modern and better replacement for Timewave DSP 9+ ?

[WA2SAY]

I see an ad for a Timewave DSP 9+, and having looked up some reviews, I find it has very good rejection
of random noise. But the design is 22 years old. Is there something that woks better, and if so, what,
and what does it cost. I have a very high noise level here and I need help!

Doug, WA2SAY

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

The Dsp 599zx of course.

 

[N0IU]

Or....

Buy a "modern" radio with built-in DSP! I had a Timewave DSP 59+ "back in the day" and it did a great job. But even as good as it was, I am much happier with the DSP on my "modern" Icom IC-7410.

The main limitation of any outboard DSP filter is that is doing its filtering at the audio stage of the process as opposed to filtering at the IF stage.

 

[ka3jjz]

Really Doug the correct approach is to find out the cause of your high noise level and address it, if you can. Throwing dollars at a problem in this manner is wasted money.

Have you done any digging to find the culprit? It can be real tough to isolate but if it saves you bucks, it's worth it - and you might learn something along the way

Mike

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Really Doug the correct approach is to find out the cause of your high noise level and address it, if you can. Throwing dollars at a problem in this manner is wasted money.

Have you done any digging to find the culprit? It can be real tough to isolate but if it saves you bucks, it's worth it - and you might learn something along the way

Mike

Thats true. Start with turning your own electrical breakers off. Probably some awful LED lighting in the neighborhood.

 

[bharvey2]

Thats true. Start with turning your own electrical breakers off. Probably some awful LED lighting in the neighborhood.

That's a very good recommendation. I have both standard, old 4ft fluorescent fixtures in my garage with core/coil ballasts. I've also got some LED spot lights and can switch between the two types depending upon the task at hand. When the LED lights are on, the noise floor is 3-4 S units higher on my HF radio than if the fluorescent lights are on. I suspect that there are really noisy switching power supplies built into the LED bulbs.

 

[WA2SAY]

You're quite right. Since LEDs are low voltage devices, there must always be a switching supply built
in to the bulbs. (A transformer and rectifier would be bulky and expensive.) Ferrite filters ought to be used,
but generally are not. If the wiring to the LED sights is available, you can put clamp-on filters on the wires
as near to the lamp as possible. I have replaced high-hat floods in a cathedral ceiling with LED floods, and they definitely spit out RFI. Fortunately, I don't need that room illuminated when I'm on the radio.
I also have a very nice LED high-intensity lamp, which I recommend because you don't burn yourself on it, but I wouldn't use it while listening to HF or AM radio.