Humming Noise

[Reidy]

Im not very good on distances about 300 yards away.

 

[ChrisR]

You have all completely lost me now!

??
OP = Original Poster = you
EC = Emergenc control = gas shutoff by the meter.

DId you try the phone..?

Can you hear the noise in the loft?

Have you turned off everything in your neighbour's house - gas water electricity?
"nothing on that wall" won't do. You'd never think of everything. It ccould well be his loft tank, or an aerial amplifier transformer in his loft, etc etc.
Sorry if you've already answered those.
I just read through - I'd press the neighbour. Maybe go round with a pre-emptive peace offering!

If I had to bet, I'd say it's his loft cistern. Get him to run taps and see if it stops, if he's reluctant or it's difficult to turn off his water.

 

[Reidy]

Tried the phone, turned emergency gas off, neighbour has loft conversion no emersion heater, no other neighbours have this problem. Waiting for EHO again at mo. What is weird is that the noise is louder between 2am - 4am.

 

[Reidy]

Sorry just read through again, tired!! the technical stuff did lose me. Can't hear it in the loft or outside. Turned the water off outside our house which is the cut off point for the street. Neighbour not helpful hoping EHO will be able to get more joy there.

 

[picbits]

I have a server running 24/7 in my attic. When you are up there you can hardly hear it but when you are in the bedrooms, you can hear a quiet but steady throbbing humming noise coming through the ceilings.

It used to annoy me but now I find its reassuring waking up and hearing it - it means everything is still working.

Just shows how a small amount of vibration can carry though the whole floor of a 4 bed detached house though.

 

[Softus]

Would you mind turning it off?! It's driving Reidy insane!

 

[Reidy]

Water Company been out checked pipes, no leaks, no pumps, no generators with relation to water supply. On a positive note they could hear the humming but offered no solution.

Waiting for waste water person to call as there is a sewer which runs down the middle of the road to the front of the house.

EHO's second visit awaited.

 

[Softus]

That implies to me that its not something that a normal person would either hear or be bothered by.

Its clear to me that you are over sensitive to something very minor and there is a medical name for that condition.

Water Company been out checked pipes, no leaks, no pumps, no generators with relation to water supply. On a positive note they could hear the humming but offered no solution.

Cue apology from Agile.

 

[Agile]

There is a difference to being able to hear something and being bothered by it.

I have no end of noise producing devices ( and neighbours ) but I am never bothered by them.

To me its part of living and the only noise I find mildly annoying is the young asians who drive with 100 watts of house music playing in their Ford Escorts with the spoiler on the back because I know the spoiler has no effect at all.

Tony

 

[Softus]

That implies to me that its not something that a normal person would either hear or be bothered by.

There is a difference to being able to hear something and being bothered by it.

According to you, on 13th October, there was no difference.

If you're going to backpedal like that, then you'll need one of these:

 

[daveaf]

You say your neighbour is not being helpful, this is going to be a problem because I reckon you are going to need to carry out all the checks you have done in your house in his house too!! Have you been allowed to enter his house and see if its audible in there?

I had a knackered central heating pump in my house a few years ago that used to rumble a bit. Eventually my neighbour came round and asked if I could sort it out. I went into their house and it sounded 3 times as bad as it did in mine.

Sound travels in funny ways.

 

[Axel]

If you can get the waveform of the hum onto a dual trace scope (via a mic), then it would be possible to see if it is in phase with 240v 50Hz, or a harmonic of this. That would provide a very good clue as to the nature of the source of this mysterious vibration.

Interference pattern between mobile phone masts?

Maybe it's just some effect of nature that the scientists have yet to define and categorise. It would be naive to imagine we have recently arrived at a point of technical advancement whereby we now finally understand everything around us!

 

[Agile]

Interference pattern between mobile phone masts?

Would you like to explain in technical terms what you mean?

 

[Axel]

I haven't worked out a precise scenario, but there are many masts using the same frequencies as long as they are a few cells apart, but if these frequencies are different by say, 57Hz, ( a trifle of a difference at 3GHz), then an interference field could occur in the form of two 3G microwave signals resonating in some metal or other material in the house that may be minutely affected by this electromagnetic radiation. A beat frequency may show up as miniscule vibration in above mentioned mediums.

I'm vague here as I'm creatively making it all up, but it is one of many viable possibilities...!

 

[Agile]

I haven't worked out a precise scenario, but there are many masts using the same frequencies as long as they are a few cells apart, but if these frequencies are different by say, 57Hz, ( a trifle of a difference at 3GHz), then an interference field could occur in the form of two 3G microwave signals resonating in some metal or other material in the house that may be minutely affected by this electromagnetic radiation. A beat frequency may show up as miniscule vibration in above mentioned mediums.

I'm vague here as I'm creatively making it all up, but it is one of many viable possibilities...!

For a start have you considered just how a cell site could maintain a frequency stability of even 57 Hz in 2 Ghz unless it utilised an atomic frequency standard?

Next the field strength! Thats typically 1mV/m in the main service area but far less outside the main service area in nearby cells. The service areas are well defined by the use of negative beam tilt.

Next just how do you imagine that two RF signals of far less than 1 mV/m could produce any audio signal? Dont forget that most audio amplifiers are 15 Watts per channel and not mW !

Close to high power transmitters like Droitwich ( 400 kW LF ) or SW stations ( 600 kW when paired and plus 12 dB antenna gain ) the field strength can be 20-30 V/m in nearby homes but this rarely causes any problems although metal cake tins have been known to quietly talk to each other!

Tony