[FCARC] RF in your radio shack

[Al Dullinger]

Adam,
Is this what you are talking about?
This is on my multi-band dipole.
AL -- Sylvania
W8UJF

On Sun, Mar 1, 2026, 4:36 PM Adam T. Cately via FCARC <fcarc at mailman.qth.net>
wrote:

> Hello -
>
>     Here is a quoted message that I pulled from a Reddit
> 'r/amateurradio' post - if you have RF in the radio shack issues this
> might be the solution . . .
>
>
>   After 3 years of fighting RF in my shack I finally fixed it in an
>   afternoon. The answer was embarrassingly simple and I want to save you
>   the same 3 years
>
> "Symptoms: key clicks on transmit, audio distortion on receive, computer
> peripherals acting weird when I keyed up, neighbors' speaker buzzing.
> What I tried over three years: better feedline, better connectors,
> adding ferrites randomly, moving equipment around, a different ground
> rod, a second ground rod, reading 47 forum posts that all contradicted
> each other
> What actually fixed it: a single common-mode choke at the feedpoint of
> the antenna, and a second one where the feedline entered the shack. Two
> chokes. Each wound with 8 turns of coax on an FT-240-31 toroid. Total
> cost: $18
>
> The theory I finally understood: I didn't have a grounding problem. I
> had a common-mode current problem. Those are different problems with
> different solutions, and treating one like the other does nothing. Most
> RF interference in ham shacks is common-mode current, not a lack of
> earth ground
>
> If you have RF in your shack and you haven't built common-mode chokes
> yet, start there. Before the fancy ground system, before the filtered
> power strip, before anything else."
>
>
> de KB8MDF
>
> --
> - - - - - - - - - - -
>      Adam T. Cately
>   - - - - - - - - - - -
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