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Re: [RFI] USB port closing

To: rfi@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [RFI] USB port closing
From: Jim Brown <jim@audiosystemsgroup.com>
Reply-to: jim@audiosystemsgroup.com
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2022 22:00:42 -0700
List-post: <mailto:rfi@contesting.com>
On 8/9/2022 8:48 PM, Steve Dyer via RFI wrote:
The IC-7610 group on groups.io is a good place to search for this very issue. The 7610 does appear to be ultra sensitive to any RF present at the USB port from some of the posts I've seen.

Probably the classic "Pin One Problem" -- the connector shell is not bonded to the chassis at the point of entry, which is a VERY well known cause of hum, buzz, and RFI. The mechanism is that interconnecting cables act as receiving antennas, the current on the cable shield wanders around the circuit board until it finally gets to the chassis, creating voltage drops along the way that couple to the input of a nearby gain stage or logic input.

This was first documented by a ham working in pro audio, Neil Muncy, W3WJE (SK). It got its name because Pin One in the XLR connectors used for shielded twisted pair in pro audio is the designated shield contact. He was elected a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society partly on the basis of this work (but he did a LOT more important things).

When Neil published his paper exposing Pin One, nearly every piece of equipment in hundreds of booths on a very large convention floor was built with Pin One Problems. Ten years later, few pieces of pro audio gear had Pin One Problem. In 2003, I published an AES Paper documenting the Pin One Problem in very expensive condenser microphones from a major German microphone company that caused RFI from the TV and FM transmitters in downtown Chicago.

At ham conventions, I visit all the booths checking for Pin One Problems. EVERY radio I have checked (ALL the major brands) had a Pin One Problem at most if not all of their accessory connectors.

There are several good solutions, and they can be used in combination.

1) Chassis-to-chassis bonding between every piece of equipment that's part of your station. This is good engineering practice anyway, both for electrical shock and lightning protection. Bonding should follow the direct route of the interconnections. The chassis of laptops can USUALLY be accessed at the shell of a D-connector.

2) Use a serious transmitting choke at the feedpoint of every antenna, including end-fed wires that end in the shack. This prevents the antenna's return current from flowing on the cable shield. Also, be sure to provide an effective counterpoise or radials to carry the return current.

3) Bond all coax shields to ground where they enter the shack, and extend that ground to the shack. Again, this is all part of proper bonding for safety.

4) Wind five turns of every cable connected to the victim equipment through a 1-in long #31 Fair-Rite clamp-on. Any one with i.d. sufficient to hold the winding will work. Wind the turns in order around the core (that is, NOT "scramble wound"). Turns that cross-over each other cancel. With ferrite chokes, the number of turns is the number of times the cable passes THROUGH the connector. Alternatively, use my 2018 Transmitting Choke Cookbook as a starting point for winding on #31 2.4-in i.d. toroids. k9yc.com/publish.htm

73, Jim K9YC



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