SDS200 Garbled Audio...

[rbritton1201]

I don't know, but the cables seem to be more than adequate to me, they're new, they're supposedly shielded, and they're even over kill with respect to the cables connecting each of the respective scanners to the switch. Of course, I've expressed my skepticism over Amazon's product quality, and the validity of their reviews. But, the cables seem to be fairly decent if you can believe the reviews.

I did hear a slight hint of signal degradation today, but it was only on one transmission, after that it seemed to be fine. So, the signal degredation today may have merely been random interference that has nothing to do with the garbled noise I experienced before. I haven't messed with the filter settings to see if changing over from IFX to "Normal" or "None" would be beneficial in light of the cable positioning being changed at the switch. It's only been 24 hours, so I need to give it more time to see how things perform after messing with the cable connections at the switch.

Scanner cables to the switch...


Cable from the Switch to the Router...The length of this cable is only about 20 ft., not 30ft as the image indicates:

 

[ArtU]

I recall that ethernet produces RFI at a certain VHF frequency, but I can't remember which one and what the harmonics are, likely they chose a Ham band to not interfere with public safety. But another way to locate in home or near home VHF RFI is to use a VHF AM Air Band radio.

I do know that if I take a HF radio in am Mode and get it near switches and certain routers will make plenty of RFI all over the band unless they are using the best of shielding.

Unrelated but HDMI cables, especially Cheap ones generate RFI on the 440 ham band but not all over, only certain ones. I happened to have one of those being used for a local repeater. I tracked it down to either end of the HDMI cables on my TV set, had to replace an Amazon Cable.

With a decade plus or more of electronic product buying on Amazon , I always have doubts on ratings and regularly return products rated 5.
Most reviews of 5 mean the the product was plugged and worked, not tested or problems down the road. Many 5 reviews are "Great" and they have not even plugged in it yet.

"This product is great! Well packaged and every thing looks good when I opened the box"

Same with reviews of 1, This thing is junk, but they never bothered to hook it up correctly.
I now look to see what the 3-4s are saying about the product.

 

[RT48]

The flat ethernet cable is a flat form of copper wire with twisted pairs arranged side by side rather than square shape. Most of the ethernet cables are unshielded because it's very difficult to place an overall shield on a flat Ethernet cable.

This makes external EMI protection of flat Ethernet cable not readily available because the natural shielding tendency provides protection against external EMI for round cables.

Answered! What’s the Main Difference between Flat and Round Ethernet Cables - Blog | SF Cable

This article talks about the major differences between flat ethernet cables and round ethernet cables, merits and demerits of each, and which to use when. Read more…

www.sfcable.com

 

[rbritton1201]

Thanks for sending the link...I reviewed the information, but found that there are a number of other online resources that contradict the notion that round is particularly better than flat. Not sure what to think, as the internet seems to have contradicting information on all kinds of subjects. The setup in my shack is such that I'm skeptical that switching to a round cable would make any difference compared to the flat configuration. Round seems to be recommended more for durability than anything else, whereas my flat cables are not in a harsh environment. My particular flat cables are supposedly shielded, only 10' long, whereas the article represented that flat cables are not shielded. But, with the specification claims on Amazon, you never really know what you're getting unless you tear them apart to find out for sure. The stated speed rate, wire size, shielding, etc...is pretty substantial with respect to performance. So, assuming the published specs are accurate, my flat cables seem as though they would be more than adequate for my relatively simple application, compared to a sophisticated corporate network for example. I'm not opposed to substituting the flat cables I'm using now for shielded round, but it would be a last resort. I'll give it another couple of weeks to see if the changes I've made have been effective. So far today, no garbled noise whatsoever.

Answered! What’s the Main Difference between Flat and Round Ethernet Cables - Blog | SF Cable

This article talks about the major differences between flat ethernet cables and round ethernet cables, merits and demerits of each, and which to use when. Read more…

www.sfcable.com

 

[ArtU]

Thanks for sending the link...I reviewed the information, but found that there are a number of other online resources that contradict the notion that round is particularly better than flat. Not sure what to think, as the internet seems to have contradicting information on all kinds of subjects. The setup in my shack is such that I'm skeptical that switching to a round cable would make any difference compared to the flat configuration. Round seems to be recommended more for durability than anything else, whereas my flat cables are not in a harsh environment. My particular flat cables are supposedly shielded, only 10' long, whereas the article represented that flat cables are not shielded. But, with the specification claims on Amazon, you never really know what you're getting unless you tear them apart to find out for sure. The stated speed rate, wire size, shielding, etc...is pretty substantial with respect to performance. So, assuming the published specs are accurate, my flat cables seem as though they would be more than adequate for my relatively simple application, compared to a sophisticated corporate network for example. I'm not opposed to substituting the flat cables I'm using now for shielded round, but it would be a last resort. I'll give it another couple of weeks to see if the changes I've made have been effective. So far today, no garbled noise whatsoever.

To find out, stick an AM Aircraft band radio's antenna on them and see? Otherwise you don't really know. Start at the Scanners ethernet port and move down to the switch. Which side has the most noise if any? I would bet if you have 2 SDS200s for streaming you have an old BC scanner with VHF air on it?

 

[rbritton1201]

No old scanners left these days, I got rid of them all before getting the SDS200s. But, I do have a couple of VHF/UHF ham WTs, which may have the aircraft band on one of them, I'll have to check. I'll advise if I'm able to test using one of them. So, I'm looking for some kind of "noise" as I check along the Ethernet cable, right?

To find out, stick an AM Aircraft band radio's antenna on them and see? Otherwise you don't really know. Start at the Scanners ethernet port and move down to the switch. Which side has the most noise if any? I would bet if you have 2 SDS200s for streaming you have an old BC scanner with VHF air on it?

 

[ArtU]

No old scanners left these days, I got rid of them all before getting the SDS200s. But, I do have a couple of VHF/UHF ham WTs, which may have the aircraft band on one of them, I'll have to check. I'll advise if I'm able to test using one of them. So, I'm looking for some kind of "noise" as I check along the Ethernet cable, right?

Yes, the also check sweeping the switch

 

[rbritton1201]

Ok, I'll give that a try as soon as I get a chance to check out my Ham VHF WTs. Any particular frequency, or do I need to experiment through the entire VHF band width?

Yes, the also check sweeping the switch

 

[nessnet]

I have been in the (tier 1 network /data center) business for a few decades and have a pretty good background on this subject.
Trust me, you will not see any flat Ethernet cables in any data center / professional setting.

Wires in each individual Cat5/6 pair is twisted, then the pairs are twisted, to cancel out any induction caused interference.
Impossible with a flat cable - period.

Physics is physics.

 

[ArtU]

Ok, I'll give that a try as soon as I get a chance to check out my Ham VHF WTs. Any particular frequency, or do I need to experiment through the entire VHF band width?

Needs to support AM mode, and Ham HTs will only support AM in the VHF Air Band if that was a feature of the radio model, most do, some do not.. Do you have an RTL or similar SDR dongle you could put a homemade Antenna probe on a small coax it it? Probe length at least 9-15 inches? You could see the whole spectrum on the water fall.

 

[rbritton1201]

It's good to hear from an expert in the field of networking configuration, I appreciate your response very much. I purchased the flat cables because of the product description, which is as follows, and because the flat configuration seemed to fit and tuck under the scanner and back over to the switch more pleasingly than the round cables, since the access point for ethernet connection is on the front of the scanners. But, either shaped ethernet cables would have worked fine in that respect.

With respect to shielding, it would seem that if in fact the description is accurate, the wires should have adequate shielding with respect to this particular product. But, it all depends on the reliability of the description given, and I find that with Amazon, that can sometimes be questionable. So, you may have something, and I'm not ruling it out, but if the description is accurate, then...

"Cat8 lan cable uses 100% oxygen-free copper inside, 4 Pairs 100% 26WAG pure & thick shielded twisted pair (STP) of copper wires, Aluminium foil shield, Woven mesh shield, Shielded with high quality UV-resistant PVC jacket, the outdoor rated Cat8 Ethernet cable is anti-aging, It can withstand direct sunlight and extreme cold & humid & hot weather yet still working efficiently. Can be buried directly. Suitable for both outdoor and indoor use."

The claims above seem absolutely wonderful, don't they...hey, so wonderful that it makes me skeptical of the description. I don't see how they can fit all those construction features into a flat configuration either, but they claim they have.

Have you ever seen where plug-in positioning on a switch is a factor in applications such as mine in your experience? The positioning of the plugs on the switch seems to have resolved the problem real-time, meaning that a switch plug-in position resolved the problem as it was occurring real-time, and it has lasted at least for the last few days. But, the anomaly isn't constant, it sometimes manifests itself weeks between occurring. But, when it does occur, it usually lasts about 12-24 hours before returning to normal. The only radios on in the shack are the two scanners, everything else is shut down unless I'm operating, including the scanners so as not to overload the front end on the scanners, at least to the extent possible.

I have been in the (tier 1 network /data center) business for a few decades and have a pretty good background on this subject.
Trust me, you will not see any flat Ethernet cables in any data center / professional setting.

Wires in each individual Cat5/6 pair is twisted, then the pairs are twisted, to cancel out any induction caused interference.
Impossible with a flat cable - period.

Physics is physics.

 

[rbritton1201]

My HTs are Chinese made, RETEVIS RT84 and RT29, so who knows...but, because they are Chinese made, they may just have frequency features that aren't...uhm, shall we say, purely "regulation," assuming they can be "unlocked."

If not, then I do have an SDR-RTL currently operating via a Raspberry PI4, but it'll take me some time to get it ready with respect to having antenna portability, as mine is connected via RG8X coax cable running up to an attic Discone antenna. So, I would have to disassemble that configuration, which wouldn't probably take much, since it would only be at the SDR end. But, I have the SDR operating right now, and would lose access for whatever time it would take to do the testing, probably not much with full spectrum analysis. I would have to make some portable antenna cable connections, and procure an antenna for portability purposes in order to test via the SDR. I'll check out the HTs first. Although, I do like the idea of being able to see the whole spectrum at once on the SDR, that might just be worth doing for that feature alone.

Needs to support AM mode, and Ham HTs will only support AM in the VHF Air Band if that was a feature of the radio model, most do, some do not.. Do you have an RTL or similar SDR dongle you could put a homemade Antenna probe on a small coax it it? Probe length at least 9-15 inches? You could see the whole spectrum on the water fall.

 

[avaloncourt]

While flat cables have twisted pairs laid side-by-side, those cables don't have shielding.

 

[rbritton1201]

Unless I tear it apart, I can't personally verify it, but the specs say it's shielded by individual pairs, along with all the pairs with foil casing shielding. That is shielded, assuming the description is legitimate, and it may not be. But, while the individual pairs are claimed to be shielded in the description, it could be that they're considering a twist in the pair as "shielding," which twist alone would not in my book be par excellence. I would want to see the individual pairs shielded to get the highest form of isolation between the pairs.

Per the description on Amazon, that's why I selected this one, and not the others that were claimed to be not "shielded."
"...shielded twisted pair (STP) of copper wires, Aluminum foil shield..."

While flat cables have twisted pairs laid side-by-side, those cables don't have shielding.

 

[nessnet]

I am VERY seriously doubting that any flat cable would have foil shielding -which is what cat8 is....

I call BS (not on you, on whomever is trying to sell these POS as such)

 

[rbritton1201]

The description says it's Cat8, but who knows for sure if you don't tear it apart...not endorsing anything out of Amazon, but that's what it says, calling BS might be the reality.

I am VERY seriously doubting that any flat cable would have foil shielding -which is what cat8 is....

I call BS (not on you, on whomever is trying to sell these POS as such)

 

[ProScan]

Cat8 flat cables sounds legit to me. If there marketed as cat 8 then they probably passed the certification with test equipment. Google cat8 flat cable. Connectors and cable looks quality.

 

[buddrousa]

Plus 1 fact It Is Not Working You Are Getting Noise There Is Your Answer.