On Thu, 13 Nov 2003 16:26:06 -0800, tommyknocker
wrote:

I finally got off my fat ass and decided to locate the source of the
data-sounding signal blocking my HF reception. A quick tour of the
premises with my DX398 revealed that the noise was only present in the
computer room/ham shack (yeah, my luck). But unplugging the computer and
peripherals didn't help. So I turned off the VERY EXPENSIVE surge
protector that the computer plugs in to, and the noise went away. Turn
the surge protector back on, and the noise starts up again. I don't want
to shell out the $$$ for a new surge protector, so I'll just have to
turn it off when I listen/DX. But why wasn't it doing it prior to about
two months ago? Maybe I should buy another one...
Part of the protection in such a device is an 'avalanche' diode, and
those things are incredibly noisy if they have avalanched over. In
normal operation, that shouldn't be happening, so part of your very
expensive surge protector was probably broken anyway....