I am very happy to announce that our next meeting will feature Part 2 of Chuck’s presentation on RFI! At the last meeting, Chuck demonstrated a simple loop antenna and SWL radio setup for “sniffing” RF Interference sources in a practical way. He also provided some great slides showing his research into how his noise level compared with “industry standard” and some of the methods and tools he used to combat it. This time we expect Chuck to give practical examples of both RFI sources, identified by sound and “sight” (waterfall display), and the devices he has constructed to silence these offenders. Please don’t miss this important BARS meeting to educate yourself!
There is no question that in 2018 our radios, especially HF ones, pick up many more S-units of noise than when a lot of us were first licensed. Grow lights, street lamps, power lines, wall warts (chargers), WIFI devices, plasma TVs, etc – all of these contribute to the noise floor being higher than it was. I operated from what was a very RF quiet cottage in Maine a few years back and the noise level off-season was S-7 to S-9. Back home my level was actually lower at S-3!
Chuck Counselman, W1HIS, will present strategies and simple, homebrew methods to combat this kind of interference. He will dispel some myths and hype surrounding commercial “solutions” as well. As a guy who has used a few snap-on chokes but little else, I will be paying close attention!
Chuck will make his slides available for download, too, so you can use them for reference.
Please join us for this great presentation. Here is some info about Chuck:
Chuck has been a ham since 1956 and, for the last 20 years, he has specialized in RFI — in measuring, analyzing, understanding, and eliminating RFI, both transmitted and received. He has been the YCCC’s go-to person for RFI problems since 2006 when his paper entitled “Common Mode Chokes” was linked to the YCCC website. This article was copied, translated into dozens of languages, and linked to the websites of more than a hundred individual hams, clubs, the amateur radio associations of several countries, professional organizations, and companies. Chuck’s paper received so much attention and the volume of e-mail he received was so great that he had to remove the paper from the YCCC site; but he still speaks about RFI to local clubs. This will be his second talk to our club.
Chuck was a Professor (and remains a Professor Emeritus) at MIT, where he taught and did research in Planetary Science, Astronomy, and Astrophysics. He is best known for having made Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation available to civilians. For this work he was granted dozens of US and foreign patents, and he has been awarded several medals and prizes by national and international professional associations.
Andy
KA1GTT
President, BARS
Time:
Meetings begin promptly at 7:00 PM, first Wednesday of the month.
Location:
Our meeting location in Chelmsford is at:
Chelmsford Bible Church
128 Gorham St. (Route 3A)
Chelmsford, MA 01824
Please park in back and enter by the rear door. A map can be accessed by the “Club Meetings” notice on the right side of the website.
The Billerica ARS encourages members to get on the air! (GOTA). There are many exciting operating events over the coming cold months to enjoy. Let us know what you’re interested in.
Bring a friend (or aspiring ham) and join us!
Note: The weekly BARS Wednesday night net will not meet on this evening because of the club meeting. Members are encouraged to get on Billerica (147.12) on their way to/from the meeting instead.
