Partial discharge localization for efficient radio spectrum management

The growth in recent years of radio services and the increasing use of digitally encoded broadcast services which, due to their high compression rates, are highly susceptible to impulsive type interference caused by power system related effects has placed pressure on the radio frequency spectrum. Consequently, the impact of electromagnetic interference caused by high voltage equipment such as partial discharges and breaker operation transients is becoming more of an issue. This paper describes a system for the location of discharge sources based on the reception of impulsive radio frequency interference radiated from the vicinity of the site. The authors discuss its application to the location of discharge sources close to a domestic residence situated under a 132 kV overhead line.