[CQ-Contest] Noise in the Shack

[Kenneth E. Harker]

     I recently rebuilt a computer for use in my ham shack, and 
set out intentionally to replace the hard disk and power supply
(which both had to be replaced anyway) with new units that were as 
quiet as I could possibly find.  The results were astonishing.  
You have to get within a foot of the case to tell that the computer 
is making any noise at all, and the noise that it is making is almost
entirely that of the fan on the CPU.

     This has gotten me to thinking, and I might be able to write 
an article for one of the ham publications about this, about how
one could reduce noise in other common components of a ham radio 
station.  Yes - most contesters and DXers probably use headphones 
for serious operating and probably don't really give much 
consideration to the audio noise pollution in their shacks.
But for those times when I'm not wearing headphones, I know that
I personally would prefer a quiet environment.  I'm even willing to
spend a little extra to make it that way.

     I'd be interested in hearing from people about (a) what was 
just too loud and bothered you enough to replace or modify it to 
make it quieter, (b) if anyone has good pointers on how to 
spec replacement fans that are quieter but still move enough
air, or (c) any other ideas on how to reduce noise pollution inside
a ham radio station.

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Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker at cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin                   Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences          Central Texas DX & Contest Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124                         Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA            http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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