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11M Bandpass Filter

slowmover

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Putting together a Slip Seater Box so that I only need to run Power and extend the Coax in the next big truck versus 2-3 days taken to make an install.

Here’s the well-traveled MORGAN 411CB atop a Galaxy DX-959B inside a TAC COMM TRC 2.
D6307F55-1112-4E6B-9647-8BABA942F069.jpeg
 

slowmover

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IMG_2938.jpeg

With the BPF mounted in the case behind the tuner.

Prior to purchase of an integrated NRC radio this setup (with DSP speaker) was tops in mobile in my experience.

Take the BPF in/out, the change was notable.

“Notable” in that I prefer to run gear wide open (max RF Gain & no SQ). Warnings can be faint and distant with vehicles rapidly receding away into the distance.

“Faintest signal capture while mobile”,
affects my welfare: maximize income potential while keeping injury/death risk lower.

Mobile antenna on a plastic fleet tractor is sort of ongoing, but most hard limits (location & height & design) are hit early.

BPF & Tuner are above & beyond what I figure most operators desire in expense and install problems.

This radio carrier rides on the passenger seat.

With carrier into which to mount all the gear it’s over $500 past the radio itself. Then additional cabling, etc.

But , by itself, the 411cb isn’t large and adds but one jumper past the radio.

The smarter mobile operators insist on a rooftop permanent mount antenna for their personal vehicle. Where the BPF then does become more of an iffy expense.

Use your mobile rig “as is” for significant hours in mobile would be the test. Day, night, Skip, etc. Know what to expect as conditions change (know what those are via experience).

It’s not a “fix”, in this use. It’s a marginal gain.

— If faintest CB Radio signal capture running wide open — or close to it — is desirable all day, I vote in its favor as experiment (after an NRC radio acquired or outboard DSP device installed) the idea being to reduce the workload on the receiver. Do all else in performance maximization first.

— Passing, or being passed by other vehicles with hellacious RFI is part of this (and where the new integrated NRC radios really shine).

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slowmover

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There are times when the DC power picks up noise.

Big trucks can pick up quite a bit of noise. As a BPF is something of an “out there” purchase, first be sure that voltage remains xtra-high at DK, and that the harness isn’t picking up noise on its own and has been addressed if it does.


The power harness is much the simplest to make bomb-proof in all that matters versus the complete antenna system.

Use overkill thinking and get it out of the way.

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slowmover

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Qualitative change in using a BPF as apparent with digital radio (Q5/QT60) as with older style thru-hole.

Where, maximum signal acquisition is desirable.

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slowmover

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Context of adding a low pass filter is that this isn’t that much more expensive. And, it’s better.

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K6GBW

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The band pass filter was really needed in the 60's and 70's when television had VHF low frequencies in the 50-70 MHz range. When I was a kid we had a neighbor that used CB and ran an amp. He would show up loud and clear on several channels. The neighborhood folks talked to him and he installed a band pass and the problem was solved. Today, television doesn't use frequencies that low and most television is piped to users via cable or internet. So the use case for a band pass filter has pretty much died off. Trying to make an AM radio quiet is going to be a challenge. You can installed common mode chokes to stop RF on the coax braid but that's about it. AM is always going to pick up more hash and trash and FM or SSB. The more effective and efficient the antenna the more noise you're going to get.
 

slowmover

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“ . . AM is always going to pick up more hash and trash than FM or SSB. The more efficient the antenna, the more noise you're going to get”.


As before:

Yes, why a BPF works well in mobile is due to increased radio system sensitivity. The better that system, the more noticeable is the effect. Mobile has challenges unique.

My experience is that it’s worthwhile. This comes across to others as greater silence around one’s voice in TX. In RX it’s a help with extraneous noise as we find in metro vs rural.

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