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Re: [RFI] Sling Link RFI

To: Kelly Johnson <n6kj.kelly@gmail.com>, "rfi@contesting.com" <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [RFI] Sling Link RFI
From: Scott Yost <nm8rmedic@rocketmail.com>
Reply-to: Scott Yost <nm8rmedic@rocketmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:17:19 -0700 (PDT)
List-post: <rfi@contesting.com">mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
Thanks for the reply.  


First, it is notched and avoids the amateur bands.  That was one thing that 
made it so difficult to track down.  I had to buy a portable HF loop setup and 
a decent portable receiver, as I could not use my station's HF yagi effectively 
to locate it.  


I believe it is actually radiating along and from all the wiring of the owner's 
home, and then up to the secondary of the pole transformer, and then back along 
every drop lead connected to each of the 7 homes on the transformer - my home 
included.  


Anywhere there is AC wiring it is hot.  So I have it radiating from my own home 
wiring as well as theirs.  


It drops off rapidly with distance from wiring, so I am considering at least 
filtering my own home's wiring to eliminate living in an unintentional 
hotspot.  


Good point on offering to buy them a wifi router.  I had considered offering to 
run CAT 6 for them - if and when I figure out who has it.  Wifi router would be 
better; easier.  Finding the first one was easy since I was helping track down 
an arc in their home to begin with.

Please share any more ideas that come to you.  



________________________________
 From: Kelly Johnson <n6kj.kelly@gmail.com>
To: Scott Yost <nm8rmedic@rocketmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: [RFI] Sling Link RFI
 
An AC filter will probably not help.  The RFI is most likely being
radiated from the neighbor's AC wiring and coming directly into your
antenna.  The only solution is to eliminate the source of the noise.

I am surprised that this box is doing this.  This is call Powerline
Ethernet and the manufacturers of those devices all (AFAIK) adhere to
a design standard which notches the HAM bands so that no signals are
put into the ham bands.  Most people say that these devices don't
cause problems, including the ARRL's Ed Hare.

There are lots of devices that do "ethernet over home wiring".  I
won't use one in my own home, but I'm told that they are relatively RF
quiet and should not cause problems.  I suggest you look into buying
your neighbor another branch of powerline ethernet adaptor OR a high
speed WiFi adapter so the neighbor gets the ethernet he wants and you
get no RFI.

You may want to contact Ed Hare at ARR for more information and/or
suggestions.  He will probably want to know about this noisy device so
he can test it and report it to the FCC if it violates FCC rules.


On Wed, Jul 11, 2012 at 8:44 AM, Scott Yost <nm8rmedic@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> Could use some advice on a whole-house AC filter to reduce
> RFI in the SW spectrum.
>
> I’ve tracked down two RFI sources this summer.  One was an arcing junction 
> box connection in
> my neighbor’s home (we fixed it) and the other turned out to be a wireless 
> ethernet
> device he had plugged in but was no longer using, called Sling Link.  It 
> blankets the SW spectrum with a constant
> snapping, arc-like noise.  We unplugged
> it and I brought it home for a post-mortem and to take some photos.  I turned 
> on the SW rig to celebrate, but
> quickly found out I have another neighbor with one of these darn boxes.
>
> Here is the description from the manufacturer:
> “A SlingLink™ is a
> convenient way to connect your Slingbox to the Internet. If you're like most
> people, you don't have an ethernet jack right next to your television. Rather
> than running long wires all around your house, or having an expensive
> technician re-wire your home, you can just purchase a pair of SlingLink
> adapters.
> Like an extension cord
> for the Internet, the SlingLink uses your home's existing electrical wiring to
> transmit the ethernet signal from your router. Plug one SlingLink into the 
> wall
> near your router, and plug in the other SlingLink wherever you have your
> Slingbox installed. Voila - your Slingbox is connected to the Internet!”  - 
> end -
> The AC wiring makes a great radiator, and with 7 neighbors
> sharing the distribution transformer, it has a lot of wiring to use.
>
> Any recommendations on AC line filtering I can place on my
> home’s wiring to at least eliminate it in my own home?
>
> Thanks,
>
> ScottNM8R
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