertain regulatory climate I doubt many financers will invest in them unless there is a great return. So the issue becomes more and more demand chasing the same number of available KWH from existing plants. And what will that price pressure do to the cost per KWH? Raise it further if course.

CT did a better job then CA. There they initially capped the price the utility could charge but forced them to divest while deregulating the price they could pay for power.

[k4kyv]

I'm all for the .22 solution too. That way it is dead as a door nail.

At least that will get them out to fix it, and they'll find the right pole.  Skillful use of a catapult or sling-shot will work too, and make less noise.

[W1ATR]

I'm all for the .22 solution too. That way it is dead as a door nail.

At least that will get them out to fix it, and they'll find the right pole.  Skillful use of a catapult or sling-shot will work too, and make less noise.

.22's, slingshots, laser pointers? Co'mon guys, get the damn 12ga out and blast that sucker off the pole. Let'em pick it up in the street.

[WB2EMS]

.22's, slingshots, laser pointers? Co'mon guys, get the damn 12ga out and blast that sucker off the pole. Let'em pick it up in the street. - W1ATR

12 ga pellets are a lot harder to trace too - no rifling signature. 

[KI4OWV]

Yeeeehaa!! I can't tell you how to get the power police to actually fix the durn things but we found out how to turn 'em off for about five min's so you can verify which light it is. (this works with a wooden pole - on metal you're on your on) Take a five pound sledge hammer and rap the pole solidly about 4-5 feet above ground level. The shock wave will trip the light out for 3-5 min. AND DON'T TELL THE POWER COMPANY!

[WZ1M]

Had a similar problem with a transformer that was making some gawd awful noises and RFI you would not believe. Even an AM radio was usless. Mid winter, 10 below zero and the steam just rolled of the transformer. Several calls to the local utility got me knowhere. Went into the bedroom, loaded up the old 38/55, octagon barrel and proceded to take aim.  Tranny was replaced in a matter of hours.
Happy New Year To All
Gary...WZ1M