Topband: RFI Down Under

[Phil Hartwell]

G'day All,

Several months ago I purchased a custom built PC for my shack, from a 
long established local dealer, as I had used them many times before. I 
had been prepared to build it myself, but upon investigation I found 
that the dealer could build it cheaper than I could, plus load and test 
Win 10, and provide a three year warranty, so I took the easy option. 
All seemed well and it was successfully interfaced with my new TS-890S. 
A few days later I turned on an AM radio in the shack and was horrified 
by severe RFI across the entire MF BC band. My first suspicion was a 
recently installed broad band modem/router, but that was not the 
culprit. I traced it to the new PC PSU. I tried ferrites to no avail, so 
opened up the PSU to find no RFI filtering or transient suppression 
components whatsoever, despite the PSU having a *_CE label_* on it. The 
PCB had the RFI component locations marked, but to save a few cents they 
were omitted, as the country of origin (I won't mention it, we are in 
enough trouble with them already, they are a bit sensitive to criticism, 
but you can guess), knows that the Australian regulator does not and 
cannot enforce RFI compliance due to under-funding by the federal 
government. They know they can get away with it and flood the country 
with noise generating rubbish. I doubt they would get away with it in 
Germany, due to their high standards and hopefully enforcement, but I 
imagine the majority of countries are in the same boat as Australia.

Anyway, I removed the IEC socket and fitted an old "Corcom" filter and a 
varistor, which quietened the beast to my satisfaction. However, I was 
more than a bit peeved, so fired off a letter to the dealers management, 
advising them of the non compliant PSU (with a CE label), suggesting 
they cease selling such equipment and to advise the manufacturer that 
such rubbish is not acceptable. I also warned them that they might be 
liable for warranty repairs due to the susceptibility of the PSU to 
mains disturbances. A few days later a tech called me offering to 
replace the PSU, I declined saying I had fixed the problem myself, but 
reiterated my complaint, saying the regulator would take a dim view of 
such equipment. He had to agree and offered me a further extended 
warranty, free of charge, which I accepted. I doubt they will accept my 
advise, but I felt better after my rant.

Is it any wonder that HF operation is becoming increasingly difficult or 
impossible in urban areas? I'm lucky to live in an RF quiet rural area, 
so to preserve that I closely inspect any new equipment my gadget 
addicted XYL brings home! Apart from seasonal QRN, I hear very well on 
Top Band, it's frustrating, as I know many others can't hear me, not 
just because of QRN, but due to their high, local, man made noise level. 
A very sad state of affairs. I dread the proliferation of cordless 
charging devices and electric vehicle cordless charging, could be game over!

GL and 73, Phil VK6GX.



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