[600MRG] 2200M Denial!

[John Andrews]

Mike,

I'm not so sure. The deployment of Smart Grid stuff in Worcester has 
involved higher frequencies, and I have not seen any add-ons to the line 
transformers on poles indicating that they are trying to couple 
residential circuits back to the distribution network.

The real reason for this became clear yesterday, when I called up a 
mapping program and followed the distribution lines around town. I 
didn't realize that some lines running beside RR tracks in the woods 
behind my house were part of a fairly main trunk running from Worcester 
through Holden to West Boylston. I identified two subs - one in 
Worcester, maybe 5 miles away, and one in Holden, less than 2 miles 
away. I'm certain that this is the target distribution.

The catch is that there have never been any audible/visible signals in 
the 2200 meter band that I would correlate with a PLC. My present guess 
is that they're not in-band at all, but within a guard band which must 
account for receiver BW in their system. So I will be looking over a 
wider chunk of spectrum when I get back to MA at the end of this month.

It's possible that they have set their guard band a little wide, in 
which case I might have an argument for why my years of operation so 
near to their lines caused no problem. Just a guess right now...time 
will tell.

John, W1TAG

On 10/20/2017 8:26 AM, michael polia wrote:
> John,
> 
> Your Holden QTH is with 1 Km of Worcester, which operates a smart grid 
> (courtesy of National Grid).  I suspect that's the reason for the denial.
> 
> 73
> Mike
> AB1AW
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* John Andrews <w1tag at charter.net>
> *To:* Dexter McIntyre W4DEX <dexter.mc at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* "600mrg at w7ekb.com" <600mrg at w7ekb.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, October 18, 2017 1:58 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [600MRG] 2200M Denial!
> 
> Dex,
> 
> When we get back to Massachusetts full-time at the end of this month, I
> will be doing some research. There's no substation really nearby, but
> I'll do some driving around. I also plan to do a little camping in the
> woods near the <1km lines to see what I can hear/see with an SDR and a
> laptop. That'll be lighter than carrying the old Rycom meter around!
> 
> I don't intend to raise any questions with UTC right away. Need to get
> better educated first.
> 
> John, W1TAG
> 
> On 10/18/2017 1:27 PM, Dexter McIntyre W4DEX wrote:
>  >
>  >
>  > On Mon, Oct 16, 2017 at 6:40 PM, John Andrews <w1tag at charter.net 
> <mailto:w1tag at charter.net>
>  > <mailto:w1tag at charter.net <mailto:w1tag at charter.net>>> wrote:
> 
>  >
>  >    Interesting. UTC has denied my operation on 2200M from my Holden, MA
>  >    QTH.
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > John,
>  >
>  > That's like "a black fly in your Chardonnay".  Ironic that you, of all
>  > people, would be denied 2200 meters after all the years operating the
>  > band.   Hopefully you'll find a way around this restriction.
>  >
>  > For the past few years every time I spotted a power substation I would
>  > look for evidence of a PCL line trap.  So far I've not found one.  There
>  > are lots of pictures online of these coils.
>  >
>  > 
> https://www.google.com/search?q=plc+line+traps&safe=active&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOw-my1vrWAhUBdCYKHQtqAmYQ_AUICygC&biw=1440&bih=790
>  >
>  > It looks like most are in a readily visible location.  There is a 100KV
>  > line a few hundred feet from my home that links two substations.  I'm
>  > about in the middle with each substation about 3 miles away.  No
>  > indication of a line traps at either.  I assume there are many more
>  > substations in your area so not likely you would find the one with PLC
>  > equipment.   I wonder if anyone has seen any indication of this old
>  > technology in use.
>  >
>  > Dex
> 
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