Anyone in Martinborough area help ??

Anyone in the Martinborough surrounds help ???

We live on the western side of the Ruamahanga River.

Since the end of July we had been hearing a low frequency throbbing noise during the night. Its not waking us up but if we wake for some other reason its keeping us awake. As I have medical problems that often wake me during the night its starting to affect my health due to the lack of sleep.

At first we thought that it was some sort of frost protection on the eastern side of the river that wasnt working properly. However it can be heard on a warm night and during the day.

Its not any of the farms or milking sheds surrounding us - we sleep thru any noise they make.

The District Council are baffled as no body else has complained. We did go for a drive at 3am the other week. The noise can be heard in various spots on our side of the river but the stopbank seems to filter it in some places. We did a tour of the Marinborough Pirinoa Road area and it can be heard in some spots but not others...for instance halfway down Pukio East Road and on Dry River Road its quite clear but we cant pick exactly where its coming from.

None of our 5 immediate neighbours can hear it but their houses are all closer to the stopbank than ours. Its something new as we have been here for 5 years - and due to the throbbing low frequency its driving me nuts!

Another possibility is the wind farm in the area...thats about 13km in a line over the river from us.

I will check in here in a couple of days as I'm off to Wellington for some sleep (as long as there are no more eathquakes ). Anyone who has info and dosent want to post publicly can email me privatley.

My mil who lives in Panama St (M'borough) has often told us of waking in the night to hear a noise that is "like a helicopter" - she gets up and looks outside, opening the door even to hear the noise but she can't work it out. We (well I) had somewhat poo poohed the idea as she is quite deaf but maybe she is hearing something after all. No help to you (we are in behind the golfcourse and have heard nothing recently) but will certainly now keep our ears and eyes peeled.

ccrk9 .... that sounds exactly like tinnitus .... except I and one of my brothers (I found out a couple of months ago) have had it for ever. Darned annoying but much worse at night .....
An interesting article by some expert on the internet calls it "music of the brain" .... except mine's a high-pitched squeal except when it's a dull thumping which might be my ear artery .....

We need a low-frequency-throbbing-noise-during-the-night support group! I wondered for some time if I'd developed Tinnitis, but both of us in this house, at the same time, hearing the same noise? Unlikely. Ours is dairy shed related and still unresolved.

I also hear noise such as described, I have put it down to the transformer on the power pole about 200 metres down the road. I seem to be the only person nearby who is bothered by it. Doesn't wake me up, but can prevent me from falling asleep. The noise seems to come and go - load? Seasonal usage? Temperature? ?????
The wind machine from the nearby (1-1.5 miles) vineyard will wake me up when it turns on in a frost. This sounds a bit like a helicopter, but is very seasonal and doesn't happen at this time of year (soon though:().
13k's to the windfarm from your place is a stretch, but I think the European stats say 14k's. If the wind is blowing in the right direction it could be that. It is a very low level twhowking noise, and these instalations are being shut down overseas because of the human impact, health wise etc.
Hope you catch up on your sleep this weekend, nothing worse than being short on sleep.[]

I don't know if it wakes MIL up or whether she hears it when she wakes up to go to the loo. Must ask for more details.

Thanks everyone....I'm just back from Wellington early as the weather forecast is so bad - didnt want to travel in the wind on the hill! If more info come to light let me know. I was certain it was from the vineyards but it can be heard in warm weather so unless someone has a windmill thing thats really set up wrong its not that.Its not tinitus as both myself and DH hear it. Funnily enough another person we asked who said they hadnt heard it ran into DH while I was away and said she can hear it from a certain point on the farm she was working on but its not coming from that property....so the mystery continues.

Weird! My daughter and I hear a low-frequency thumping on still nights, that my DH and son cannot hear. Drives us both nuts, as you sort of tend to feel it more than hear it, and the brain can fixate on it late at night. I turn a fan on at night which drowns out the thump/hum, so as to get some sleep. Is there something similar you can do to drown out the sound, that also won't make you crazy?

Andrea
Oxford

Andrea, does it sound like something's jumped off the guttering? We get that in the flat in town--I've been hearing it for years, hubby's only heard it for the first time this year. He seems to think it might have something to do with the water pipes and air...

Diane

It is quite possible that what you descibe is the result of interference from windfarm generators. If there are a number of sources (like a row of generators) the noise will in some places be non-existent, in other places the amplitudes will overlap each other and the noise will be audible from a long distance. It's the physics of waves, works for water and light as well. That would very well explain why you can hear the noise in some places but not in others.

If you want to test the theory - try to find a reasonably straight road that goes parallel to the windfarm. Stop every 50m or so and check whether you can hear the noise. Plot your findings down - distance from starting point and intensity of noise. Such a graph could help you convince the power company that there is a problem. It could be quite easy to fix - the generators can be turned a little bit and no more overlapping or one may need to be lowered or something. Take note of the wind direction, too.

Another possibility is sound travelling in the soil. It is quite astonishing how far some noises can travel. We've had neighbours who had rhythmic drumming on all night and the whole house vibrates - just enough to hear and feel it when lying in bed trying to fall asleep. But there was nothing much to hear outside their house. Soil type and wetness of the soil change the conductivity.

do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do

... that is Sifi music (in case you couldn't tell)

Add some "h"s at the end, and you can be Homer Simpson, digby

Diane

Well it's really noisy tonight - the frost fighters are fighting away and have been for at least a couple of hours. Must be expecting a really decent frost to have the noise pumped up so early in the night.

do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do
doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh doh

/snort!/ And you'll be by when to clean my computer, Digby? Or should I say "Homer"? ROFL!

Diane