Detect transformer leakage with HF AM antenna airspy HF
- Thread starter hruskacha
- Start date
Don't know if it has a special name but I have used this low cost hack to help find the source of RFI on the HF bands. All you need is a portable AM radio with the some what directional ferrite antenna the AM radio will have inside. Tune it to a blanks space on the AM band so you only have white noise then start moving around and turning the radio 90 degrees. The built in antenna will have the max gain when broadside to the source of RFI so you should be able to get a fix on the problem area.
Here's one detector: https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Technology/PLN/Ultrasonic_Pinpointer.pdf
It a fairly easy procedure. I have a small, CC Crane pocket AM/FM shortwave radio that I use for hunt down stray RF noise. I tune it to an unused frequency in AM mode (I like the using a spot in the 20M band) and go for a walk. With the telescopic antenna collapsed, it's almost like using a metal detector. I can move it along building walls and find rough locations where power cables with RF noise on them reside. With the antenna extended, I can roam the neighborhood a spot problems as I approach power poles, bad transformers, poor electrical connections, etc.
Sorry about that folks. That post was riddled with poor typing, grammatical errors, etc.
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