How brilliant is that! Excellent result and well done that man! 😁

A great outcome on tracking down the source. We can all do this if we try. I prepared the original DF Loop article for QRM.GURU in VK. It's great to see so many operators around the world taking steps to reduce the noise floor. Well done! Cheers, Ian Jackson, VK3BUF, from RASA, the Radio Amateur Society of Australia.

@@rasa2745 Cheers Ian! Thanks for the design and inspiration 👍🏻

Well done on the elimination and good on you rectifying the problem. With operators like yourself the hobby continues to leap forward. Truly inspiring. 73.

Thanks Richie! Yes that’s a shame and something I was dreading. All worked out ok though, so you don’t know ‘til you knock. Ironically, I’d dropped a long, light-hearted, explanatory note around my neighbours some weeks back explaining what’s what and that I may be door-knocking asking for power-down help. This house was outside my immediate area, so never got that far! I’ll send another note out explaining the outcome 😀

Thanks for the interesting history lesson 😀

Yes all went as good as it could! 😀

Yes it helps a lot! 👍🏻

Yes Mark. Thanks!

Yes Richie and thanks! Cheap at the end of the day 😀 At least I wasn’t buying a new tv 😮

Great and thanks. See the latest video with an amended loop design 👍🏻Good luck.

Thanks Colin! Yes, all went well 👍🏻

Thanks!

Yes, shocking John isn’t it?! 😮

Thanks! Yes, I made the sniffer in case the loop was overwhelmed close in. Both worked, so bonus 😀

cheap Cell phone chargers are often the culprit

Yes Stephen. It would be a lot different if people don’t play ball. First impressions count 👍🏻

Yes Stewart. Frightening to think how far it reaches. I think it was working through the mains cabling as well as the sniffer was detecting it in the consumer unit in garage and on the extension lead plug where it was connected to the socket on the wall 😮

Thanks Brian! Yes, the loop is the place to start. The sniffer is good to poke at things if everything is still turned on. A loop indoors may pick up upstairs as well as in front and behind you, so sniffer a good plan b of you get confusing signals. Good luck 👍🏻

I have the same problem at my QTH. As soon as the Christmas lights come on 40m is almost unusable at S9++. People have mostly took theirs down now and it’s much better. Funny how all these products meet UL or CSA standards but still emit so much QRM. Thanks for the video from VA3XAP

Great, good luck Lyam! 👍🏻

Thanks Mat! I still get emails from people who’ve read the article or gone back to it and used the loop to suss their QRM, which is great. Thanks again 😀

Thanks James! Glad it’s sorted 😮

Yes thanks Nigel! Yes, I’d be scuppered otherwise 😮

Thanks Vince! Yes, glad it’s long gone 😀 Hopefully there’s other videos in here you’ll like too 👍🏻

@@ianxfs I'll definitely check them out! 73, KC1PAN.

Thanks Brian! Yes, hopefully others can benefit too 👍🏻

Thanks!

Shame about the 🔔 👎🏻 Good luck with the test 🤞🏻

Thanks Paul!

Thanks! Yes, a big factor.

Yes Robin! Now need some air time to reap the rewards 😁

Yes Mike. Played ball throughout. Getting him a new charger👍🏻

Yes, bottle of wine when I drop off the new charger 🍷😀

Yes, helped a lot 👍🏻

Thanks and good luck finding yours 🤞🏻

Thanks for the comment James. I’ll tweak the description to explain I’ve swapped it out for free. No cliffhanger I’m afraid and I’ll be glad to see the back of it 😀 Excellent QRZ extract 😀

👍🏻

Thanks!

Ha ha, yes Chris, a spare charger that’s about to meet up with a 🔨😁

@@ianxfs :-)

Thanks Kevin! Yes, easy project with some straightforward bits 👍🏻

Ok thanks Gregg.

Thanks and good luck Earl!

Thanks Eddie!

Thanks! Yes, this is definitely a dodgy brand and labelling and doesn’t meet the regs. Unfortunately there’s lots on the online sites, so can only get worse for us all 👎🏻

Thanks Martin!

Ha ha yes Tim! It’s long gone now thank god 😀

Thanks Mick! 👍🏻

Thanks Kev! Have a good 2022 👍🏻

Great!

Thanks!

Thanks. Great comment and plumbing analogy 👍🏻

Thanks Scott!

Well done on finding that one Andy! Would have drove you nuts!

Thanks Dave! That’s an unusual one, but well spotted and sorted 👍🏻

Thanks!

Thanks Sean! Yes, I offered at the outset that I’d replace whatever was faulty, if possible. Might have been £hundreds, but fortunately it wasn’t 👍🏻

Not good Paul. Hopefully you never get into the same position with QRM.

There is an approach you can use Paul. Invoke their own self-interest. Tell them that the interference is also slowing down their own Wifi speed and range. Also interference is often a sign of a power supply or charger overheating fault that could start a fire in their home. Cheers, Ian VK3BUF

Thanks John!

Thanks!

Thanks and yes Robbie!

Nice to work you and good luck with that QRM hunt 👍🏻

Crikey Ben, that’s not good is it?

Hi Nick! I’ve ordered him a new one for free. It could have been a tv I suppose, so I got off lightly 😀 I was willing to swap-out whatever was the offending item for the sake of clear bands 👍🏻 Ironically, I’d tee’d up all my neighbours about amateur radio/QRM and helping me find and sort it. They were all keen to power-off for me, but I said I’d do a bit of rf hunting first. Sod’s Law this wasn’t an immediate neighbour, but happy to help none the less 👍🏻

@@ianxfs great! The difficulty might be getting a ‘noise-free’ charger (or at least sourcing it with a 14 day ‘no quibble’ returns). I bought a 36Ah LiFePO4 battery approx 6 months ago (amazing weight saving for backpack portable vs lead acid and ace for holding up on V) BUT the charger ain’t half noisy so I charge when not in the shack. I just hope it doesn’t cause probs to my ham mate up the road...... have a good week.

Yes Nick. Buying another one that I already have. If there’s still noise then will put it on a timer for the middle of the night 👍🏻 You too!

Brilliant!

Hi Don and thanks! I’m going to contact the RSGB to see if they want to dissect it for the greater good 👍🏻

Thanks! Yes, imagine other dodgy chargers being bought by others and the distance could have been much further going on the signal strength on the main antenna. Scary 😮

Sorry to hear that Al…

Thanks Ross! Yes, that was my worst case scenario, having to fork out to replace a plasma TV 😮 It was airborne, but seemed to be using the mains lead, at least up to the consumer unit, as an antenna. The sniffer could pick up the rf along this chain. Will catch you on the air 👍🏻 73

Yes Mike, a timer is another idea 👍🏻

Sorted and gone now Chaz 👍🏻

At least you sorted it Clifford 👍🏻

Yes Jon. New one on order 👍🏻

@@ianxfs Ian i went into the Shack had a big QRM issue tracked it down across the road to a VW Camper Van having its battery charged!! Thanks for the Vid !

@@Jonshome337 Brilliant Jon. Really glad you got sorted 👍🏻

Thanks Paul! Glad that’s over 👍🏻

Hi. Ironically I’d already done a leaflet drop to my near neighbours, explaining the hobby, the beauty of a quiet background and the frustration of man-made noise etc etc. Everyone was keen to help and offered power-off tests etc. This house was further away, but I used the same approach on the doorstep. A key aspect may have been my offer to replace the offending item having already explained it was likely to be something small….all went well 👍🏻ps. Everyone (including people in the street) were really interested in what I was doing and quite shocked at me demonstrating the noise 😀

@@ianxfs Thanks. It feels so good know that nice people are still out there. As always it's probably 99.9% but all we seem to hear about is the 0.1%

Thanks Bob! Yes, now time to get back on the air 😀

Ah yes Steve, if there’s multiple heights involved then that would be difficult. Fingers crossed you get a break 👍🏻

When the interference seems to be coming from all directions, start working your way up the spectrum as you use the loop. When you find the highest frequency that the noise occurs, it will be easier to DF. Take a look at a video I uploaded on the topic: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/pN5jd8WV1N-3eps.html

Thanks and hello to Canada 🇨🇦 😀

Thanks Jason and good luck!

If your a licenced ham operator ofcom dont have a choice they have to investergate but word of warning if they find that it is something in your own home that causing the rfi then they will charge you it used to be £70 per hour so do your homework first

Excellent Mike! Yes, the loop face-on is a deep null. Easy to walk about twisting it on it’s axis between face and edge-on to get a bearing and another line 😀

Yes frightening isn’t it? Small amount of power but well radiated unfortunately.

Ha ha yes!

Yes, or better still, track it down 👍🏻

Brilliant! The model is a Maypole 8A MP7428. I use one myself and costs about £30. Made in Britain 👍🏻Good luck 😀

Hi, I went for a make/model made here in the UK so I knew it would be compliant. Plus it was a model I already had myself for charging my /P leisure battery.

Hi Anna. Thanks for the reply. This charger also appeared in an RSGB article here in the UK. They have no suppression built in apparently. I’m swapping this one out 👍🏻

Sorry I can’t remember the frequency, but it will be specific to the QRM you’re receiving, so not worth copying. I was on SSB as I found it easier than AM. Good luck if you go hunting 👍🏻

Crikey, yes Jonny it might melt!

It’s not good Dave is it? As time goes on, these things will multiply, as guessing old ones take a while to die...👎🏻

Thanks and good luck James 🤞🏻

Thanks Roly! I’ve already ordered a new one to replace it. I’m going to offer to send this to the RSGB as they may want to dissect as part of their RFI work.

Hi Bill. I didn’t bother. I sent it off to the RSGB for analysis. It appeared in Apr 21 Radcom I think it was. The article accompanying this video was out of sync and appeared in Sep 21. Lots of info in the analysis article. Thanks for watching & commenting 😀

Crikey Roger, I’ve not heard of that one before...at least you’re in control of it!

Yes I can imagine. That’s the tricky bit….

Hi Andy. I would think it would be ok and worth a try if you have a bit spare and the plugs. I’m not 100% sure though. At worse, 1 metre of 213 plus two cheap plugs will probably be a fiver if all else fails. Good luck!

Yes Nathan. It will never see service again! ⚰️👀👍🏻

It’s a bad situation indeed 👎🏻

No. This one definitely sorted 👍🏻

Hi Dave. I don’t have a 3.5mm drill bit, but I point out in the video that the piece of black wire I found which is on the work table is 3.5mm. After using it, I’m not sure whether the half mm to either 3 or 4 mm would make much of a difference? You might have a screwdriver handle or nail etc that might be 3.5? Good luck!

Hi Barnie! I’ve got it now and ordered him another, so all happy! 😀

Nice one, a small price to pay for QRM harmony, I Suppose👍

That’s the third video in the series Adrian. If you look in the description the previous two video links are there. How to make the main loop is part of those (& measurements). It’s not frequency specific, so there is no 10m version, but it will work on 10m 👍🏻

There’s three in that particular series James. You may be watching them backwards....😁

@@ianxfs I was indeed Ian but rearranged myself somewhat and watched them all HiHi, once again, thank you for taking the time to produce such a useful set of short videos. Very helpful. Hopefully I can find the source of my interference as its really spoiling the hobby for me. I can't see Ofcom being able to take it up for the foreseeable and I've been plagued with this noise for over a year now. Its so frustrating but a sign of the times as we all fear. Cutting into some RG213 as I write!

Fingers crossed James!

Hi and good luck with the power pole getting fixed. It sounds like that’s your main source and you’ll only know what’s lurking underneath that noise, if anything, once it’s gone. Yes, a strong RFI source can block contacts on certain frequencies, but it’s also a constant annoyance as you scroll through the band, both in your ears and on the waterfall. It just shouldn’t be there. I have wire antennas and no longer have the problem, so I can’t say in terms of preamps etc. However, it was a significant impact on my normal operating procedures and settings, so that was bad enough for me. If you haven’t seen it already, one of the recent videos on the channel is also based on a RFI hunt. Good luck sorting yours 👍🏻

@@ianxfs wow I didn't really expect a reply but you did and told me what I wanted to know. I've always felt so bad for people that end up with this problem. I guess I thought it wouldn't happen to me. Oh my it's horrible. It sure was a nice turn that your neighbor didn't mind letting you explore his property. You must be really good with people. I like to think I am, but yesterday was weird. I was trying to use my portable short wave to zone in on the RFI. It's a good tool but it can just work from way too far away. Anyhow a woman that lives in the house in front of a pole that PGE concurred with me that it's arcing, started asking me questions about what I was doing. I wasn't in her yard or peering in her windows. I was just standing across the street from her house. I was explaining exactly what I was trying to do. She said, "I don't have any problems with MY radio". I told her if she played AM and turned her radio around in a circle she would definitely hear it. She started acting angry. Taking it very personally. As if I was criticizing her home. So I put my portable on AM and tuned near the high end of the scale. A super loud annoying buzz came out of the speaker. I asked her if she heard that. "Yes" she said. Well I told her, "thats AM radio". Then she says, "You must bot anything else to do with your time". (Holy smokes I thought) Well O said, I word five ten hour days a week, drive 3 hours a day in traffic to get there and back, then I run twenty miles a week to stay in shape so no, I do have many things I have to do every week. And I'd really rather not have to find a faulty piece of PGE's equipment so I can enjoy my hobby. "What do you mean faulty equipment?" Oh boy I steppes in it now. "Well I said, things wear out. I find out if there's a problem before the equipment can cause a problem." Then she says, "how come my radios don't have a problem?" Well I just showed you what an am radio sounds like across the street from your home. (She's quite elderly by way. And quite a pistol.) Now, the other twenty people I've run in to while walking the neighborhood with a Yagi and police scanner have been really great. They're very curious and I explain the best I can what the deal is. She's the first one that seemed irritated at my presence. And by the way, I love your portable setup to sniff the neighborhood. I would like to do something similar. I can't decide what to purchase though. They only radio I own currently that will do 2 meters and 70cm is my police scanner. Today and tomorrow I'm going to "improve" my home brew 2M Yagi. If that goes well I'll make one for 70cm. I just watched an ARRL video on the subject and this one says "you must" sniff on 440Mhz. O.K. I'll give it a try. Supposedly, the higher you move up in frequency, the closer you must be to the source of the arc. So 440Mhz is supposedly better to pinpoint the arc. Then I've read that you need an ultrasonic/rf sniffer to verify the arc. I have an ultrasonic dish, but from what I understand, you must have a line of sight path to the actual arc for an ultrasonic detector to show anything. I must admit, so far the only thing I've found with ultrasonic dish is a bee. Buy I haven't yet tried it on a PowerPoint that PGE had told me does actually have an arc. Yikes! It's quite complicated. Take care.

Hi and thanks for commenting. Please can you clarify the part of the video you mean? I’m not sure if you mean the build or in use? The minute & second will point me to the correct part 👍🏻

@@ianxfs Hey yes. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ht2SnpuqtZy3eZ8.html , at 2:29. I can see the tube, the coil soldered to the coax going to the pl inside the tube. But I don't see how it's connected to the loop

@@djflexlive Ah right! The sniffer is a separate device to the main loop. I only use one at a time. So once I was close to the RFI source, I disconnected the main loop from the rig patch lead and connected the smaller sniffer instead. Hope that’s clarified things 😀

@@ianxfs Oh yeah ok I get it :) Is it a single loop like the one here ? kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f9yibLmTuM3OhYk.html

@@djflexlive yes

I’m not sure Bob. This definitely worked on both 15m & 80m, so seems to cover the HF bands. The only other thing is sensitivity, but you’ll have the rig’s pre-amps to increase or reduce the QRM signal. Worth trying this design of the sake of 3 foot of coax. Good luck 👍🏻

@@ianxfs Well, not sure what I've done wrong. I've got occasional, egregious, multiband QRM (same source). For example, one frequency is 14175 has a strong signal on my rig (NB kills it, but it would be nice to find the source). I built this loop, checked for closed/open continuity, everything seems to make sense. But my S-meter shows S0 with no loop attached (check) and S0 with the loop attached. But you say it appears to cover 15 to 80m in your experience.

@@Roddy1965 Hi! Not sure what’s happened there 🤔 I would suggest a double-check that the centre conductor isn’t touching on the side where it’s cut off. Also position the loop close to a noise source in the house to see if it’s picking up anything eg PC, TV, monitors. Pre-amp on maybe? Then all’s left is to walk around the area to see if you come across the source perhaps? Good luck!

@@ianxfs There were some moments where I could *just* hear the interfering noise, so I guess it's working, but it sure is weak. I hooked it up to my antenna analyzer, and if I read it correctly it's probably a lot more sensitive on 2m band. Looking more online it seems 14MHz loops would generally be much bigger, which makes sense. The RASA video gives a demo, but only when they're quite close to the offending unit. I'll keep trying.

Ultimately Ofcom John. With a log of evidence, timings etc.

@@ianxfs Thank you Ian; I suspected that would be the path.

There is another approach John. Invoke their own self-interest. Tell them that the interference is also slowing down their own Wifi speed and range. Also interference is often a sign of a power supply or charger overheating fault that could start a fire in their home. Cheers, Ian VK3BUF

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