Kind of OT , Help with noise pollution

T

TheExtractor

New Member
Update, it is the power lines 150? yards away..... any fixes?

Hi all, I am having an issue with noise pollution at my house. I live at 8500 feet in a 210 sq ft cabin with fairly far away neighbors and at night when I am trying to go to bed I am hearing a constant low frequency bum bum bum bum kind of a v8 pickup idling in my driveway.
It seems to be reverbing / resonating in my cabin because it dies down a bit when I step outside.
This is seriously causing me sleep problems. Any help is appreciated.
Something to locate it?
Some way to record it?
A noise canceling unit of some sort?

Thank you! -A
 
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Sounds like you have a secret military base close by. Maybe underground transformers used to power a super generator of some sort?

Try blasting white noise through a stereo. That should cancel out the other noise however if your also feeling a bit of a rumble, im not to sure how to stop that.
 
As a first step you could try contacting the power company. The transformer may need to be serviced/replaced.

All they can say is no and you have lost the time of a call or two. Basically you are complaining about noise emanating from the power lines.

Good Luck.
 
I don't know why you only hear it at night, maybe because you settle down and everything is off.

Turn the TV on and start leaving it on all night, I do that and now it's like I need it to go to sleep.
 
Go to your driveway, listen very intently, then shut your truck off. It’s only burning gas anyway. Just kidding, sounds like a power problem to me
 
Have you eliminated all possible sources inside your house? Refrigerator, air conditioner, dehumidifier in the basement, anything else that might be on? Heck, shut off your main power switch and see if you still hear it. If so, you've eliminated all the possible inside sources.
 
WaynerN said:
I believe the US Navy uses very low frequency codes that actually travel thru the earth, to communicate with the fleets.I have heard of stories of this anyway, and that some people can hear it. I actually think I have heard it as well (at night).

The reason it is easier to hear at night is because most people, machines and weather quiet down in the evening/dark hours.
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Could be. Like most phenomena, it's probably multi-causal: sometimes military gadgets, sometimes fish, sometimes seismic activity, sometimes industrial activity, sometimes tinnitus, sometimes imagination, sometimes appliances, sometimes wind down the chimney or wasps in the attic, etc. Sometimes it's probably more than one at the same time.
 
Good db meters are cheap ($23-$55), and you can take cell phone video of the meter readings while the noise is going on to document. There are freebie cell phone db meters.

Does opening windows reduce the sound?
 
I have a feeling that this noise is so faint (even though perfectly hear-able) that the average db meter won't pick it out.

The Navy system is called ELF, Extremely Low Frequency. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_low_frequency Wiki says the ELF frequencies are generally defined as 3-3000 Hz. Who knows what the military actually uses. Thing is, how does it get converted from RF to sound? It would have to be rectified. But this is possible - same effect as hearing a radio station in your tooth filling, or from your speakers when the entire system is powered off.

I suspect the power lines though.
 
I'd suspect spontaneous otoacoustic emissions - in other words, it's all in your head ...

Only "cure" there would be some sort of environmental masking device that creates white noise to cancel the offending sounds. I've got an older Marsona that I used when living in the big city, and it still comes in handy every now and then when I'm really tired and easily irritated by any background noise. Most will have settings for rain, waterfalls, waves, and mine even does crickets and seagulls if you're into that sort of thing. Mine is hooked up to an old computer sound system with sub woofer and four speakers that gives great surround and does a real convincing job of creating surf, reminding me of the good ol' daze living on the beach.
 
I was in a shop onetime that had a problem with there massive air compressor. Seems that it was anchored to a concrete slab that was poured on bedrock. A house over a half mile away was built on the same bedrock and would vibrate intensely every time the compressor was cycled. At great expense the compressor was moved to a new foundation.
Currently I have a customer that does drop forging with massive steam hammers. When I sign in at the gate I know when one of them is running as I can feel the ground heave beneath my feet. The closest homes are a bit over a 1/4 mile away. They cannot run them at night.
When ever I get to that customer and the steam hammers are running I always stop in the forge shop to watch for a bit. It still boggles my mind to see a 10 ton block of steel (hammer) on a steam cylinder rod bouncing up and down like a basket ball being dribbled as it idles and the deafening "BANG" as it hammers on the work piece when the operator pulls on the long lever.
Last time I was there they were just finishing up the installation of one that is over 3 times the size of this one. It sits over a pit 60 foot deep, anchored to a massive concrete block that sits on 36 huge coil springs.
All of the old timers can barely hear anymore but they are chomping at the bit to run this thing. As one of them told me, where else can you play with a big steam powered hammer and lots of fire. There are huge furnaces to heat up the large slugs of steel to be hammered into shape.
And yes, I always put ear plugs in first before entering the building.

BillWojo
 
Sounds like you need to ground your system. You could also have a faulty ground on your electrical service feeding your residence. It also might be a simple as a bad circuit breaker, too. A bad connection on a power transformer could be your issue, too.
 
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