George,
What is your antenna, and how are you bringing the feedline
into the shack? Also, is the RF causing the computer to act
up, or is the problem just with the keying interface? One way
to tell is if your contesting software generates a sidetone
using the computer's speaker. If you are hearing proper
CW from the computer speaker sidetone during the time
that the rig is locking up, then its most likely a problem with
RF getting into the keying interface circuit or back into the
rig. If the computer generated CW as heard from the
computer speaker is messed up, then you may be dealing
with RF getting into the computer. In that case, I would
expect you'd be seeing erratic OS behavior (random character
generation, applications switching randomly, applications
freezing, etc). I bought a cheap Belkin keyboard at Fry's for
my CPU here in the shack (the OEM keyboard died). It was
so RF sensitive that I had to toss it. It would generate all kinds
of random key closures when I was transmitting which made
computer contest logging very interesting. I replaced it with
another $10 keyboard from a different company which
seems to do just fine (not a lick of RF susceptibility
problems so far).
73 de Mike, W4EF...............................
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Allgood" <w4gfa@bellsouth.net>
To: <TenTec@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 2:14 PM
Subject: [TenTec] RF
> I'm having RF attacks. My OMNI VI+ with computer wired to the Key jack
swamps when I strike a key on the keyboard.
> The problem goes away if I reduce power on the OMNI to about one half.
It's a problem trying to use contest programs
> to key the rig. Anyone have a source for high quality, shielded cables
and connectors for this purpose?
> I've placed Ferrite cores on each end of the existing home brew cable,
but no cigar. Any suggestions would be most
> welcome.
> George W4GFA
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|