RadioBanter - View Single Post

February 14th 05, 01:39 AM

wrote:
99% would mean you are left with 1 part in a hundred, or 20db
reduction. I don't think it would make that much difference. At
least,
I never heard that much of a noise reduction.

I think everyone should have the means to run their rigs from an
automobile, so instead of running out to buy a SLA , rig up a
cigarete
lighter interface for your radio. Run the radio from your car (engine
NOT running) and see if you can hear the difference. Now that you can
listen on your rig mobile, drive out to the middle of nowhere and
compare the noise (assuming you don't already live in the middle of
nowhere). I've found locally generated noise to be a bigger problem
than my AC, though my radio uses a soap on a rope style power supply.

Once you have run your radio from the auto battery, if you think iti
makes a difference, buy the gell cell. I pull two 12V 7AH Yuasa from
my
gate every other year just to be sure the thing doesn't fail when I
don't have time to fix it. I use the old SLAs for radio power
supplies,
but only when camping. I notice no difference at the house.

If you really want less noise, get a Wellbrook loop. An added
advantage
is you no longer need a ground since the Wellbrook floats. I use the
ALA 100 and a homemade loop. Mine is also set up to run from 12V,
though you need to note that the power to the Wellbrook is positive
ground. If you build your own cigarette lighter adapter, this is not
a
big deal, just make sure you label it so you don't blow up gear
expecting negative ground.

I actually use one of the Wellbrook loops, and they do help a lot with
noise reduction. However, as I learned when I attached ferrite cores to
a lot of the cables in my house, it's the noise you don't notice that
can get you. I had no idea ferrite cores would make a significant
difference in my noise level, but they did. Now I'm wondering if there
are other things I can do to bring the noise level down even lower,
like operate from a gel cell or regular sla battery.

Steve