[RFI] RFI Identification Help

[Dale]

Mike,  

Yes, that is true.  One fellow ham here in IA did solve his recent RFI problem with the "power down the house" approach, which killed the RFI.  By turning on one circuit breaker at a time, he discovered the culprit was a battery charger that had a defective battery pack which would not take the charge properly.  That was the only time the charger ever created such RFI.

In that case, the "fix" was easy, but by killing power in the house, many hours of possibly frustrating RFI-sleuthing were saved.

73, Dale
WA9ENA
Iowa ARRL Technical Coordinator


-----Original Message-----
>From: "W5JR.Mike" <w5jr.mike at gmail.com>
>Sent: Nov 11, 2013 10:38 AM
>To: Dale <svetanoff at earthlink.net>
>Cc: John Geiger <af5cc at fidmail.com>, "rfi at contesting.com" <rfi at contesting.com>
>Subject: Re: [RFI] RFI Identification Help
>
>My experience is that is the pattern of many battery chargers especially when the battery is fully charged but still connected. 
>
>tnx
>Mike / W5JR
>
>> On Nov 11, 2013, at 11:33 AM, Dale <svetanoff at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> 
>> John,
>> 
>> Locating the source is usually faster than speculating as to what it might be.  Start with the usual - power the '706 with a battery supply and then turn off power in the ENTIRE house when you are hearing the noise.  If the RFI goes away, the source is somewhere in your house and you can then start re-applying power one circuit breaker at a time until the noise returns.  You then need to examine every device on that circuit.
>> 
>> If the RFI does not go away when you power down the house, then it is time for action.  You will need to take the '706 mobile or portable and start traveling around the neighborhood, or even further.  Incidentally, try using the rig in AM mode to see if you can hear the RFI better than with SSB.  Keep us posted on how it goes.
>> 
>> 73, Dale
>> WA9ENA    
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: John Geiger <af5cc at fidmail.com>
>>> Sent: Nov 11, 2013 10:24 AM
>>> To: rfi at contesting.com
>>> Subject: [RFI] RFI Identification Help
>>> 
>>> I have an RFI problem that mostly shows up during the day, and affects most 
>>> bands, although I notice it most on 15 and 12 meters as I am on those bands 
>>> more during the day.  It is a buzzing type noise that comes in around S6 or 
>>> so on my Icom 706MKII, and the NB won't do anything about it.  It doesn't 
>>> show up all of the time, but comes and goes,  It seems to cycle with 4 
>>> seconds on and 3 seconds off, and sometimes will cycle quicker than that. 
>>> Anyone else seen an RFI issue like this and have any idea what it might be? 
>>> It doesn't seem to occur at night.
>>> 
>>> 73 John AF5CC 
>>> 
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>> 
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