Odd question

mustangmike6996

Club Member
So I took my dog out late last night in the back yard and I walked by a power line pole in my yard and heard a noise. Its hard to describe but it almost sounded like a slight cracking/crackling coming from the pole itself. Not the static noise from the lines or transformer. I put my ear to the pole and you can hear it, not coming from anything in the surrounding area. It sound like a mix of wood cracking and static discharging (if that makes sense), its hard to describe and its faint.

Its not a noise that I have heard before but last night was dead silent so it was easy to pick up on.

I am going to try and listen for it again tonight if I can.

Any idea on the noise? All my Googling has only lead me to the power line/electric noises.
 
Power lines do that, especially if there is moisture in the air. The ones behind my house make that noise if it's damp, humid, and or/raining.
 
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Powerlines do that, especially if there is moisture in the air. The ones behind my house make that noise if it's damp, humid, and or/raining.

x2 on that. High voltage lines can be really noisy, especially when it's hotter outside.
 
Ive heard the lines make the static popping noise before this is different.

You can only hear it at the pole, it doesn't sound like the lines are making any noise at all, but with an ear to the pole its more defined. There are 2 WOW cable lines that run down the pole for underground, Im wondering if its picking up the noise and resonating.
 
If is coming from the pole it's don't screw with it, call the power company and have them check it out. Could be stray voltage coming from a bad ground, bad insulator or bad transformer. I work for Consumers, best not to go near it as the ground potential could be different around the pole. Don't get electrocuted.
 
Do you have a picture of the crap at the top of the pole?

No, nothing fancy, standard transformer, phone, cable and telephone wires

If is coming from the pole it's don't screw with it, call the power company and have them check it out. Could be stray voltage coming from a bad ground, bad insulator or bad transformer. I work for Consumers, best not to go near it as the ground potential could be different around the pole. Don't get electrocuted.

That is sort of what my thought was. I don't know if/how a telephone pole can carry current to the ground (being wood) but I guess if there is enough current its probable.
 
It might be a mains hum, which would be 60 cycles, well within the range of human hearing.
 
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