[RFI] House Ground

dalej dj2001x at comcast.net
Wed Mar 16 15:21:43 EDT 2016


I got a Macbook Pro here in the shack that makes three.  If the snap on device took care of it then I wouldn't worry about trying to ground the macbook.  You might do harm to the macbook and not fix anything more than you already have.  

Dale, k9vuj


On 16, Mar 2016, at 12:19, David Winarsky <david at winarsky.com> wrote:

I have a Macbook Pro sitting next to my Elecraft K3.  I have a USB cable going from the Macbook to the KAT500 tuner and found that I was getting RFI from the cable at various points on 20m.  I stuck 3 snap-on ferrites on the USB cable by the connector to the Macbook and that took care of it, however it did make me wonder if I should be bonding to computer.  It’s not clear how, however because there’s no easy connection to the chassis.

David
NY6W

> On Mar 16, 2016, at 10:01 AM, dalej <dj2001x at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> I have two iMacs, same deal with the PS.  I don't have any noise from either one.  My neighbors plasma TV I hear though.  
> 
> All the Apple products I've owned since 1988 never had an issue with RFI from any of them.
> 
> Dale, k9vuj
> 
> 
> 
> On 16, Mar 2016, at 11:55, Robert Nobis <n7rjn at nobis.net> wrote:
> 
> Cortland,
> 
> The MacMini is the also double insulated, although it has an internal power supply. More and more computer manufacturers are doing this.  However, it is not totally clear to me how one could realistically insulate (or isolate) the various I/O lines from such computers. For example USB ports or audio in/out lines. 
> 
> 73,
> 
> 
> Bob Nobis - N7RJN
> n7rjn at nobis.net
> 
> 
>> On Mar 16, 2016, at 09:13, Cortland Richmond <ka5s at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> 
>> On 3/16/2016 2:24 AM, Robert Nobis wrote:
>>> Many modern, small profile, PCs have a built in power supply (switching) and are connected to the AC mains with a two wire cord/plug, without a “green wire”. My iMac and MacMini are like this as is my Microsoft Surface Pro 3.   Per your step two, should these types of computers also be bonded to the radio with a heavy short braid?
>> 
>> See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes#Class_II
>> 
>> My Surface Pro uses a double insulated, external power supply with a number of agency safety marks. Bypassing double insulation with an external ground wire is a bad idea, as that protection is also bypassed. It can also increase radio interference.  Does this mean we can't filter signals going into and out of such equipment? No it doesn't. We have to ensure that the signals we want to filter are also insulated to the same degree as the equipment is.
>> 
>> Cortland Richmond
>> KA5S
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