smecca
| Joined: | Mon, Oct 27th 2014, 03:17 | Roles: | N/A | Moderates: | N/A |
Latest Topics
| Topic | Created | Posts | Views | Last Activity |
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| RFI unresolved | Feb 6th 2018, 22:46 | 4 | 8,381 | on 20/2/18 |
Latest Posts
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| RFI unresolved | smecca | on 20/2/18 |
| Thank you Zak. I do have some toroids but have not used them. Have you ever used the toroids on the AC power cables? BUT...... Here is an update. I have the issue 95% or more resolved. I had to isolate the ground radials to just the shielded end of the Inverted L. In other words..... the ground radials were tied to the mast holding all of the antennas. I pulled them from the mast ground post and tied them directly to the grounded end of the antenna. I can run 500W on 80m now and there is not a single issue. This also took the ground radials off of the same ground as the equipment. There is now just a small amount of common mode on my 40m but I suspect the ugly balun will nail that. |
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| RFI unresolved | smecca | on 6/2/18 |
| RFI in the shack, especially on the AC side. 40m and 80m are the worst. The upper bands are on a delta loop at 45'. 40m is a double bazooka at 30'. 80m is an inverted L at 33'. Over 30 radials, 5 ground rods spaced at 8' Cadwelded with #4 copper. Ferrite beads on all RF leads and the AC power cords. UnNun baluns and everything bonded in the shack. I even have a small Farady cage around the radio and amp. The AFCI all trip at key up. Not sure what else to try. The antennas are all right above the radio, tuner, and amp. The vertical mast is literally within 7' of the equipment. One ham said that I would never get rid of the RFI until I move the antennas away from the shack. The vertical mast is within 12' of the meter base to the house. What can be done??? BTW...... I have replaced all of my Eaton breakers. I even had them replaced in my neighbors. This condition has worsened since I installed an amp. Not tripping my neighbors breakers. Is it possible this is an issue with RFI going back on the AC cord from the Amp (ACOM 1010)? I have 5 ferrite beads on the power cord. I also question if my breaker panel has a good ground. Another ham has told me that my antennas are just too close to the shack and the house. |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 6/2/18 |
| RFI in the shack, especially on the AC side. 40m and 80m are the worst. The upper bands are on a delta loop at 45'. 40m is a double bazooka at 30'. 80m is an inverted L at 33'. Over 30 radials, 5 ground rods spaced at 8' Cadwelded with #4 copper. Ferrite beads on all RF leads and the AC power cords. UnNun baluns and everything bonded in the shack. I even have a small Farady cage around the radio and amp. The AFCI all trip at key up. Not sure what else to try. The antennas are all right above the radio, tuner, and amp. The vertical mast is literally within 7' of the equipment. One ham said that I would never get rid of the RFI until I move the antennas away from the shack. The vertical mast is within 12' of the meter base to the house. What can be done??? | ||
| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 16/3/16 |
| Thanks. I will install some ground radials as soon as the ground thaws. I have since placed a W2DU current balun near my XMTR. I also added a few 6" loops at this location. This weekend I will be placing a decoupling coil near the antenna consisting of 10 wraps of transmission line on a 6" PVC cylinder. I am using LMR400. Finally, my neighbor called this weekend and stated that my transmissions are "showing up" in his stereo. Is all of this related? I have ordered some ferrite beads to give him for his speaker cables. What else can I do to get my "voice" out of his stereo? BTW... his house was built at the same time as mine by the same contractor. I have been tripping his AFCIs as well. I am paying for an electrician to replace his AFCIs as well. Just the labor, Eaton sent me enough breakers to put in his panel as well. |
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| HF RF Tripping Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI's) | W4TL | on 3/3/16 |
| I concur with K4WFM. I received my replacement breakers from Eaton this January and finally installed them this Sunday. About 80% of the issue was resolved. However last nights operations began tripping the Arc Fault breakers again. This occurred mostly on 40m. My grounding is excellent. I work the entire US with 50W on a vertical with no radials. My SWR is less than 1.5 on the General bands. With these results, I suspect that I have a pretty high Q and most of the RF energy is getting transmitted. Probably too good. Could proximity of the antenna and XMTR to the utility transformer, AC meter base, and breaker panel be "saturating" my AC utility system and causing the RFI that is tripping my breakers? |
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