[Elecraft] Will the K2 noise blanker help with this QRM?

Jim Wiley jwiley at alaska.net
Fri Dec 24 07:01:01 EST 2010



Oh good grief.  3.579 (approx) MHz is the color burst frequency, and 
pretty much any standard NTSC color TV set (vacuum tube or solid state) 
has a crystal oscillator that runs on that frequency.  The _horizontal_  
sweep oscillator is on about 15 kHz, and the _vertical_ sweep oscillator 
runs at slightly less than 60 Hz.  This same 3.579 MHz  oscillator is 
the reason for the persistent weak signal on 14.312 or 14.313 (the 4th 
harmonic of 3.579) that plagues many of us. 


Also, many devices use this same 3.579 (more or less) frequency to 
control some internal function or process - crystal controlled clocks,  
fax machines,  microwave oven timers, and video games  being only few 
examples.  TV sets are locked to a particular frequency by the 
transmission they receive, whereas other devices are not.  This is the 
reason you can often hear many many individual signals around these 
frequencies - particularly on 20 meters.


I am not too sure about more modern HDTV receivers.  Hopefully they use 
a different mechanism,. so perhaps we will see a gradual lessening of 
this problem as time passes. Or not.


- Jim,  KL7CC



Monty Shultes wrote:
> 3580 is a magic frequency, actually 3979.xx is the vertical (horizontal?) oscillator frequency in OLD tube TV sets.  I've been listening to that buzz for decades.
> Best Holiday Wishes to all -   Monty  K2DLJ
>
> O That said, I'm  
>   
>> seeing some noise on 80m that is always present at night, on 3580 khz  
>> and other places. 
>>     
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