RadioBanter - View Single Post

March 1st 05, 11:59 PM

wrote:
I'm more convinced than ever that it's the noise you don't really
notice that makes life difficult. I've been waging a war against
noise
for some time now. I started using a Wellbrook loop, which helped a
lot
with noise. I attached ferrite cores to all the cables and power
cords
in my home, which helped more. I compared my reception when running
on
AC with the my reception when running off an external power supply,
and
found that the external power supply actually increased my noise
level
(can't win 'em all). Next, I compared my reception when using AC
power
to my reception when using battery power, and found that the battery
brought my noise down YET AGAIN. In each of these cases, I didn't
know
beforehand what, if anything, would result from changing my setup. In
most cases the results were positive and I'm glad I took the time to
experiment with them.

The moral is: If you think you don't have a noise problem, suspend
this
assumption just long enough to experiment a bit. You might be
surprised
at the improvement that's possible! The steps that helped me probably
won't help everyone, especially those who live in environments that
are
less noisy then mine. Still, I'll bet that most people would benefit
from at least one of these steps.

Steve
About 15 years ago we hasd a nasty ice storm.
Knocked out the AC mains, telephone, and cable TV for 3 days.
I was amazed at how quite it got.
I was operating from a couple of GellCells, kept charged off
by a a small PV (solar cell) array.
Other then freezing my but off, it was great fun.
Since I normally only go on camping/mine DX-epditions in the
late summer and early fall, it was much wquiter at home then
I had ever exeprienced in the deep woods.
I could hear the igniton noise from the highway about 1 mile
away!
I had very mixed feelings when they brought our power back on.
I was tired of the cold, but reslly enjoyed the quite.
I have done all that I can to reduce the RFI that I produce.
I have bypassed all the AC mains outlets, bypassed teh AC mains
where it enteres the breaker box, used lots of RFI suppresion
ferrite "beads" on all the active electronics, imporved my ground
system as much as I can, and use the best (lowest noise) antenna
that I can currently afford. Since I had a glimsp of what true radio
quite conditions were, I had the incentive to do what I could.
It made a big difference. But, alas it is a far cry from the quite
I had for a few days. Given the omnipresent man made electrical noise
around most American cities, I suspect that very few of us get to see
just how sensitive our receivers really are.
Terry