I have been chasing down the RFI coming from my house. A touch lamp, a television, and a cable box have all been identified as sources of RFI in the house. The lamp has been replaced, and the television is going to be my next project, but for now I can turn it off when I am on the radio.
Yesterday, the cable company came out and replaced the cable box. The RFI in the house is now showing at S0-S1. Now I can finally enjoy some productive radio time.
If you're on 20 and lower frequencies, you'll never hear that low a noise level. Maybe if 20 is closed, the noise will drop that low, but I only see 40 that low between fronts in the winter. I never see 80 that quiet.
ReplyDeleteThe noise level readings were taken at 14.287 mHz. The lower frequencies are much higher, but I seldom spend any time in the 80 or 160 meter band.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had almost no contacts on 80 m until a few years ago. I prefer 17m and up. But on cool winter evenings, something in me calls me to turn on 40m CW. Maybe because my early days on the radio were in the winter in the 40m novice band?
ReplyDeleteSomewhere around the start of the last decade I got interested in completing 5BDXCC. I had only a handful of contacts on 80. I went through a lot of gyrations, but got my plaque about 3 years ago. Never had a linear, never had a big tower, monoband yagis or any of the big advantages. Just interest and persistence.
When a cold front is in the right place, you can hear the thunderstorms from hundreds of miles away at S9. A few hours of movement either way and the noise level drops from S9 down to S1 or 2.