Something for the conspiracy theorist to chew on.

[Mr Bean]

Anyone who hasn't read about my damned intermittent (six tow homes) engine problem can't be reading the posts. Anyway it all started on the roundabout over Letchworth J9 A1(M). As I pulled out onto the roundabout just under the very low High tension transmission lines my van cut out so I rolled it back to a slightly less hazardous place and calle my mate for tow home number one. It has stopped a couple of times there since - more tow homes. While I was waitinga saloon car pulled onto the roundabout then suddenly went slow and crept round with a line of honking vehicles behid him. Maybe his modern electronics simply switched to safe mode duringthat event. Meanwhile my mate turned up and we set to work connecting his solid tow bar. While lying on the ground I was unable to connect the bar to my van as I was receiving severe electric shocks on a continuous basis. My mate never believed me but was similarly afflicted when he tried it. We managed it eventually using a jumper and clothes for insulation then my tmultiple tow home saga began. On this particular ocassion I would definately go along with the many thousands of people who firmly believe that living under pylons has or will in some way blight their health. I have to wonder if my rather basic 1988 electronis#csa have in some way been zapped! Any comments?
Ken

[Titus A Duxass]

There is a huge electrical field surrounding the conductors that are strung up on pylons.
Honest John from the Daily Telegraph has quite a bit to say about them.

There is a chance when something is sitting in the field that the more sensitive items will be masked in a bank of noise. Usually this clears as soon as the vehicle clears the field.

Normally when something gets Zapped like you say, they tend to stay zapped and have no intermittent failures. You are more likely to have a dodgy earth somewhere.

[Mr Bean]

There is a huge electrical field surrounding the conductors that are strung up on pylons.
Honest John from the Daily Telegraph has quite a bit to say about them.

There is a chance when something is sitting in the field that the more sensitive items will be masked in a bank of noise. Usually this clears as soon as the vehicle clears the field.

Normally when something gets Zapped like you say, they tend to stay zapped and have no intermittent failures. You are more likely to have a dodgy earth somewhere.

I was hoping to get someone on about how their dog got ill and they tried to sue the power supply undertaking...
Cheers
Ken

[T25-GTi]

Hi, i had a similar situation with the car alarm on our car an 03 celica, was at my mums boyfriends house parked on the drive, locked the car, came back out and the car wouldn't unlock, took us half an hour continually pressing the button for it to unlock, so we thought the batterys in the key fob were maybe going, but everywhere i've parked since i've had absolutely no problem and this was now 9months ago withou changing the batteries, but since then, my mums car and her boyfriends brothers car have done the same when parked in the same place!? next to his house is an electric sub-station and we've concluded that theres possibly some sort of interference which has caused the car key fobs to stop working.

[umgum]

Hi, i had a similar situation with the car alarm on our car an 03 celica, was at my mums boyfriends house parked on the drive, locked the car, came back out and the car wouldn't unlock, took us half an hour continually pressing the button for it to unlock, so we thought the batterys in the key fob were maybe going, but everywhere i've parked since i've had absolutely no problem and this was now 9months ago withou changing the batteries, but since then, my mums car and her boyfriends brothers car have done the same when parked in the same place!? next to his house is an electric sub-station and we've concluded that theres possibly some sort of interference which has caused the car key fobs to stop working.

maybe i know if you put a plasma ball near anything that uses a remote control the remote will not function properly

[Mocki]

Hi, i had a similar situation with the car alarm on our car an 03 celica, was at my mums boyfriends house parked on the drive, locked the car, came back out and the car wouldn't unlock, took us half an hour continually pressing the button for it to unlock, so we thought the batterys in the key fob were maybe going, but everywhere i've parked since i've had absolutely no problem and this was now 9months ago withou changing the batteries, but since then, my mums car and her boyfriends brothers car have done the same when parked in the same place!? next to his house is an electric sub-station and we've concluded that theres possibly some sort of interference which has caused the car key fobs to stop working.

apsolutely nothing to do with electric substations!
It is because the radio transmitter in the keyfob is operating illegally in the UHF radio band, and somewhere there is a radio transmitting legally on the frequency your keyfob is using..... you will have to live with it......
or, use the key!!

[chuckle-bus-tom]

Are you all remembering to put a big red cross on the road like Mulder?

[T25-GTi]

apsolutely nothing to do with electric substations!
It is because the radio transmitter in the keyfob is operating illegally in the UHF radio band, and somewhere there is a radio transmitting legally on the frequency your keyfob is using..... you will have to live with it......
or, use the key!!

Ahh right!!

That explains it then, It wasn't a big deal just one of them strange situations that gets you speculating and the only thing we could think of was the sub station interfering.

I do now just lock the car with the key when we go there.

[DevonAid]

Just to re-light the conspiracy theory, I do remember there being several stories of 80's Vauxhalls conking out near radio tranmitter towers many years ago, being towed to a garage to find nothing wrong with them and no problem found. They'd start up and away they'd go.
Do power pylons transmit on the FM dial ?? Perhaps you need to wrap your electronics in Bacofoil or something.

[Mr Bean]

Just to re-light the conspiracy theory, I do remember there being several stories of 80's Vauxhalls conking out near radio tranmitter towers many years ago, being towed to a garage to find nothing wrong with them and no problem found. They'd start up and away they'd go.
Do power pylons transmit on the FM dial ?? Perhaps you need to wrap your electronics in Bacofoil or something.

In one of my other lives I am an RC model aircraft designer/builder. Some of my larger models enploy converted strimmer or even one 50cc chainsaw engine. These have to have their ignition components wrapped in copper foil and braiding so as not to upset the radio rception. However more interference comes when we fly too close to power cables where we suspect that the supply undertkings overlay high frequency signals onto the conductors for monitoring and remote signalling. Most producers of interference will bring your attention to the responsibility on the part of the product manufacterer to protect the product from such interferencein line with what used to be a British Standard but is now a European free for all (except we british of course)
Cheers
Grumpy old Ken

[Mocki]

more like the LF dial actually....... power-line RFI (radio frequency interference) is subject to certain myths which include interference to radio, television, and to other services throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. Several observed oscilloscope patterns from “sparking"| RFI show that there is no special and characteristic sound for power-line noise, contrary to a popular myth. This also shows that power-line RFI does not result from harmonics of the power-line frequency, a common myth.
however electromagnetic feilds around powerlines will be able to close or open reed switches and relays in unsheilded electronics, but vehicle electronics are sheilded, faraday cage and all that..........

[ashman]

[quote="ken simmonds"]Anyone who hasn't read about my damned intermittent (six tow homes) engine problem can't be reading the posts. Anyway it all started on the roundabout over Letchworth J9 A1(M). As I pulled out onto the roundabout just under the very low High tension transmission lines my van cut out so I rolled it back to a slightly less hazardous place and calle my mate for tow home number one. It has stopped a couple of times there since - more tow homes. While I was waitinga saloon car pulled onto the roundabout then suddenly went slow and crept round with a line of honking vehicles behid him. Maybe his modern electronics simply switched to safe mode duringthat event. Meanwhile my mate turned up and we set to work connecting his solid tow bar. While lying on the ground I was unable to connect the bar to my van as I was receiving severe electric shocks on a continuous basis. My mate never believed me but was similarly afflicted when he tried it. We managed it eventually using a jumper and clothes for insulation then my tmultiple tow home saga began. On this particular ocassion I would definately go along with the many thousands of people who firmly believe that living under pylons has or will in some way blight their health. I have to wonder if my rather basic 1988 electronis#csa have in some way been zapped! Any comments?
Ken
Whoever designed that bloody Letchworth junction probably had their head zapped by the same power lines - it's laughable!
Strangely though our daily Modus runabout has stopped there a couple of times and staggered out onto the roundabout, but then again it is a crappy new Renault!