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Old January 17th 11, 06:39 AM posted to rec.radio.shortwave
bpnjensen bpnjensen is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
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Default Inline Isolators for RFI reduction ?

On Jan 16, 10:05*pm, wrote:
On Jan 17, 12:41*am, bpnjensen wrote:









On Jan 16, 8:27*pm, wrote:


On Jan 16, 10:13*pm, bpnjensen wrote:


On Jan 16, 6:09*pm, John Smith wrote:


On 1/16/2011 5:07 PM, bpnjensen wrote:


...
Short answer - I am getting desperate over the noise level here..
Grasping at straws.


The fellow I spoke to who makes these things said they are best used
as close to the receiver input as possible.


You will certainly need to locate the noise source and place the antenna
as far away as possible and orientate the antenna so the direction
favored by the particular antenna is pointed AWAY form the noise source.
* You will probably want to use a 9:1 balun and use coax for the run
past any noise source and to provide isolation from noise sources in the
home. *A GOOD GROUND on the receiver will serve you well. *If possible,
would also be good to ground the coax braid at the antenna, or run a
wire down to ground as short as possible ...


Regards,
JS


John, thanks - but my whole neighborhood is a noise source. *That's no
joke. *Otherwise, I know all of this already, and have already built
it to the best possible configuration, much as you've described here.- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Have you attempted to see if it is coming from the ac 120v outlets?
Quite often THAT is one the biggest source of noise . *What
receiver(s) /antenna(s) are you using ?


Actually, I know that my outlets/switch boxes are sources of buzzing
RF *noise. *When *I bring an AM radio, especially one with a tunable
loop on it, toward the switches and outlets, the buzzing becomes more
audible. *I believe that the house is miswired so that ground and one
hot side may be on the same path (this needs to be fixed).


I do have an RF-born noise filter that I run the 115 VAC through. *I
do not get any serious amount of noise from this source (as far as I
can tell) on the radio. *The radio I use primarily is an Icom R75
(also an Allied SX-190 and Realistic DX-160). *Two external antennas -
the random wire with 9:1 match, and a DX-Ultra (essentially an all-
band dipole, but pretty worthyless on the tropical bands). *The worst
noise, by far, is on the lower bands (7 MHz and down). *At 15 MHz and
above, the noise is typically minimal and reception is quite good.
The tropical bands are a mess, with an S-7/S-9 noise level most of the
time. *I can clean up some of it with my MFJ-1026, but not all.- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


Have you tried using a 12v battery as a power source ? This may clear
things up.


Not yet, and as RHF also suggested. Maybe worth a try.