Constant static on base..

[164 northern cal]

I have RFI causing a whole lot of static. It is coming from the inverter on my solar shed. I sure could use a cure for this.

 

[CB590]

Further thoughts.. with ground wire on antenna bracket up top, or off the SWR was 1.2 or so.. so I removed that wire.

Granted that wire went no where and dangling and probably acted like 1 leg of a ground plane..

So I'm thinking the antenna bracket is definitely making contact with the galvanized pipe holding it up and that the 3 screws holding the 2 galvanized pieces together are making contact as well..

Maybe I will just run a short heavy gauge wire from those screws down to a rod and call that good..

Maybe then adjust the 'rings' on the A99 for 1-1..

Or should I wait and get 2nd choke, play with coax to put the proposed 2nd choke inline just outside shack wall then adjust SWR tuning rings on A99??

Hence 2 chokes (1 up top by antenna lead, currently in place) and other just outside house wall..

Thoughts..

 

[sunbulls]

I have RFI causing a whole lot of static. It is coming from the inverter on my solar shed. I sure could use a cure for this.

Try adding ferrite cores to all the wire leads, including the AC power cord if your unit has one. 1000uf electrolytic capacitors across the DC terminals may also help. Some of the worst units, especially those imported from China with plastic cases and no FCC certification, need to be isolated inside a manufactured or home brew “Faraday shield” cage. The cage also needs to have its own separate earth ground. An old microwave oven will make an ideal cage.

 

[W4KVW]

You are measuring the noise level on a CB S-meter so it could be improperly calibrated since it is not a precise instrument.I have no issues with noise on any radio since I use a ClearSpeech DSP module on every radio I own on AM or SSB.It wipes away the noise so all you hear are the voices in the speaker.The ClearSpeech even makes the receive on my ICOM 7600 better on HF & 6 meters.

SIX-SHOOTER

 

[BJ radionut]

Good reading Here:
https://www.solar-electric.com/reducing-electromagnetic-interference-pv-systems.html
http://palomar-engineers.com/rfi-kits/solar-system-rfi
http://palomar-engineers.com/rfiemi-solutions/

 

[Riverman]

You are measuring the noise level on a CB S-meter so it could be improperly calibrated since it is not a precise instrument.I have no issues with noise on any radio since I use a ClearSpeech DSP module on every radio I own on AM or SSB.It wipes away the noise so all you hear are the voices in the speaker.The ClearSpeech even makes the receive on my ICOM 7600 better on HF & 6 meters.SIX-SHOOTER

Six-Shooter,

For the past ten minutes I've been drooling over pics of all the great radios you have (I do that periodically). My wife saw me and said, "You're not looking at porn, are you?"
I said, "No, sweetie. Just Six-Shooter's radios."

 

[CB590]

You are measuring the noise level on a CB S-meter so it could be improperly calibrated since it is not a precise instrument.I have no issues with noise on any radio since I use a ClearSpeech DSP module on every radio I own on AM or SSB.It wipes away the noise so all you hear are the voices in the speaker.The ClearSpeech even makes the receive on my ICOM 7600 better on HF & 6 meters.

SIX-SHOOTER

Not so worried about meter as not hearing consistently out to say 10 miles or the guy 42 miles away buried in RF static..

Seems like I added the first choke near antenna feed point the other people can be heard 'cleaner' too over the din

Also remember the radio was run off just a battery for testing.. definitely not coming from this house.. either other people or the nearby transformer.

 

[W4KVW]

Not so worried about meter as not hearing consistently out to say 10 miles or the guy 42 miles away buried in RF static..

Seems like I added the first choke near antenna feed point the other people can be heard 'cleaner' too over the din

Also remember the radio was run off just a battery for testing.. definitely not coming from this house.. either other people or the nearby transformer.

 

[W4KVW]

Did you miss the part about getting or using a DSP module or DSP Speaker?

 

[CB590]

Did you miss the part about getting or using a DSP module or DSP Speaker?

The one module looked interesting. Was $90. Said CW or SSB. My AM is a mess as well..

Found these for $20.. don't know if I'll need 6 or 12 for $36 though.. radiodan on EB has them.. can snap on and try just outside the shack wall and see if that helps.. if it works I'll just heatshrink them and slide into a PVC tube and seal up ends.. That way I don't have to mess with cutting my coax again and adding another MFJ-915 choke..



Again everything is on hold for at least a month.. bills are super tight..

Running radio back in truck for abit since I'm at work more than home and a half hour at lunch is better than none and wife yelling about it..

 

[164 northern cal]

My inverter is the culprit I can pull into the yard with my mobile in the truck and when I get to about 80 ft. away the RFI starts. As soon as I move away the interference drops. I have my radio (base) about 50 ft. away from the solar shed. I took hardware cloth and put it on the outside wall of the inverter and sank a grounding rod 8ft. into the ground and grounded the hardware cloth to it. It did not help. I have tried the ferrite chokes to the ac lines also but still have not killed the noise. The chokes I bought of ebay. Before I had the solar I just used a generator. Never had the problem until I got the inverter. I have not grounded the A99 yet but might try that. I have not hooked up the HF radio yet but it will have the same effect I am sure. I could shut the inverter down and just run the generator when I need to run the transmitter I guess but that will be a pain in the arse! I have not tried to twist the DC cables but will do that when I service my DC connections.

 

[BJ radionut]

http://www.askaprepper.com/10-faraday-cages-you-can-make-at-home/

Interesting info...Homebrew FARADAY Cage...may help your issue.
Plus follow the info above from Solar Equipment company on shielding your wiring. Remember the wiring becomes the antenna!!!
All the Best
Gary

 

[164 northern cal]

Thank you Gary I will read this.

 

[CB590]

My inverter is the culprit I can pull into the yard with my mobile in the truck and when I get to about 80 ft. away the RFI starts. As soon as I move away the interference drops. I have my radio (base) about 50 ft. away from the solar shed. I took hardware cloth and put it on the outside wall of the inverter and sank a grounding rod 8ft. into the ground and grounded the hardware cloth to it. It did not help. I have tried the ferrite chokes to the ac lines also but still have not killed the noise. The chokes I bought of ebay. Before I had the solar I just used a generator. Never had the problem until I got the inverter. I have not grounded the A99 yet but might try that. I have not hooked up the HF radio yet but it will have the same effect I am sure. I could shut the inverter down and just run the generator when I need to run the transmitter I guess but that will be a pain in the arse! I have not tried to twist the DC cables but will do that when I service my DC connections.

After doing solar stuff a few years back..

What type and brand or inverter??

What type of solar charge controller?

I ran a $350 Xantrex ProWatt SW2000 inverter and Midnight Classic 150 controller that was $600.. I know my VHF 2m radio was quiet as mouse and my GMRS repeater also on this setup gave 0 noise.

I was running 8 panels for 1300w on this setup. Radios we're less than 10' from Midnight and inverter.

Hence my questions..

 

[164 northern cal]

Xantrex 4000 24 volt, outback charge controller, 4-150w solar panels. I would have to dig up all the info on the equipment for the exact models. The stuff is about 10 years old. I have 8 golf cart type lead/acid batteries.