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Best equipment for ham radio (no rfi interfere)

73powerstroke said:
I dont use coax. I use balanced feedline.
The thing I'm trying to figure out is what inverters are quiet enough for ham radio. What charge controllers are quiet enough. I would think lf inverters would be top of the list.
I've heard midnite solar and outback were quiet for CCs but some people have said that they were terrible.
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In the military don't they put things that produce interference like chargers etc in a faraday cage or sorts? Let me know if you solve this ..I'll be in the same boat hopefully soon. Be lucky you don't live close to me when I fire up the baofeng..lol 73/s
 
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Tecnodave said:
I am using a CC.......just not what you expected. I use a simple series regulator which is analogue.....pass transistors with a control circuit. It does not switch like a PWM or MPPT. Operates as a series resistance between the battery and the solar array. Very simple but not terribly efficient. It does waste 30 % of the power as heat.

On the main system I use mostly Classic 150’s but this is for general use, and yes I do get EMI/RFI on that system
In some applications like my wi-fi repeater which is 3 miles from my house use only very small amounts of power. It consists of two routers back to back “bending the wi-fi signal over a ridge top” I have a 20 watt panel there with a simple series regulator, it really doesn't matter if I waste 20-40 % of the power. Both transmitters draw only a few watts.

I do have quite a few good controllers including two Classic 150’s and two Kid’s and a 60 amp PWM Morningstar but for my medical use the EMI is not tolerated by my medical device which uses multiple waveforms for direct use in the body. This system is totally isolated from everything else. Its 20-30 watts and a small AGM battery with a simple series regulator. The medical use is measured in milliwatts.........Its not about the effeciency here but the NO EMI/RFI that makes wasting 10-20 watts to get a few watts very pure is totally worth it.

The wi-fi repeater uses only 1-2 watts at maximum throughput so wasting most of a 20 watt panel is no big deal.

Im using DDWRT software which is downloaded to Linksys WRT54GL routers making them do things that they will not do out of the box. I run at about 180-200 mw output from the transmitter chips into a 30 dbi gain parabolic dish antenna and get 12-20 miles range on wi-fi........dont try this at home if you can see the antenna in front of you! The router/repeaters and highly directional antenna’s are located 30 feet up a communications tower.

Good information on this can be found at DDWRT.COM in Dresden, Germany......READ...the WIKI

I started tinkering electricity before the transistor was in popular use......doing solar in 1965-1966 there was no MPPT or even PWM......We used simple series or shunt regulators or big zener diodes to protect the battery banks from overcharge
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I used to flash the ddwrt and before that I used tomatoe.. I've tried many old blue linksys.. routers. I used to sell them to people on ebay. But it was worth the trouble
 
Skypower said:
The funny thing is my inverters (LV 6548)are cleaner and have a better sine wave than the grid. The only exception is when the only thing on (light load) is the Keurig coffee maker is working (pulses on and off to control the heating element) which plays havoc with the inverter trying to hold exact voltage at low load. The sine wave still isn’t too bad but just enough to mess a bit with the cheaper LED lighting. An all band receiver is actually better when off grid in the house as long as the antenna sides are away from the ground array outside. Dang that charge control section of the inverter dumps noise out to the panels.
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I think my hvlv2424 is the same way.
I'm also trying to move panels away from my loop
 
Any more folk out there using the Victron equipment ? I would very much like to hear about your experiences as Victron is big in ZA - not so much the other brands mentioned in the above posts.
73.
 
pierre said:
Any more folk out there using the Victron equipment ? I would very much like to hear about your experiences as Victron is big in ZA - not so much the other brands mentioned in the above posts.
73.
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In my experience, Victron inverters and DC-DC chargers don't cause me any EMI/RFI grief. Their MPPTs, however, are noisy.
I have 2000 watts of solar on my RV going through two different Victron MPPTs and depending on the band and amount of sun, they can pretty much wipe out HF during the day. I have experimented with high-current DC line filters both before and after the MPPT and they do clean up a lot of the noise that is conducted on the DC wiring in the RV, but if I power my radios directly from AC (via a DC power supply running off the inverter) or directly off DC from the house batteries in the RV, I can't operate HF during the day. It sucks for Field Day or the Ohio QSO Party, both Summer time events here in Ohio. I have large torroidial ferrites on everything going into and out of my Victron equipment and still get noise.

Until reading this thread, I hadn't considered running a separate battery for the radios during the day that is not connected at all to the main house battery bank. I will have to try that. If it works, I'll then try a small isolated 12V/12V DC-DC charger between the main house battery and the radio battery. I assume that will bring noise back in, but I can automate turning that DC-DC charger on an off via a relay on the Cerbo GX so that I won't forget to keep the radio battery charged.

Has anyone tried using one of the Victron Peak Power Pack batteries for ham radio operation? I might have to get one of these on my next order just to try it out. It has a built-in charger and I'd be curious to see how noisy it is.
 
That's all I've ever asked amateurs plagued with this problem is to try to see if a totally isolated battery (with no scc hanging off the battery) makes any difference.

If it proves to be the silver bullet, then a 2-battery hot-swap solution (one for discharge, another isolated for solar charging only) might be considered.

Best of all, with LiFePO4 being so light in weight, one could carry TWO 50ah units into the field, instead of just one big 100ah lead acid with an scc hanging off it. Easier on the back. :) Actually, if one considers that most don't discharge lead-acid beyond 50%, then the comparison would be more accurate to humping around 200ah of lead.
 
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K8MEJ said:
Until reading this thread, I hadn't considered running a separate battery for the radios during the day that is not connected at all to the main house battery bank.
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Completely separate batteries is all I use for Amateur Radio for years now. All LiFePO4.

I started in the mobile when I didn’t want to run wires through the firewall and didn’t want to fight ignition noise. A 60Ah Bioenno lasts a good long time when mobile.

Then I built an off grid station which required it.

Finally I did the same at the home shack. I rotate two different 100Ah DIY batteries. One is charging via solar away from the shack while the other is in use.

Oh, and SOTA is small capacity LiFePO4 stuff, mostly DIY.

I do use various 48V nominal inverters to power an SPE 1.3 kFA amplifier at home and an Elecraft KPA-500 at the off grid station.

The Elecraft radios love the higher voltage of 4S LiFePO4 as it reduces IMD artifacts. I think most current radios can handle the higher voltage.
 
Right on JoeHam !

Early on I wanted to find out why I was having NONE of the problems that others were having when the poo-pooed any form of charge controller that wasn't a 1970's hysteresis type, or power wasting solutions like linear regulators.

It was because I wasn't hanging my pwm or mppt controller across my dc line going to the battery and rig. So THATS why I can bring those controllers within 3 inches of my feedline / antenna feedpoints!

When queried, nearly all who bashed the tech or brands, had the scc hanging off their dc line. Not me, my battery was not being charged and discharged at the same time like that. That developed into the simple solution of a 2-battery isolated hot-swap.

Well, whaddya know? Those models proclaimed to be noisy weren't so from a *radiated* rfi standpoint, but from a /conducted/ standpoint.

Are there going to be exceptions where they are truly bad from a radiated RFI standpoint? Sure.

Sure, but generalized sweeping statements meant that testing between radiated and conducted noise were never carried out. I did, and was pleasantly surprised to find a simple solution. Isolation.
 
Skypower said:
Oh yeah boy do they radiate. It’s not the panels because they are true DC but the charge control constantly testing/teasing the array for the best power point. If you have an inverter with a built in Solar charge control, no panels and it’s under power from the batteries, for god’s sakes don’t touch the PV inputs with your fingers. Some inverters have enough juice there to give ya a dirt nap. Who knew the inputs would have output right? Not immediately obvious.
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What if you gave up efficiency?
Use PWM controller, basically on/off , either charging or not, to charge the batteries?
If your equipment is fed directly from the batteries that would limit RFI I would think.
 
fromport said:
What if you gave up efficiency?
Use PWM controller, basically on/off , either charging or not, to charge the batteries?
If your equipment is fed directly from the batteries that would limit RFI I would think.
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A PWM controller switches at 28khz with lots of harmonics, some make more interference than MPPT types,

But in a direct comparison:
a Midnight Classic 150 doing a 72 volt conversion to 28 volts
verses
a Morningstar 60 amp PWM controller doing a 36 volt conversion to 28 volts

The Morningstar was (EMI/RFI) quieter at comparable power levels but not by a huge amount
 
We hear, or see NO RFI from our inverters, as stated before. (old Xantrex SW+5548s, stacked -- Low Frequency)

AND, have not used a 12 V DC powered HF transceiver for more than 20 years -- all the HF radios here are 200 watt output, and run on their own internal 120 VAC-powered, power supplies. One of them uses its internal SMPS, and the other one uses linear regulated outputs, to run the radio, although, it may have a small switcher for some accessory voltage.

But that's just me, 73, GL to all, 'Luke'
 
Prince Of Darkness said:
We hear, or see NO RFI from our inverters, as stated before. (old Xantrex SW+5548s, stacked -- Low Frequency)

AND, have not used a 12 V DC powered HF transceiver for more than 20 years -- all the HF radios here are 200 watt output, and run on their own internal 120 VAC-powered, power supplies. One of them uses its internal SMPS, and the other one uses linear regulated outputs, to run the radio, although, it may have a small switcher for some accessory voltage.

But that's just me, 73, GL to all, 'Luke'
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I use a yaesu ft102 mostly. Tube hybrid about 200w out. (3 6146b tubes with a 12by7 driver. Everything else is solid-state). It can't even run on 12v. I also have/use a ts940 and a ft-one, ft101zd, ft101, ft101b, all run on 120vac.
I have a few radios for portable and what not but at home I prefer old radios
 
Another thread reminded me about a common RFI generator - mismatched MC-4 panel connectors, ie those from differing manufacturers that have slightly different tolerances.

Even if new, under high-load conditions, MC-4 connectors with slight tolerance deviations can arc undetected - or at least not bad enough to cause connector meltdown. But we all know how little of an arc it takes for our receivers to hear it!

Classic diagnostic is taking a portable am radio and run it along the panel cabling. The arc'ing MC-4 will blow that radio out of your hands. :)
 
Substrate said:
Another thread reminded me about a common RFI generator - mismatched MC-4 panel connectors, ie those from differing manufacturers that have slightly different tolerances.

Even if new, under high-load conditions, MC-4 connectors with slight tolerance deviations can arc undetected - or at least not bad enough to cause connector meltdown. But we all know how little of an arc it takes for our receivers to hear it!

Classic diagnostic is taking a portable am radio and run it along the panel cabling. The arc'ing MC-4 will blow that radio out of your hands. :)
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Remember when pocket radios were common place ? ?. I found all of these rare gems at thrift stores
20221015_143910.jpg20221015_145652.jpg20221015_151214.jpg20221015_151225.jpg
 
I was interested to see if I could hear any RFI from my inverters.
Tried 80M AM mode, AM is noisy anyway, but the inverters don't show up,
only the LED light strips in the shack are very noisy.
40M, 10M no noise from the inverters.
Schneider included ferrite chokes for the MPPT charge controller cabling, very good.
One PV array (ground mount) is 100ft away from the shack, the other PV array is on the roof.
Roof is corrugated steel, all grounded/bonded to the halo system around the shack, as per Motorola R-56.
 
Nice - tip here is instead of just using common mode chokes, try putting a pair of .1uf caps with the proper voltage in series across the output of the device (or perhaps across the dc input to your rig) with a ground coming from the middle of the two series-connected caps. Provides additional filtering beyond just the chokes...

Still plenty of good little radios for us freaks. Like CCrane, Tecsuns etc - all of which have mostly ditched the analog tuner, and use DSP chips like from SiliconLabs. Now we're *really* getting ot. :)
 
Man this thread is triggering a great memory. I built loop antenna back in early 90’s. It was a “Convoluted loop antenna” by Ted Heart W5QJR and sized for 160 & 80 meters. It was cubicle and approximately 12 or 13 feet on the sides and height. Constructed of 1” copper tube, silver bearing solder with the upper corners not elbows but 2” wide braid for flexibility and the top spacer was plexiglass, Delrin off ground spacers on all four corners. The tuner was a vacuum variable( a swap meet score of a lifetime) driven/tuned remotely by a stepper motor. There were 120 12AWG each 80’ radials laid out. It was tested in my front yard and I’m sure the neighbors thought I was nuts…..too bad. It was than folded and strapped on the side of my stretch Ford Econoline van for transport to a mountain top for “Field Day”. After I set it up I was exhausted. A gifted blind operator commandeered and would not relinquish that station the entire event. I’m sure he set a permanent record in CW QRP on 160 & 80 that still stands today. At the end of the event the poor guy had to be carried out because he was in bad shape. That antenna was so quiet and efficient it was eerie. A very narrow R/X notch that had to be turned for each place on the band. After the event, it resided in my backyard till I moved then it went to a fellow Ham in the Santa Cruise mountains above Los Gatos CA. You can find some info and formulas in the HR magazine April 1989. Attributes; omni directional, low to moderate angle, ultra low noise and super efficient.
 
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Skypower said:
Man this thread is triggering a great memory. I built loop antenna back in early 90’s. It was a “Convoluted loop antenna” by Ted Heart W5QJR and sized for 160 & 80 meters. It was cubicle and approximately 12 or 13 feet on the sides and height. Constructed of 1” copper tube, silver bearing solder with the upper corners not elbows but 2” wide braid for flexibility and the top spacer was plexiglass, Delrin off ground spacers on all four corners. The tuner was a vacuum variable( a swap meet score of a lifetime) driven by a stepper motor. There were 120 12AWG each 80’ radials laid out. It was tested in my front yard and I’m sure the neighbors thought I was nuts…..too bad. It was than folded and strapped on the side of my stretch Ford Econoline van for transport to a mountain top for “Field Day”. After I set it up I was exhausted. A gifted blind operator commandeered and would not relinquish that station the entire event. I’m sure he set a permanent record in CW QRP on 160 & 80 that still stands today. At the end of the event the poor guy had to be carried out because he was in bad shape. That antenna was so quiet and efficient it was eerie. A very narrow R/X notch that had to be turned for each place on the band. After the event, it resided in my backyard till I moved then it went to a fellow Ham in the Santa Cruise mountains above Los Gatos CA. You can find some info and formulas in the HR magazine April 1989. Attributes; omni directional, low to moderate angle, ultra low noise and super efficient.
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My friend uses a mag loop on 80 he built
I'm not sure the specifics
 
I run a full wave loop on 80m with ladder line, 6-40m off center fed dipole I use for 40 and I have a hustler 5btv vertical and a imax2000 for 10m also several portable antennas like mp1 super antennas , some resonant dipoles and a mfj outbacker copy. Antennas are fun. I use a nano vna these days to sweep a antenna, I have a old mfj antenna analyzer but I never use it anymore. Also use the eznc modeling software
 
How about a mobile loop ?


Top right picture. Not mine but I’ve worked Ken plenty of times.

I had a wire full wave 80m loop fed with 600 Ohm ladder line up for years, tuned on all bands with a Palstar BT-1500.
 
HAM operator since 1975. SMA inverters have been reported to be HAM friendly as German RFI restrictions are much tighter. As others have said, I also operate off isolated DC batteries that are never connected to a charging source when operating and keep other charging/power sources (wall warts) out of your shack!
 
73powerstroke said:
Wow. Yeah that's pretty crazy.
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Depends on what type of loop, magnetic (small) or resonant(large), what band and how efficient. Regardless 160&80m are probably out because the state would have a problem with removing overpasses, streetlights and traffic signals in the vehicle’s path. A magnetic loop antenna on 40m would be possible but the signals would be off the sides (long rectangle element) and the efficiency would be seriously degraded by a nearby ferrous metal object (the vehicle). You won’t believe how much better magnetic loops operate away from large steel objects. I’d probably be going with the traditional verticals for a mobile in motion above 40m
 
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