[AMRadio] Desperate for a RFI solution.

[Bill Guyger]

The CFL's might not be the only source of noise. Computers can be real dirty, and there are those grow lights that have been mentioned in QST. Also, not sure of your QTH, but I live 3 blocks from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail tracks and those things are powered by giant switching power supplies that feed the overhead wires. My noise level is S7.

Bill AD5OL 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Apr 20, 2018, at 7:32 PM, JAMES HANLON <knjhanlon at msn.com> wrote:
> 
> Randy,
> 
> 
> If you are on the third floor and the hallway there is populated with CFLs, then the other floors probably have additional CFLs as well - which of course only makes your problem even worse.  I'm sure you needed someone to remind you of that, sorry.
> 
> 
> Here's a suggestion.  Perhaps if you approached them nicely and explained your problem, the folks who own your building or who maintain it would allow you to run a test or two.  One obvious thing would be to turn off some or all of the hallway lights long enough to see if it made any change in your noise level.  that would at least help to pin down the problem.  If the CFLs are indeed the problem, one solution would be to replace them all with Edison bulbs or LED bulbs.  Maybe there would be some way that you could get that done, perhaps by participating in buying the new bulbs or paying some additional fee to offset the additional electricity cost if there is one.
> 
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> 
> Jim Hanlon, W8KGI
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: Randy Berry <randyn3lrx at gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, April 20, 2018 3:14 PM
> To: AM Radio List
> Subject: [AMRadio] Desperate for a RFI solution.
> 
> Hi,
> I recently bought a Yaesu FT-857D and I have tried everything to mute
> the noise in the receiver. I get an s8-s9 noise floor on every band
> but VHF/UHF. I've tried everything I can think of to kill the noise.
> This is not the first radio plagued by the noise. This has been an
> ongoing battle ever since I moved into this building.
> 
> Here's my situation. I am an apartment dweller living on the third
> floor with indoor antennas. I am not allowed to have any outdoor
> antennas on my balcony. (I've already been warned once with my stealth
> shortened dipole.) So I am using 2 MFJ-1699T 10 band antennas and a
> dipole kit in my living room. I also use a MFJ-939 autotuner which
> works great, it will tune lawn furniture! It even does 6 meters which
> it's not supposed to.
> 
> Anyway, I get a constant noise floor as high as s9 on all HF bands. I
> added a common mode choke inline and that dropped it some. (It was
> even as high as +20db before the choke.) I can't even hear anything on
> CB channel 19! I tried to hear the local 10 meter slop bucket net and
> could hear faint voices but not make any intelligence out of them due
> to the high noise floor. 144/440 is fine. I get little noise at all, 6
> meters is a little noisy, but usable.
> 
> I bought this rig because my standalone receiver died and I needed
> something to listen to and since I can't use my K7DYY Super Sr.
> transmitter anyway, I decided to buy a transceiver so I can talk too.
> It does AM at 25 watts carrier, and one of the first things I did was
> program in all the common AM frequencies on all the bands! Over the
> years I have spent tons of dollars and countless hours trying to
> resolve this and nothing works.
> 
> I think it's the CFL's in the hallway. There is one every 10 feet or
> so for the entire length of the building, on both sides of the
> hallway. They are the only thing I can think of that runs 24/7/365. Is
> there any way possible to clean up their noise so I can use HF
> peacefully?
> 
> I don't have any CFL's in my apartment. I'm still using Edison
> technology, all my wall warts and switching supplies are clean, so
> it's not coming from my apartment. I've even turned off the AC main in
> my breaker box and tried on battery from inside my apartment. No
> change.
> 
> I'm open to all suggestions apart from vandalizing the property by
> breaking all the bulbs. (Believe me I've thought of that already!)
> Anything I can make or buy to filter CFL noise?
> 
> tnx es 73 de Randy, N3LRX
> 
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