My lesson learned: For the last few years (since my current station configuration) I have been plagued by strong static crashes in my desktop HF receiver, occurring at regular 12-second intervals. (Go figure.) I live in an urban environment and assumed that the mysterious source of noise was outdoors, even though I use an indoor random wire antenna (hint) and basically felt defeated. But today I came to the resolve that I was going to lick the problem, once and for all!! I used a portable shortwave receiver to attempt to track down the noise. To my surprise, the noise was strongest right at my radio desk! (Go figure x2.) I had picked up the scent at was hot on the trail...I unplugged every piece of equipment, wall wart, power strip...anything that plugged in, one at a time, and finally I found it...the power adapter for my laptop computer. The odd thing was, it generated the noise even when it was not plugged in to the laptop. As long as it was connected to AC, it generated the noise. Turns out, spewing out RFI is a nasty problem with any switching power supply, a standard accessory with laptop computers and some radio gear. SO...on one hand, it was a huge relief to finally be rid of the noise crashes. On the other hand, I felt pretty stupid for making assumptions and letting the problem fester for a few years. If I can help even one other listener solve their noise problem by pointing them to their AC adapters and power supplies, I'll feel satisfied for posting this topic. Happy noise-free listening! Well, almost noise-free.
Topic: Static crashes in my HF receiver, problem solved... (Read 1890 times)