Friday, December 19, 2008

HF Noise - Plasma TVs


This morning's discussion of digital flat screen TVs included a mention of plasma TVs as a source of RF noise that can affect HF radio. An article with comments from 2002 describes this issue. Thanks to KB4XX for this link.

The ARRL hosts an RF noise page that includes audio recordings of various identified noise sources, along with waveform views. There is not one currently labeled as a plasma TV, but there are some entries for TV sets as noise sources.

If you or your neighbors buy plasma TVs and you notice an increased noise level across the HF bands, you may want to see if the noise correlates to operation of the plasma TV. Good luck!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Russian Woodpecker

Old timers on the HF bands will remember the Russian woodpecker. Go here for a web article with great photos of the antenna array. Thanks to Joe KA4ZCO for the link.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Understanding Antennas

Smitty KB4BW suggested the web page Understanding Antennas for the Non-Technical Ham. It provides access to a PDF copy of a 74-page book by Jim Abercrombie, N4JA.