Any guesses as to the origin of the mystery
noise bugging me this morning would be apprec.

I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.

S9+ stations seem to override the click.
S7 stations don't override, the click
comes right through and clobbers reception.

Station is "backyard remote", battery powered,
asymmetrical wire dipole.

I found some recordings of electric blanket
noise via k0bg's site. It sounds very much
like those recordings. Both of the elec blankets
in my home are off and unplugged. Neighbor elec
blankets? They would be probably 100' away from
the closest point to my antenna.

Noise just started this morning. No new elec
or mechanical devices running at my home.
Turned off the A/C, fans, elec fence, light
dimmers, pool filter etc. Three computers
run inside the house, as they have for
years.


Anyone have a guess at this 1 Hz click noise?
TIA -

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

Lumpy wrote:
Any guesses as to the origin of the mystery
noise bugging me this morning would be apprec.

I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.

S9+ stations seem to override the click.
S7 stations don't override, the click
comes right through and clobbers reception.

Station is "backyard remote", battery powered,
asymmetrical wire dipole.

I found some recordings of electric blanket
noise via k0bg's site. It sounds very much
like those recordings. Both of the elec blankets
in my home are off and unplugged. Neighbor elec
blankets? They would be probably 100' away from
the closest point to my antenna.

Noise just started this morning. No new elec
or mechanical devices running at my home.
Turned off the A/C, fans, elec fence, light
dimmers, pool filter etc. Three computers
run inside the house, as they have for
years.


Anyone have a guess at this 1 Hz click noise?
TIA -

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

Hi Lumpy,
I had something very similar a couple of years ago. Noise was burst
about a second apart but continuous unlike yours. I went throufg
everything in the house that could cause it. This went on for a couple
of months until I was riding down a road about a mile from the house
and heard it on my cars AM radio. It was coming from the ranch I was
riding by. I am pretty sure it was from an electric fence charger.
About the time I figured out what was causing the interference they
moved the horses to another pasture an turned off the fence. I
shouldnt have any more problems, the farm was sold and they are
buiilding houses there.


Jimmie

Lump:
[asks for help with 1Hz click]

JIMMIE wrote:
I had something very similar...

...I am pretty sure it was from an electric fence charger.

That certainly could be. We're a bunch of
mini-ranches with plenty of horses and
hot wires.

Thanks Jimmie.

I've just been out RF sniffing around the outside
of my house with the MFJ meter.

Seems my rain gutters give off some RF at
about 30MHz.

I've also got a metal shed that's not connected
to any power or anything else. It gives off
about 300-500 kHz from it's roof if I put the
meter on the roof. It's quiet on the sides
of the shed.

Sheesh. I'm drowning in incidental transmitters.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

On Sun, 18 May 2008 15:31:15 -0700, "Lumpy"
wrote:



Sheesh. I'm drowning in incidental transmitters.



Yep.
Shortwave amateur radio is a dead dog
when you happen to live in urban areas.

w.

I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.



Do you live on the country side? Could it be a farmer's electric fence? If
not that how about the ignition system on a gas central heating system

73
Jeff

Jeff wrote:
I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.

Jeff:
Do you live on the country side? Could it be a farmer's electric
fence? If not that how about the ignition system on a gas central
heating system

We live on a small suburban ranch. We have elec
fences as do some neighbors. Ours is off for testing.
I'm not sure what a furnace is. It's 100 degrees this week
(unseasonably low) in Phoenix..;-)

After sniffing around with the MFJ, and finding
my rain gutters seem to be resonating at about 30Mhz
I moved my dipole a bit so that the coax doesn't
cross the gutters. Now the coax goes from top of
mast to ground, and gets buried under about an
inch of sand on our beach. Previously all of
the coax was suspended above physical ground.

The click seems to be gone.

Perhaps the gutters were receiving neighborhood
clicks and rebroadcasting them into my coax.

Hmmm...30 MHz gutters...Maybe I'll work some
10 meters.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

Lumpy wrote:
. . .
Station is "backyard remote", battery powered,
asymmetrical wire dipole.

I found some recordings of electric blanket
noise via k0bg's site. It sounds very much
like those recordings. Both of the elec blankets
in my home are off and unplugged. Neighbor elec
blankets? They would be probably 100' away from
the closest point to my antenna.
. . .

If you're using an asymmetrical dipole, the feedline is very likely a
part of the antenna. So the source of the noise or the conductor which
is radiating it might be closer to the antenna than you think.

Roy Lewallen, W7EL

Roy Lewallen wrote:
If you're using an asymmetrical dipole,
the feedline is very likely a
part of the antenna. So the source
of the noise or the conductor which
is radiating it might be closer
to the antenna than you think.

I use a balun to hopefully decouple.
I got a little reduced click when I
brought the coax to physical ground
at the base of the mast, instead of
letting it run across the roof.

Today I experimented more. Seems the
click wants to appear when I get one
leg of the dipole within about 15 ft
of my phone/cable digital box on the
side of the house.

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

Lumpy wrote:
Any guesses as to the origin of the mystery
noise bugging me this morning would be apprec.

I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.

S9+ stations seem to override the click.
S7 stations don't override, the click
comes right through and clobbers reception.

Station is "backyard remote", battery powered,
asymmetrical wire dipole.

I found some recordings of electric blanket
noise via k0bg's site. It sounds very much
like those recordings. Both of the elec blankets
in my home are off and unplugged. Neighbor elec
blankets? They would be probably 100' away from
the closest point to my antenna.

Noise just started this morning. No new elec
or mechanical devices running at my home.
Turned off the A/C, fans, elec fence, light
dimmers, pool filter etc. Three computers
run inside the house, as they have for
years.


Anyone have a guess at this 1 Hz click noise?
TIA -

Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com

Everyone seems to assume this is local RFI - but I've heard something
very like this recently - in the UK (I guess you're in US?). It's not
electric fences or heating igniters - I am pretty familiar with what
they sound like ....

I can't remember the exact time or frequency, but 20m is probable. I
clearly remember that it wasn't on other bands, and it was in groups of
1Hz pulses, with quiet spells.

My guess is it could be some sort of OTH radar. I often hear OTHR pulses
in the UK, but at a higher PRF. These are usually assumed to originate
from the Cyprus or Middle East area.

John

Lumpy wrote:
Jeff wrote:
I'm hearing an S9 "click" at just about
once per second, everywhere on 20meters
where there's not a powerful station's
signal. It clicks for maybe 3-5 seconds
then stops for a few seconds. Not always
symmetrical (3 sec noise ~ 10 sec no noise).

Click sounds like what I'd imagine a charging
and regularly discharging capacitor might do.

Freq independant, it's everywhere on the 20m phone segment.

Jeff:
Do you live on the country side? Could it be a farmer's electric
fence? If not that how about the ignition system on a gas central
heating system

We live on a small suburban ranch. We have elec
fences as do some neighbors. Ours is off for testing.
I'm not sure what a furnace is. It's 100 degrees this week
(unseasonably low) in Phoenix..;-)

After sniffing around with the MFJ, and finding
my rain gutters seem to be resonating at about 30Mhz
I moved my dipole a bit so that the coax doesn't
cross the gutters. Now the coax goes from top of
mast to ground, and gets buried under about an
inch of sand on our beach. Previously all of
the coax was suspended above physical ground.

The click seems to be gone.

Perhaps the gutters were receiving neighborhood
clicks and rebroadcasting them into my coax.

Hmmm...30 MHz gutters...Maybe I'll work some
10 meters.


Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke

www.n0eq.com


Sometimes two pieces of metal tapping together in the wind can cause
it.
I had put up a slopper for 20 meter coming of the top of my 50ft
tower. When I put up the antenna I used a short piece of wire from the
top of the tower to an insulator then connected the end of the antenna
to the insulator leaving about a foot or so of the antenna sticking
out of the insulator for prunning.
Well, thats as far as I ever got with the sloper, as a matter of fact
I put ham radio aside for quiet a while but I still enjoyed listening
for BCB dx once in a while. I begin to notice that sometimes I would
start hearing clicks while listening to AM and it turned out the noise
was caused by the tail I left on the 20M antenna that was hitting the
tower.

Jimmie