Not Ham Friendly Electronics

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Chronic

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Nov 7, 2004
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I have a Outdoor Wireless Camera (Sricam) that makes terrible noise on the Lower HF bands to the tune of s9 .

I also have a android TV box MXQ that also creates lots of noise on 40 and 80- meters , this seems to be radiating from the HDMI cable.

Has anyone else had experience with noisy non ham friendly electronics . It would be cool to create a list to help others make educated decisions on what not to buy as far as noisy devices .
Post them here .
 

bharvey2

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This is a fairly common problem. I've got a boat load of snap on ferrite beads on the many cables around the shack to reduce RFI. They do help in reducing some of the noise.
 

jwt873

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I've got a sine wave uninterpretable power supply that puts birdies on 6 and 10 meters. I can shut it down, but it involves powering down about half a dozen devices. So I live with it :)
 

com501

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My house has the same problem. Damn near everything with a wall-wart exhibits this issue, and yes, my eco-friendly CFL and LED lights are NOT RF friendly.

I am slowly converting my house to direct current for most everything, and when I work HF, I power down a LOT of stuff.

We should have a thread about this problem, as it is now significantly affecting commercial radio systems also.
 

SCPD

QRT
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Virginia
Chronic, probably a list of the items that don't cause interference would better- certainly it would be a lot shorter.
It would be a daunting task to assemble- and especially maintain, since it would be ever changing at mind numbing speeds. The only consolation is that you aren't alone.
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It's an issue that can be managed, on an individual level- as everyone here knows- going around the house and unplugging/shielding/bypassing/replacing etc. the myriad of offend'rs- but what can de done about your neighbors is something else. I liken it to the "Revenge of the TVI'ed." Recall the TVI of years past? Anyone who operated 6 metre's in the bygone analogue television days of Channel 2 knows of what I speak.... Today the shoe is on the other foot..... :)
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My house in New Mexico is in Geek Central- my neighbors surround me with all their EMI- generating gadgets so much so that HF and some VHF radio is all but impossible. If I want to play ham I have to go back home to Colorado.
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Over the years I have replaced dimmer switch's, LED clocks, switching power supplies... geeez, the list goes on and on. But my neighbors just get noisier.... I haven't totally given over, but I do have other replacement interests.
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Aside from the always-a-pain dimmer switch's and the switching AC power suppies- I first really noticed this as a growing problem when we start'd to use the CFL light bulbs at work. They chopped up everything RF sensitive. It was shortly there after I noticed the warning labels on their boxes about not using them in RF receiver sensitive environments. So much for energy efficiency and saving the planet- we junk'd the lot of them.**
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So much for free associating my thoughts on this- I have no answers... maybe take up oil painting? :)
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Of all the EMI interferences, though, the one that really gets to me is the trash that comes from power lines. This I do seriously think has gotten worse over the years. If it isn't the low frequency signals over them, its the leaky insulators. I recently went with a friend to look at houses on the market. She found what she thought was the perfect one, except for the pylons in the back field. We walked beneath them and could hear the insulators crackling--- her search continues.
Meanwhile I quietly curse the cr*p that wipes out my ability to listen to KOB (KKOB) AM radio out of Albuquerque as I drive.
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Ah, well
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................................CF
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** Personally I remain a incandescent fan- I bought up a plus-plus life time of 100 watt bulbs before their ban. In the mountains where the nights are never warm, the heat they throw off is never wasted- and they can be dimm'd down like no LED, to a soft oil lamp's like glow.
 

majoco

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I have found that a lot of the noise comes from the el-cheapo switch mode power supplies that are shipped with nearly every device now, as it means the manufacturer doesn't have to make different varieties of his product to suit the mains power voltages around the world.

One thing I have noticed - I have to bring an AM BC band radio to within a couple of feet from my CFL lights before the interference gets intolerable - I think that because my power is 240v that the oscillator is not running so hard as it does from 117v.

Hunt around the op shops for heavy wall-warts - they will have a proper transformer and hopefully a voltage regulator - this will not radiate any interference - also ferrite snap-on chokes on HDMI cables kills quite a bit of noise. I live alone so I don't have the problem of others watching TV etc while I'm on the radios - selfish I know! My noisiest thing now is the washing machine motor controller, the cure is obvious.... :)

CF...
and they can be dimm'd down like no LED, to a soft oil lamp's like glow.

...what a romantic you are, sitting round the roaring fire, reading poetry and drinking mulled wine....... :wink:
 
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KC4RAF

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CF posted " ** Personally I remain a incandescent fan- I bought up a plus-plus life time of 100 watt bulbs before their ban. In the mountains where the nights are never warm, the heat they throw off is never wasted- and they can be dimm'd down like no LED, to a soft oil lamp's like glow."
A romantic she is! lol

I remember many winter nights up north, with something like 10 watt incandescent bulb in an old lamp trying to log in far away AM broadcast stations.
I have found some of the newer style switching power supplies to be less noisy as the older models were.

The old ones were so dag gone bad, I had to turn them off in order to listen to some HF frequencies. I think the manufacturers are trying to correct this now, as I said, some of the newer ones are ok.

(Oh, and btw, even those 10 watt bulbs do a half way descent job of warming your hands on cold winter nights!)
 

lmrtek

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EVERYTHING that has a microprocessor makes rf interference somewhere

I've seen air conditioners, refrigerators, washers and dryers that create interference as well
 

SCPD

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Virginia
Smiles Majoco and KC4......... ;)
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I was probably a bit unfair to the CFL's- the ones we got rid of were the very first production line bulbs- and they did improve vastly over the years. Not enuff for my tastes- I have found fault with them since the beginning.
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Fortunately the CFL's are disappearing...LED's are the future.
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BTW, I once read an article by this fellow who disassemble'd a CFL, and using its electronics, made a small QRP transmitter. They have quite a powerful little RF module in there.
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Mulled wine?... :) hardly...right out of the bottle stuff... (smiles)...
... but that is a 25 watt bulb in an antique Sun Oil lamp I rewired---> it dim's down to candle power.
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................................CF
 

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AK9R

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What you are trying to tell us is that with a bottle of inexpensive red wine and an incandescent light bulb, you're set for the night? ;)
 

zz0468

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** Personally I remain a incandescent fan- I bought up a plus-plus life time of 100 watt bulbs before their ban. In the mountains where the nights are never warm, the heat they throw off is never wasted- and they can be dimm'd down like no LED, to a soft oil lamp's like glow.

Yep. I bought a case of 5000 hour traffic signal bulbs. It'll be a looooong time before they burn out!

Mulled wine?... hardly...right out of the bottle stuff...

You know, there's a right way, and a wrong way to drink inexpensive wines. With a red wine, you serve at room temperature, and hold the glass by the bowl. White wines are served chilled, and one holds the glass by the stem.

Then there's MY way... Get a firm grip on the bottle, so it doesn't slip out of the paper bag.
 

WPXS472

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The supposed energy efficiency of CFLs is a big lie. They have a terrible power factor, and you pay for apparent power. They don't last all that well either. I am not a fan of LEDs either, for the same reason. I only have one LED lamp in my house. Everything emits RF these days. I live in a rural area and my noise floor his risen over the years. I greatly admire cellsite receivers because they can pull the weak signals from our cellphones out of the many noises up there. I once dreamed of being a cellsite tech. Kind of glad now that never worked out. DOCSIS 3.1 has caused me enough grief.
 

k9wkj

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where they make the cheese
twice i have had near misses with CFL
first time one fried itself smoking up the room
the second time one actually got the plastic burning

wont have them in the house
 

WPXS472

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Heflin, AL
Quote: twice i have had near misses with CFL
first time one fried itself smoking up the room
the second time one actually got the plastic burning

wont have them in the house


They shouldn't do things like that if they are UL listed, and they should be. It is difficult to sell anything electrical without UL listing these days. Based on my one actual experience with those folks, I don't think it means much though.
 

SCPD

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Virginia
Hi ZZ

I share that same appreciation for the little Johnson... it is a remarkably tough radio- well constructed from a bygone era of discrete components and handwired chassis's. Except for its changed Type acceptances, it still comports to all the current standards.
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( I politely informed this radio before its retirement-- "its not your fault, Old Friend, times have just changed.")**
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I will hold on to it; we have a remote, old mining claim with a cabin... Its right at timberline, and a favorite get-a-away for family and friends. Up there there is nothing... no AC power, no 'cel's, no ham repeaters, barely AM radio- Green Bank Observatory is metropolitan NYC compared to it. Handhelds on HP can talk back to the ranch -usually-. Now I have a new mission for the 6060.
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I seriously doubt any Radio Inspector is going to drive up there and want to check its Part Certification sticker..... :)
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Yes, a nice thing about the 6060 is how it can be Mod'd. I wasn't aware of the Duplex modification, but I did know it could be turned into quite a nice 440 repeater. But it is a dinosaur- especially as the price of crystals, if you can find a supplier- make that cost prohibitive. I think mine will be quite happy, up on its mountainside... :)
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Revisiting my comments about the volunteer rescue'rs use of the inexpensive radios made me give me pause to rethink my responses. I tend to be quite dogmatic (some would say I'm more of a doctrinaire :) )
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Yesterday while driving back from a work site, I stopped for lunch in a small mountain towne (Population maybe 100.) I could not help seeing the little fire station (the antennas always attract me) and after eating, I walked over. The single bay door was open and I called out if anyone was inside. No answer. Then I noticed two guys checking out my government Blazer with its lights and antennas- seems like among like-minded folks, light bars and antennas are an attention magnet.
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They were volunteer firemen of that station, and after I show'd them the toys in my vehicle, they gave me a tour of their fire station.. small as it was. I was impressed with the professional, orderly appearance--- and yes, they had proper radios and a license displayed over the base station (I think they may have feared *I* was a radio inspector-- Heaven Forbid!) They told me things about the fire service that I knew nothing about- their training as volunteers, the mutual aid they lend other stations, the financial support they receive from the state and county.... neat stuff.
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I left feeling there is quite a difference between different senarios. My friend the Mayor and her towne of part time residents with what others may consider haphazard emergency services v.s a small towne's of substance, the cities..... - All I could come up with is that this is the West, and what fits one place doesn't in another. But there are no Hicks- its taken seriously everywhere- there is just a lot of space between settled areas, and lot of independent minds in between. And it all works.
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...................................CF
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(Photo is the cirque of the mine mention'd above... daring any RF signal's exit....;) )
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** I must say that I am very pleased with the Vertex that replaced it (my previous posts.) It was super simple to program and cost in the same price range as any good ham counterpart.
 

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