[OKDXA] Radios and noise

Roger Simpson rksimpson1 at cox.net
Fri Jan 27 14:52:06 EST 2017



------ Original Message ------
From: "Steve Duskin" <sduskin at gmail.com>
To: "'Oklahoma DX Association'" <okdxa at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: 1/27/2017 8:59:04 AM
Subject: Re: [OKDXA] Radios and noise

>What I found in my shack that was causing noise...
>- space heater
>- CFL lights
>- AC to DC power adapters (wall warts) for various pieces of PC and 
>radio gear
>- the 20w LED (AC powered) I was using to light my shack area
>- the ionizer air cleaner on my central air system
>- plasma TV on the other side of the shack wall (in the living room)
>- and finally the family dogs when they want my attention!  :)
>
>73
>
>-Steve.
>NE5SD

========================================
Comment from K5RKS:

I guess i'm lucky. As far as I know I don't have noise from household 
equipment. It could be that the noise level from this equipment is so 
low and constant that I don't notice it. I do have a pretty high noise 
level sometimes on 40m. However the noise varies between day and night. 
It is higher at night so I guess the high noise is due to overall static 
when the band is open [i.e. at night] and not something local at my 
house or in the neighborhood.

One thing I noticed on my ICOM 7600 is that very different S meter 
readings are observed when listening to 40 meters depending upon whether 
I listening on LSB or CW. For example, right now I am listening at 7100 
on LSB with the antenna connected and with no signal audible and the S 
meter says S7. Without doing anything except switching to CW my S meter 
says S3. I have no idea what the S meter is supposedly telling me. I 
never pay any attention to S meter readings because they really don't 
seem to mean much. All I know that a CW signal that peaks at S/9 is 
louder than a CW signal peaking at S/3. That is about all I can make out 
of whatever the S meter is saying.

I wonder any of you have seen S meters on other gear -- Kenwood, Yaesu, 
Elecraft, etc. give totally different readings when everything stays the 
same [band, antenna, time of day] and you switch from SSB to CW or 
vice/versa?
>
>  73  Roger   K5RKS
=======================================
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: OKDXA [mailto:okdxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of 
>GARYLM at kiamichiwb.org
>Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2017 12:18 PM
>To: Oklahoma DX Association <okdxa at mailman.qth.net>
>Cc: okdxa at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [OKDXA] Radios and noise
>
>
>IF YOU HAVE A LAPTOP COMPUTER, AND USE AC TO RUN IT AT YOUR STATION.  
>TRY UNPLUGGING IT
>AND SEE IF NOISE GOES AWAY.   I HAVE A LAPTOP AND IF I PLUG IN THE 
>EXTERNAL POWER CARD
>IT RAISES MY NOISE BY 5 OR 6 S-UNITS.  FOUND OUT I COULD NOT USE IT IN 
>SHACK ON EXTERNAL
>POWER.
>GOOD LUCK  SOME TIMES THESE NOISE SOURCES ARE HARD TO FIND.   I AM IN 
>RURAL AREA SO DO
>NOT HAVE MUCH HERE TO WORRY WITH EVEN MY PLASMA TV DOESN'T CAUSE ANY 
>NOISE.
>73 WQ5R GARY
>
>--- af5cc2 at gmail.com wrote:
>
>From: John Geiger <af5cc2 at gmail.com>
>To: Coy Day <n5ok at arrl.net>, Oklahoma DX Association 
><okdxa at mailman.qth.net>
>Subject: Re: [OKDXA] Radios and noise
>Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2017 12:11:53 -0600
>
>I didn't find any noise source in my house today switching on and off 
>circuit breakers.
>
>73 John AF5CC
>
>On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 9:58 AM, Coy Day <n5ok at arrl.net> wrote:
>
>>  Also check out any fluorescent lights you might have.  I found that 
>>to
>>  be a problem here once.
>>
>>  --
>>  Coy Day, N5OK
>>  20685 SW 29
>>  Union City, OK 73090
>>  405-483-5632
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>  John Geiger wrote:
>>  > Hi Bob,
>>  >
>>  > Thanks for the info.  I did listen today during the day on 40m and
>>  > it was still about the same.  Guess it is time to see if it is
>>  > anything in my house causing it. Will probably do that tomorrow
>>  > morning.  I was able to rule out the wireless router and desktop
>>  > computer today, though, as a source of noise.
>>  >
>>  > 73 John AF5CC
>>  >
>>  > On Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at 7:20 PM, Robert Redmon <k5sm.bob at gmail.com>
>>  wrote:
>>  >
>>  >> John, I live in a rather (rf) quiet place several miles from town
>>  >> and suffer from very little power line noise and my nearest
>>  >> neighbor is several hundred feet away. The noise you hear on 40
>>  >> meters is not abnormal for times when the band is open. Currently
>>  >> on my dipole at 65' using either my
>>  >> K3 or my Flex 5k, the ambient noise on ssb (2.4khz filter) is 
>>S5-S6.
>>  >> During
>>  >> the day, it will fall to much lower levels.
>>  >>
>>  >> Bob
>>  >>
>>  >> On 1/23/2017 7:07 PM, John Geiger wrote:
>>  >>
>>  >>> I know if you buy a more expensive radio, you get a receiver that
>>  >>> (usually)
>>  >>> has better dynamic range and handles QRM conditions better,
>>  >>> generating less IMD products and blocking when the band gets full
>>  >>> of signals.  Does the same hold true for QRN and electrical crud?
>>  >>> I know that some radios have more tools than others, like noise
>>  >>> reduction, notch filters, stuff like that.  Do more expensive
>>  >>> receivers get less affected by RFI and other junk, and by
>>  >>> atmospheric noise?
>>  >>>
>>  >>> Here is my situation:  I was having some bad powerline noise from
>>  >>> a pole close to my house. The noise blanker in the radio I have
>>  >>> took out the buzz, but I am seeing a S6 noise level on 40m SSB 
>>and
>>  >>> on 20m SSB sometimes.
>>  >>> I
>>  >>> figured some of that came from the line noise, so I didn't think
>>  >>> about doing much until the line noise was fixed first.  Well the
>>  >>> power company came and fixed it today. The buzzing is gone!  The
>>  >>> noise level still is there, though.  I am using a Yaesu FT100D
>>  >>> which has a great noise blanker, and does have AF DSP, but it is 
>>a
>>  >>> cheap, mobile type HF/VHF/UHF radio.
>>  >>> On
>>  >>> 40 meter SSB I see a S5 or S6 noise level when on SSB, and that 
>>is
>>  >>> with the preamp off.  On CW it is much less because I put the
>>  >>> 500hz CW filter in line.  20 meters is sometimes the same, but
>>  >>> sometimes on SSB the noise is much lower, which I think is
>>  >>> probably from urban crud. I live in an older neighborhood where
>>  >>> the houses are maybe 8 feet apart, if that much. I am sure many
>>  >>> neighbors have switching power supplies in all sorts of
>>  >>> electronics.
>>  >>>
>>  >>> So, is this 40 meter noise level pretty typical for most people?
>>  >>> Would a more expensive radio like a Kenwood TS590 (which is
>>  >>> supposed to have a great receiver), Yaesu FTDX1200 or Icom 7200 
>>be
>>  >>> less affected by these types of noises?  I can't afford much more
>>  >>> than that right now,and would like something that is fairly small
>>  >>> enough to still take mobile or portable from time to time.  I did
>>  >>> try a yaesu FT891 which is a mobile sized radio and it was maybe
>>  >>> very slightly better, but not really noticable.  A Ten Tec Eagle
>>  >>> would also be small enough.
>>  >>>
>>  >>> Is this one of the compromises you have to live with when you get
>>  >>> a smaller radio?
>>  >>>
>>  >>> 73 John AF5CC
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