On 29 Dec 2005 08:17:52 -0800, "Ben Sinclair"
wrote:
I'll research the noise filters and see what I can find.

Hi Ben,

They are nice toys suitable to sources of noise that are not easy to
fix, like a power pole arcing (or a neighbor's electric fence around
the horse pasture). Still, if you simply visit the neighbor and offer
to fix his problem (grass is too high, or a wire is drooping); or call
the utility (it is in their interest to fix their noisy poles); then
you've not only saved money, you don't have that noise anymore.

Is the W2DU balun something I should still consider?

Like I said, research the theory behind it. You don't actually have
to buy anything if you coiled the far end of the coax - research the
properties of a transmission choke. Choking your transmission line
can push your home's contribution of noise down considerably.

I don't know a lot about how propagation works, but does it seem normal
that In the early evening I could hear WWV on 10, but not 2.5, 5, or
any other frequency, then late at night I couldn't even hear it on 10?
This morning it was again coming in loud and clear on 10, but not any
other frequency.

This is one of the hallmarks of listening to WWV, WWVH, or CHU or any
number of time stations or beacons (CHU, located 15 km southwest of
Ottawa, transmits on 3330 kHz, 7335 kHz, and 14670 kHz). They give
you an indication of how well propagation is working from those
points, to you, on those bands at any particular time of day (which is
a significant factor). They are always there, and always at a known
power level. For example, this makes it quite simple to determine
that if you cannot hear WWV at 2.5MHz with 1KW, you are not going to
hear anyone else in Colorado on 2.5MHz unless they have substantially
more power. On the other hand, there is nothing in that region to
listen to anyway given this is an extinct marine band, and the seas
around Fort Collins evaporated millions of years ago.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC