[RFI] Bonding to a PC

[David Huff]

What kind of PC, and what kind of power connection do you have?
If this is a Desktop computer it probably has a connector which is grounded.  See < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320>  connector C13, these are usually Class I devices.
Some laptop power supplies are Grounded Class I, or double insulated Class II <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appliance_classes>  Some Class II devices even have a ground, but separate the ground internally.  These devices can contain switching power supplies inside them which are noisy, and not always connected to earth ground.  Adding ferrites or torroids on both the input and output cables can dramatically reduce RF noise created in the power supply from being radiated out to other devices.  

Note that many people have installed clamp on ferrites or torroids on the AC power cord, just to keep the RF noise generated in the PC from being coupled back into the house 120V system.  Bonding might be good, but you should also experiment with RF suppression ferrites or torroids on the power cords, and anything else (USB, mouse, keyboard, etc.) routed from the PC out to the rest of the radio system.  Your PC is a tremendous source of RF noise, and keeping that noise out of other systems may entail grounding and bonding, or it might entail isolation.  
Thanks,
David
W0IM


-----Original Message-----
From: RFI <rfi-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of N4ZR
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2019 1:35 PM
To: RFI List <rfi at contesting.com>
Subject: [RFI] Bonding to a PC

I want to try to manage RFI in my shack, among other things, by bonding 
all chassis together, including my shack computer, but the question has 
come up - where can I find chassis ground on a PC without serial or 
parallel ports?  Is there a design standard, such as connecting the 
power supply chassis to ground buses on the motherboard, that makes this 
easy or does it have to be figured out PC by PC?

-- 

73, Pete N4ZR
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