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Low frequency faint noise at night
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Home › Forums › General Forums › General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion › Low frequency faint noise at night
- This topic has 106 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 52 minutes ago by
Craig B.
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Aug 21, 2023 at 2:58 pm #3787258
When I camp where there’s no stream, ocean, or wind noise I hear this faint noise.
It fades in and out from second to second
I think there’s a lot of 60 hz
I assume it’s from industrial noise far away. Like 50 miles or more. All the higher frequencies are filtered out over that distance
Anyone else hear this?
I think it’s everywhere in continental U.S.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:01 pm #3787259If I was Ted kazinski i’de send letter bombs to industrial facilities.
Is that humor too much? Maybe I’ve crossed the line with that.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:12 pm #3787260Could it be a ringing in your ears?
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:15 pm #3787261Alien rectal implants use a 60 hz carrier wave for communication. Â You may want to see a doctor.
Did I cross the line with that?
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:20 pm #3787262That’s why I carry a grounding tarp.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:29 pm #3787265I hear it too Jerry. I have bad high frequency tinnitus and thought the low frequency noise was an artifact of that, but maybe not. It’s most apparent to me in remote, quiet places. I find it really annoying.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:57 pm #3787266Good. No one offended by my humor. Yet. Stimulated more humor…
Interesting thought about tinnitus. I will have to find a more quiet place to test that.
It’s not annoying at all. It just motivates me to figure out what it is.
I was just listening to In Three Sisters 50 miles from any city. I first noticed it in Ochoco Mountains about 20 miles from Prineville. I will have to assess whether it’s louder and higher frequency in the Ochocos.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:58 pm #3787267My home town had the “Windsor Hum” that was a big mystery for years, cause was a steel factory
Its probably not hearing damage related because tinnitus is almost always higher frequencies but if you want to rule that out, borrow noise canceling headset & try it somewhere that you hear the hum. If it goes away, its external, if not, internal.
Aug 21, 2023 at 3:58 pm #3787268I wouldn’t worry about it. Unless, of course, it’s low-frequency voices you’re hearing.
Aug 21, 2023 at 4:09 pm #3787271Low frequency voices telling me to send letter bombs to industrialists?
Looking at Oregon map, somewhere in far southeast Oregon is farther away from any city., maybe less noise.
Ted Kazinski said he sent letter bombs to industrialists because they were ruining nature. He mentioned a bird that started imitating the sound of car alarms. Thus, he tried to undo the damage by sending letter bombs. I was just thinking this low frequency noise was similar – there is nowhere in the U.S. where you can get away from it. At least that’s my theory. Unless it’s tinnitus…
Aug 21, 2023 at 4:34 pm #3787273Thus, he tried to undo the damage by sending letter bombs.
When you put it that way, he sounds like a Batman villain.
Aug 21, 2023 at 5:22 pm #3787275“Unless it’s tinnitus…”
Welcome to my world. Yeah, one often doesn’t notice it until it gets very quiet.
I’ve sent about a hundred letter bombs to various people over the years and that hasn’t cured my tinnitus. I finally asked my ENT and he said that tinnitus is very, very common in the population. One learns to ignore it in most situations. That’s why we’re surprised when , alone in silence, it becomes more apparent. Where did that come from? It’s there all along, but we’ve dialed it out. I’ve become very good at dialing it out when I’m alone working on my secret project to destroy civilization using technology adopted from an old Svea and several pounds of Kimchi.
Aug 21, 2023 at 5:31 pm #3787276So many things accumulate over the years and never go away: tinnitus, floaters, all kinds of chronic pain.
Anybody ever read the Larry Niven novel “Protector?” I am ready for the tree-of-life root.
Aug 21, 2023 at 5:49 pm #3787277Low frequency tinnitus happens.
Try the noise canceling headphones as David D suggested. It won’t help with tinnitus but it should clarify the internal/external question.
Aug 21, 2023 at 6:38 pm #3787295I have pretty bad tinnitus, but it’s never bothered me when camping. I sleep pretty hard when I’ve been hiking. I have heard a low frequency hum at night too. It was when I slept on the ground floor (in our house) when we lived in North Carolina. I think that was industrial, but I never did figure out what. It wasn’t tinnitus though.
Aug 21, 2023 at 9:49 pm #3787328@teran teran lol. that is the best nerd joke ever
I Also have heard it many places from CT to MN to CA and more. I assume it’s some industrial process. Low frequency sound can travel very far and I bet mountains or certain geological features can act like massive bass ports.
My best guess is mining, petroleum refining, or power generation equipment because I have heard the hum at all hours of the day
Aug 21, 2023 at 10:10 pm #3787329Sort of like Saul’s brother who had aluminum foil on all the walls to keep out whatever…
So you’ve heard the same thing too, I’m not crazy.
From ochoco mountain there are only central oregon cities like prineville and bend. I don’t think they have a lot of heavy industry. No petroleum. Probably some saw mills.
From three sisters is eugene. More manufacturing there.
Aug 22, 2023 at 12:25 am #3787331Could it be infrasonic from windmills?
Aug 22, 2023 at 12:34 am #3787332Aug 22, 2023 at 4:50 am #3787335Jerry, if I sleep in my tinfoil beanie, the noises (and voices) go away.
Aug 22, 2023 at 5:56 am #3787337Dyneemamo Hum? Frank Zappa.
Aug 22, 2023 at 8:07 am #3787339Steve, that is a good explanation in wikipedia. I knew someone would answer my question.
The jumping back and forth between humor and seriousness is making my head spin. Perfect :)
Aug 22, 2023 at 8:55 am #3787341Think of all the energy expelled in nature. The grass growing. The constant displacement of air and soil. Moisture levels in the ground effecting the imbalance of ions. The static from the wind. A huge accumulation of iron. A steel mill perhaps.  While ears block these sounds out, it would be too chaotic to process it all. We focus on what’s important at the time.
Perhaps you’re only hearing nature.
https://bigthink.com/hard-science/schumann-resonance-earths-heartbeat/
Aug 22, 2023 at 10:11 am #3787343I found audio of schumann wave
https://insighttimer.com/Shifternity/guided-meditations/deep-brown-noise-schumann-resonance-7-dot-83hz-theta-waves#:~:text=Deep%20Brown%20Noise%20%2D%20Schumann%20Resonance%207.83Hz%20(Theta%20Waves),-by%20Shifternity%20%2D%20Brainwave&text=It%20has%20a%20deep%20frequency,healthy%20sleep%2C%20and%20soothe%20headaches.
Nope, that’s not what I hear.
What I hear varies intensity over a period of about 1/2 second. More low frequency and less high frequency.
When I’m not trying to get a photo of the Andromeda Galaxy on my phone, I’ll have to try to record the low frequency faint noise
Aug 22, 2023 at 10:38 am #3787346Good luck with your recording Jerry. The lower limit of human hearing is about 20Hz, so few common recording devices are likely to be reliable down there.
We have a subduction zone a bit off the west coast. I doubt moving that much rock is silent, however taffy-like the subducting rock might be at those temperatures and pressures. I also doubt that the sound would present itself at the surface uniformly due to intervening geology. Points of resonance and focus would be likely for the low frequency, crustally modified sounds. So, one of the Earth’s low frequency “screams” may be an explanation.
An excuse to get a really good mic (and a recording oscilloscope app for your phone) and to go hiking in a lot of places world-wide to gather data.
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