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Re: [RFI] DSL/Router Problems

To: "Bill Gillenwater" <gillie@pa.net>
Subject: Re: [RFI] DSL/Router Problems
From: W2RU - Bud Hippisley <W2RU@frontiernet.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:56:01 -0400
List-post: <rfi@contesting.com">mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
On Aug 16, 2010, at 4:29 PM, Bill Gillenwater wrote:

> I've been having this problem since I moved to the new QTH.  I use DSL and a 
> wireless router.  The router is located in a separate part of the house. 
> Everything works fine until on 80 meters. Low power is no problem. Anything 
> over 100 watts and my telnet/internet connecting is lost.  I can run a KW on 
> the other bands with no problem. I have put RF cores on all of the wires 
> leading to the DSL  box and the router, still no success. I suspect that the 
> phone wiring that runs through the walls and in the attic, may be the 
> culprit, not sure. But just on 80 meters does this problem surface.  Any 
> ideas out there????

Having been through the debug of this exact issue over the past three years, I 
am almost certain your problem is front-end overload of the DSL modem by RF in 
the 1 - 4 MHz region.  DSL has its primary frequency components in the 1.5 to 
2.5 MHz range, and the internal circuitry is extremely susceptible to 160-meter 
and 80-meter RF, the former more so than the latter.


*My* first question would be:

1.  Do you operate 160 meters?  If so, what happens on *that* band?

My second question would be:

2.  What route does your incoming telephone line follow before it gets to the 
DSL modem?  Specifically, how close does it get to your 80-meter antenna and 
what is its orientation relative to that antenna?

My third question would be:

3.  How long is the telephone line between your house and the telco electronic 
switch where the card that drives your specific telephone line is located?  
(You may need to ask the telco tech that question.)


Here are my first two "extreme" recommendations:

A.  Replace the DSL internet with cable internet.  (But you probably don't have 
that option where you live.)
B.  Move -- either closer to the telco DSL switch or into an area where you can 
get CATV internet.

Now, some less drastic measures:

C.  Relocate and/or reorient your 160-meter and 80-meter transmitting antennas 
to reduce coupling between them and the outdoor telephone wiring carrying the 
DSL signal to your house.
C-1.  Alternatively, relocate your telco entrance wire to get it farther from 
your transmitting antennas.
D.  Locate the DSL modem (and the wireless router, if necessary) on the inside 
wall right where your telco service enters and your telco ground is located.
E.  Make sure you're using a "whole house" telco-supplied DSL filter at the 
telco service entrance, so that you don't have DSL signals running throughout 
your house on the wiring going to your wall jacks.
F.  Use one or two 2.4-inch Type 31 ferrite donuts right at the input to your 
DSL modem, and wrap as many turns of the telco wire through it (them) as you 
can, up to perhaps a dozen or so.  Ask the telco tech for additional telco wire 
with tightly twisted pairs, if necessary.
G.  Ask your telco tech if he can get you one of their "commercial" DSL modems. 
 This is typically in a metal box, tends to be more "bullet-proof", and may be 
somewhat older DSL technology, hence may not get you the same peak speeds you 
get with your current box (when you're not operating 80 meters, that is).
H.  Add Type 31 ferrites to *all* leads going into and out of your DSL modem, 
including the DC power lead and the ethernet cable between the modem and the 
wireless router.  The ferrites must have as many turns of those leads on them 
as you can manage, and they must be located right at the DSL modem.  (If I 
showed you a picture of my DSL modem in my garage, you would laugh out loud.)

I can defend *all* of these recommendations (including A & B) with details of 
what went on here over the past three years, but I'm trying to give you the 
most likely *solutions*, not a novel.

You might also ask the tech to try shielded wire between the DSL modem (on the 
inside) and the NIB (Network Interface Box) & ground rod on the outside, but in 
my case that didn't do much for us -- probably because that distance is only 
about 4 or 5 feet in my current installation.

Good luck!

Bud, W2RU

 

  
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