grow lights are not the only noise maker. believe me, I have a plethora of sources around my neighborhood. Firstly, the 12 Kv overhead power lines. THose things buzz 24/7 and are particularly loud on 80 and 160. That is not I can handle that with an MFJ-1025 noise cancellation unit. Its some of the others that I have difficulty with (like the plasma TV my neighbor has, or the Tivo unit out in the front room that throws spurs all over the spectrum from 14 Mhz all the way up into the 2 meter band. I need to make some recordings of all these types of noises and see what you all make of them.

DE n7zzt Eric

On Oct 15, 2015, at 10:38 AM, Martin McCormick wrote:

> 	I benge-read "QST's" and am all caught up including
> October.
> 
> 	By the way, there are numerous references in those issues
> to the blistering interference caused by non-type-excepted grow
> light balists. I think that is what is tearing up radio reception
> around here but I am not sure.
> 
> 	I started noticing it a couple of years ago while
> listening to Sporadic E television skip from Mexico and thought
> it was a switching power supply of mine until I unplugged it and
> the BZZZZ continued unchanged.
> 
> 	This trash is pretty solid between the high end of ten
> meters and roughly 70 MHZ. It is as if you had a 130-volt power
> sub station in your back yard or had welders continuously working
> right under the antenna.
> 
> 	It goes and goes for hours then abruptly quits in both
> Winter and Summer, day and night. It doesn't seem to follow any
> particular pattern except a general one of being more common on
> work days. I have heard it on for as few as 4 or 5 minutes but
> normally, it is buzzing and crackling 24/7.
> 
> 	The "QST" articles said that some of the dodgy balists
> emit 50 DB more noise than they should and a single one can be
> heard for over half a mile.
> 
> 	Our house is two blocks South of the university campus
> and the veterinary school is the closest large complex. I haven't
> gotten a fix on the megabuzz yet but lots of folks around here
> grow plants of both the legal and quite illegal variety. That
> buzzing sound could be somebody's brain on drugs and they finally
> shorted it out. I wish a thunder storm would hurry up and shorten
> it's life so one can hear actual radio signals again.
> 
> 	One of the articles I read said that when the light first
> comes on, there is a burbling sound as the fluorescent tube
> first ionizes. I hadn't heard that, but there is sometimes a
> brief burst of racket, maybe a fifth of a second of relative
> quiet and then we're off and running for who knows how long.
> 
> 	The article said that some of the grow lights in question
> are a kilowatt in power. I guess they could duplicate Marconi's
> transatlantic test and this time, the spark is contained in the
> glass tube.
> 
> Martin