Spectrumwide HF noise on both my radios
 

I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.
Only the strongest stations get through. It's not solar caused because
the rest of you aren't getting it. It must be in my area somewhere. I
believe it started in mid September and clears up only once in a blue
moon. What can I do?

Um...shoot your neighbors and turn off their stuff?

Just kidding. ;^)

First, try connecting to a really good ground.

The cable system here sends out a gawd-awful scramble signal to make sure
folks aren't getting free HBO, and it is audible across several bands of SW,
making whip antennas pretty useless in my house. (Which brings me to my
second suggestion...)

Try an outside long-wire antenna, preferably with shielded coax on the
length inside your house. Worked wonders for my SW.

-- Stinger

"tommyknocker" wrote in message
...
I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.
Only the strongest stations get through. It's not solar caused because
the rest of you aren't getting it. It must be in my area somewhere. I
believe it started in mid September and clears up only once in a blue
moon. What can I do?

Stinger wrote:

Um...shoot your neighbors and turn off their stuff?

Just kidding. ;^)

First, try connecting to a really good ground.

The cable system here sends out a gawd-awful scramble signal to make sure
folks aren't getting free HBO, and it is audible across several bands of SW,
making whip antennas pretty useless in my house. (Which brings me to my
second suggestion...)

Try an outside long-wire antenna, preferably with shielded coax on the
length inside your house. Worked wonders for my SW.

I've got one of those. It's either 50 or 75 feet (can't remember
offhand) of wire connected to coax. The coax is all curled up on a shelf
because it was too long (but all I had at the time). Maybe shorter coax
would help? Also, no I don't have a ground. I'll fix that tomorrow if I
get the time. I should note that I turned the radio back on at 0030 and
Radio Exterior de Espana was there, albeit under the warbling sound. I'd
spent 45 minutes at 2300 with no luck trying to get it in.


-- Stinger

"tommyknocker" wrote in message
...
I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.
Only the strongest stations get through. It's not solar caused because
the rest of you aren't getting it. It must be in my area somewhere. I
believe it started in mid September and clears up only once in a blue
moon. What can I do?

tommyknocker wrote:

I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.
Only the strongest stations get through. It's not solar caused because
the rest of you aren't getting it. It must be in my area somewhere. I
believe it started in mid September and clears up only once in a blue
moon. What can I do?

When trying to track down a new noise source, I usually start by
disconnecting the main circuit breaker(s) for the home so I'm sure there
is nothing still on. Otherwise, don't forget to unplug all the
'wall-warts', those small AC adapters that power things like cordless
phone bases and battery chargers for cell phones. The one for my
computer printer puts out noise at regular intervals in the higher HF
range.
If the noise is not coming from your home, take the DX-396 for a walk
around the neighborhood to see if you can find where the noise is
strongest. It might be a street light or a power line problem.


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In article ,
says...
I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.

"snip"

I"ve no idea of your physical environment, but I'd try using the
DX396 on batteries as a direction finder to see if you can locate the
source. Try it first with a strong local MW station to get a feel for
the directional characteristics of the DX396. Usually if you collapse
the whip antenna there is a ferrite stick inside which gives a pretty
clear null off the flat side of the radio. Then try to use it to find
the direction of the noise source by listening and nulling from a couple
different locations.
I had this same problem a couple years ago and used a portable to
trace the problem to an insulator on the power companys transmission
line a couple hundred yards from my house which was visably arcing. A
fire danger as well as RF garbage source! When I called the power co.
and reported the arc they sent out a crew in just a couple of hours who
repaired the transmission line and solved the noise problem.


73 KC2LVQ

William Mutch wrote:
I had this same problem a couple years ago and used a portable to
trace the problem to an insulator on the power companys transmission
line a couple hundred yards from my house which was visably arcing. A
fire danger as well as RF garbage source! When I called the power co.
and reported the arc they sent out a crew in just a couple of hours who
repaired the transmission line and solved the noise problem.

73 KC2LVQ

It does not hurt to mention the word ``arcing'' when you find a noisy insulator,
whether it's arcing or not. At least AEP crews won't come out for anything short
of arcing. Noise complaints go to the noise department and they never move from
their desks.
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

William Mutch wrote:

In article ,
says...
I've been tuning across HF and I just realized that the weird noises
that are obscuring 6055 are EVERYWHERE, on every band, not only on my
FRG8800 but also my DX396 (battery operated/whip antenna, so it's not
line noise). I turned off and unplugged everything I could think of,
from air cleaners to lights to computer equipment and it's still there.

"snip"

I"ve no idea of your physical environment, but I'd try using the
DX396 on batteries as a direction finder to see if you can locate the
source. Try it first with a strong local MW station to get a feel for
the directional characteristics of the DX396. Usually if you collapse
the whip antenna there is a ferrite stick inside which gives a pretty
clear null off the flat side of the radio. Then try to use it to find
the direction of the noise source by listening and nulling from a couple
different locations.

Naturally, I found that when placed next to my computer the radio makes
a noise that sounds a lot like a data transmission. The weird part is
that unplugging the computer doesn't eliminate the noise.