Topband: 160m Noise Floor

[W2PM]

There are many good ideas including placing compact receive antennas like a pennant or flag on the fringe of your property away from as much man made sources as possible.  However once near instant trick you can try is a simple piece if wire on the ground in then remotest part of your property as possible.  End feed it, simple ground rod with shield to it, as possible for 160 meters and use a tuner pre amp inside at shack. I use a smack, MFJ receive tuner and preamplifier combo device. Works fairly well. Takes ALL powerline crud away, all neighbors jacuzzi heater crud and other stuff. It certainly won't be a competitive dx antenna but you will hear stuff, and surprising amount of dx. Amazing how local noise, even at less tha. s3 levels, totally masks dx.  I use a bog like this here, about 125 ft long all on ground and can hear euro dx on 160 fine.  On 80 it's almost a good rx antenna, and same even better on 40 and 30. 

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On Sep 2, 2010, at 4:36, "Gary Hinson" <Gary at isect.com> wrote:

>> My QTH is in a suburban neighborhood surrounded by other 
>> houses. Manmade noise sources in the area are producing a 
>> receive noise floor of S-9 across the entire 160m band.
>> 
>> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to reduce the noise?
> 
> Move to the country  :-)
> 
> Use another band  :-)
> 
> Use a remote receiver in a better QTH  :-)
> 
> If none of those are an option, there are some practical things you can do
> such as systematically hunt down and eliminate the noise sources - easy
> enough in your own home, harder at the friendly neighbors and near
> impossible for those you don't get along with.  Switchmode power supplies,
> plasma and CRT TVs, WiFi routers and other PC & networking gear, even light
> dimmers can cause horrendous QRM across HF.  Curing them is easy if you can
> afford to replace them with better (properly designed and actuall
> suppressed) models, trickier if you need to start messing around with
> ferrits and bypass capacitors.
> 
> Arcing MV insulators on the local HV/MV grid are a classic problem radiating
> cr*p up to several miles around along the power lines.  The power company
> *should* help, but hams are generally not on their Christmas card lists.
> 
> "Broadband over power line" systems, both the area wide and in-house
> versions, are a total nightmare.  WiFi is definitely the lesser of two
> evils, while fiber optics or properly specified and installed twisted pair
> or coax Ethernet are fine if you have the choice ... which you almost
> certainly don't.  Maybe you can persuade your neighbours to turn their
> systems off when they go to bed?
> 
> 'Noise reduction' systems of various types will ameliorate the remaining
> crud to some extent.  Phasing systems with active noise receiving antennas
> get decent reports if you have the patience to setup, tune and phase them
> right, but in a noisy urban environment with multiple sources and
> directions, they are on a hiding to nothing.  Analog noise blankers make
> things worse, on the whole, but decent DSP noise reduction software is
> surprisingly good these days.
> 
> Narrow CW filters are great if you use CW or data modes.  
> 
> Last but definitely not least, the wetware filter between your ears can do
> wonders with oodles of practice, perseverance and experience.  
> 
> 73 GL
> Gary  ZL2iFB
> 
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