Reducing Powerline RFI

 I’ve had a lot of RF noise in my home since I moved in 2013.  Noise on the phone lines, intermittent cable TV and internet outages.   Spectrum has been out multiple times to replace lines, fix coax connectors and even installed amplifiers up in the attic.   All these actions helped to some extent.

But getting the mobile HF capabilities in my jeep has let me test interference in my neighborhood.   I was very surprised how quite the 40 and 20 meter bands are just a block up the street.  

I conducted a simple drive around, observational test and shared the results with Oncor who is responsible for electric delivery services in my neighborhood.  I started the process by calling 888-313-6862 Oncor Electric Delivery Services and reported "radio, telephone and TV interference" that appears to be due to the electric lines in my alley.

The service rep asked me a few questions and opened a trouble ticket.   She informed me that a Field Check would be scheduled for my address to diagnose and determine next steps.  She was not able to give an ETA but said to expect a call in the next two business days for follow up.  She also advised me to remove spam block since they would be calling from a local 214 or 972 number.  

I’ll report the progress in future threads.   But first I want to share results of my test.   

Here’s the waterfall spectrum sitting in my driveway.   Notice the noise is S9+20db over.

This picture was taken just a block up the street.   I can see several SSB signals in the waterfall.  The noise is S3-S4, but the transmissions are 59 on voice peaks (not shown).

I drove around the block and recorded video of the test using my iPhone.