dxAce wrote:


dave wrote:

bpnjensen wrote:

Thanks - yes, I was including that in my verbal "equipment" bundle.
Looks great!

Moreover, no PC near the radio. So, more hardware too. I am
(probably to your chagrin) a pretty old-fashioned guy when it comes to
radio. I like the catch to be fairly tough (although QRN sucks).

Bruce

Like I said, my antenna is 30' away from my computer. I live in a
neighborhood with underground power lines and no detectable light
dimmers. I can hear very weak stations from Europe that no one else on
the West Coast of the USA can get.

No one? And you know this how?



My K3 was the only 20 meter PSK31 autospotter (out of at least a dozen
on the West Coast) to hear a station from Scotland last week. This
stuff is reported on a Google map in near real time. SWLs are welcome
to participate. It's jolly good fun and boffo yocks. Sure beats
trying[?] to hear 100,000 Watt stations from Maine or Cuba.

www.pskreporter.info

On Feb 17, 5:14*am, dave wrote:
dxAce wrote:

dave wrote:

bpnjensen wrote:

Thanks - yes, I was including that in my verbal "equipment" bundle.
Looks great!

Moreover, no PC near the radio. *So, more hardware too. *I am
(probably to your chagrin) a pretty old-fashioned guy when it comes to
radio. *I like the catch to be fairly tough (although QRN sucks).

Bruce

Like I said, my antenna is 30' away from my computer. *I live in a
neighborhood with underground power lines and no detectable light
dimmers. *I can hear very weak stations from Europe that no one else on
the West Coast of the USA can get.

No one? And you know this how?

* My K3 was the only 20 meter PSK31 autospotter (out of at least a dozen
on the West Coast) to hear a station from Scotland last week. *This
stuff is reported on a Google map in near real time. *SWLs are welcome
to participate. *It's jolly good fun and boffo yocks. *Sure beats
trying[?] to hear 100,000 Watt stations from Maine or Cuba.

www.pskreporter.info- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Dave, I checked the link but it seems broken. Can you give us a few
details? Freq, antenna, time and etc? This sounds quite interesting.

BTW, you are lucky - My neighborhood does NOT have buried powerlines
(in fact, we have more than our share of aerial cordage) and the noise
levels reflect it. Light dimmers and other noise sources are legion.
Did get some good copy on hams from South America the other night on
40, though - but still have to wait for the sunspots to rise again
before the subkilowatt fleas come banging through again.

I will say, though, that the newest types of spiral fluorescent bulbs,
when new and working properly, give off no perceptible RFI. I am
impressed.

Bruce Jensen

bpnjensen wrote:

I will say, though, that the newest types of spiral fluorescent bulbs,
when new and working properly, give off no perceptible RFI. I am
impressed.


I have noticed noise only when the bulb bearing fixture is plugged into
the same outlet as the receiver and the lamp was also in close proximity
to the radio.

I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.





mike

On Feb 17, 8:53*am, m II wrote:

I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.

mike

I can tell you - they suck. Avoid them at all cost.

Bruce

On Feb 17, 2:17*pm, bpnjensen wrote:
On Feb 17, 8:53*am, m II wrote:



I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.

mike

I can tell you - they suck. *Avoid them at all cost.

Bruce

Ah, them dimmers again! Another incurable source of rf noise in
the house. May those little *******s be cursed forever and ever...

On Feb 17, 8:53 am, m II wrote:
I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.

mike

bpnjensen wrote:

I can tell you - they suck. Avoid them at all cost.

Bruce

Well, not completely true. The better (read more expensive) dimmers
include "radio frequency interference suppression circuitry". You get
what you pay for.

On Feb 18, 5:38*am, Joe from Kokomo wrote:
On Feb 17, 8:53 am, m II wrote:
I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.

mike
bpnjensen wrote:
I can tell you - they suck. *Avoid them at all cost.

Bruce

Well, not completely true. The better (read more expensive) dimmers
include "radio frequency interference suppression circuitry". You get
what you pay for.

Hi, Joe - I guess I've seen these, but I've never trusted them - have
you had experience with their improved circuitry?

On 2/18/10 09:34 , bpnjensen wrote:
On Feb 18, 5:38 am, Joe from wrote:
On Feb 17, 8:53 am, m wrote:
I have no dimmers in the house, so I can't comment on their influence.

mike
bpnjensen wrote:
I can tell you - they suck. Avoid them at all cost.

Bruce

Well, not completely true. The better (read more expensive) dimmers
include "radio frequency interference suppression circuitry". You get
what you pay for.

Hi, Joe - I guess I've seen these, but I've never trusted them - have
you had experience with their improved circuitry?

I have.

Not so good. They do reduce RF emission, but they don't keep the
spike off the line, which creates most of the problems associated
with dimmers.

I pulled the SCR and Triac dimmers from my house and replaced
them with in-wall variacs where I absolutely had to have a dimmer.
VERY quiet.

Truth is, I don't really need dimmers in the house. Where I'd
want mood lighting, there are multiple sources in the room, anyway,
I put half of them on one switch and half on a second switch, and
then simply turn on the level of illumination I want or need.

Outdoor dusk-to-dawn security lights are often as much noise as
dimmers for us in the radio hobby. The most common solution is to
use a screw-in security light/socket in an outdoor fixture. These
screw-in solutions are usually SCR/TRIAC dimmers in a different
configuration. Intermatic, however, makes these devices without
SCR's, TRIACs or any other similar device. Intermatic devices use a
photo sensor, a time constant, and a closure which eliminates
flickering in lightning flashes, as well as radio noise. Intermatic
screw-in security light solutions are only fractionally more
expensive than the cheap crap usually found on shelves. I mean,
like, a buck or two difference, if that. End of problems.


There is more elegant solution, and that's a separate photo
sensor connected to the line that feeds the security lights. Also
using a closure, these produce zero noise, no flickering with
transient changes in ambient light, they can handle large loads
without difficulty, and you can adjust their on and off conditions
for optimal performance. For this application, I, again, use
Intermatic controls. $12, takes 15 minutes to install. The
instructions are clear, concise, and everything you need to do the
install is in the package.

And no soldering is required.

bpnjensen wrote::
ext -

Dave, I checked the link but it seems broken. Can you give us a few
details? Freq, antenna, time and etc? This sounds quite interesting.

BTW, you are lucky - My neighborhood does NOT have buried powerlines
(in fact, we have more than our share of aerial cordage) and the noise
levels reflect it. Light dimmers and other noise sources are legion.
Did get some good copy on hams from South America the other night on
40, though - but still have to wait for the sunspots to rise again
before the subkilowatt fleas come banging through again.

I will say, though, that the newest types of spiral fluorescent bulbs,
when new and working properly, give off no perceptible RFI. I am
impressed.

Bruce Jensen

Try this. I screwed up.

The nice thing about having a license is you can theoretically make
people stop using noisy dimmers.

On Feb 17, 7:46*pm, dave wrote:
bpnjensen wrote::

ext -







Dave, I checked the link but it seems broken. *Can you give us a few
details? *Freq, antenna, time and etc? *This sounds quite interesting.

BTW, you are lucky - My neighborhood does NOT have buried powerlines
(in fact, we have more than our share of aerial cordage) and the noise
levels reflect it. Light dimmers and other noise sources are legion.
Did get some good copy on hams from South America the other night on
40, though - but still have to wait for the sunspots to rise again
before the subkilowatt fleas come banging through again.

I will say, though, that the newest types of spiral fluorescent bulbs,
when new and working properly, give off no perceptible RFI. *I am
impressed.

Bruce Jensen

Try this. *I screwed up.

The nice thing about having a license is you can theoretically make
people stop using noisy dimmers.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Theoretically indeed.