[600MRG] Low RF Noise LED Light Bulbs

[Scott Armstrong]

I've swapped out most of the incandescent bulbs in the house for LEDs and
have had no noticeable change in noise levels (or I just haven't found the
noise yet). The bulbs are from different manufacturers.
Just recently bought some more LED bulbs made by EcoSmart. They are part 15
compliant bulbs. Can't say that for the others.

I also replaced the 4ft fluorescent lights in the kitchen with LEDs and
started replacing the 8ft ones in the garage. Nice bright light but what
crap they are. They generate noise from just below 10MHz to above 144MHz.
Haven't had the time to see if I can tame the noise any by putting filters
on the AC line and toroids on the individual fixture wires.


Good Luck,
Scott AA5AM

On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 7:09 AM John Langridge <kb5njd at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Les,
>
> My experience with LED bulbs has been that for the one's I have tried,
> none work well across the the entire spectrum all the time.  Load
> conditions seem to also impact where they will make the most noise and
> temperature is also a factor.
>
> I don't know the brand (kirkland?) but Costco has a large multipack of LED
> bulbs that are insanely bright.  I use them on my front and back porches.
> During the Summer when its hot here in Texas, the noise seems to shift
> higher in frequency, into the upper broadcast band but below 160m.  That's
> a workable solution for me as I operate on 630 meters.  I also don't hear
> these bulbs in the 630m band under any of the load conditions I can present
> (other lights and appliances on at the same time).  Im sure there is some
> combination that will become a problem, however.
>
> During the Winter its different.  If temperatures are below about 45
> degrees and both of those porch lights are on, The signal is right in the
> middle of the 630m band and its bad on two of my rx antennas.  If I turn
> off the back porch light and change the load condition, the noise goes away
> on those antennas.  So during the Winter when I am operating on 630m, I
> turn off the back porch light.
>
> Every situation will likely be different so you might buy these same bulbs
> that I have mentioned and have a completely different experience.  I'm
> afraid its probably going to be a trial and error situation for you as
> every house will have a bit different wiring topology.  I bought
> incandescent bulbs for the remainder of the house (you can get them on the
> internet), which cost considerably more to operate but its worth it to me.
>
> 73/GL
>
> John
>
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 5:52 AM Les Rayburn <les at highnoonfilm.com> wrote:
>
>> Budget is very tight here. A couple of years ago, my wife and I converted
>> all the lights in the house from CFB to LED lights and the savings on our
>> monthly bill have been signifiant. $22 dollars a month on average.
>>
>> The downside is that the LED bulbs put out a lot of noise on LF, MW, and
>> HF.
>>
>> A few months ago, I saw a thread about some LED bulbs that were ham-radio
>> friendly, putting out considerably less EMI than other bulbs. Alas, the
>> link was broken.
>>
>> Has anyone found an LED light bulb that is radio-friendly? If you have
>> links to directly purchase them, even better.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Les Rayburn, N1LF
>> 121 Mayfair Park
>> Maylene, AL 35114
>> EM63nf
>>
>> Member WTFDA, IRCA, NRC. Former CPC Chairman for NRC & IRCA.
>>
>> Elad FDM-S2 SDR, AirSpy SDR2, SDRPlay RSP-2 Pro, Sony XDR-F1HD [XDR Guy
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>> Korner 9.2 Antenna, FM-6 Antenna, Kitz Technologies KT-501
>> Pre-amps, Quantum Phaser, Wellbrook ALA1530 Loop, Wellbrook Flag, Clifton
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>>
>> “Nothing but blues and Elvis, and somebody else’s favorite song…”
>>
>>
>>
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