I'm trying to ID lines on waterfall

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rbduck
Posts: 327
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:49 pm

I'm trying to ID lines on waterfall

Postby rbduck » Sun Feb 09, 2020 9:18 pm

Hopefully I put this in the correct topic. Today I was going through the bands. They are more quite then normal. When I got to 20 meters found this. Hundreds of lines on the waterfall. It's not on any other band. I've tried all sorts of things to change or eliminate it. I don't seem to hear anything different. I've been through the house unplugging everything. Practically all the Wall warts have been unplugged. I live in an area pretty far out in the country. I'm running a 535 ft (approx) 160 meter loop. Here is a what it looks like. I've had lines on the waterfall before, but a few in number. I know the digital signals on the left of the frequency band. Can anyone help me identify these if you have ever seen anything similar? Image

I'm sure it's some kind of noise. I would just like to know what kind if that's possible. I've connected a lot of equipment and have a lot of software running. I't all running well. I need to go through all my wiring and make sure it's grounded or shielded. It's a rats nest now. That may be the answer to my question. The lines span a frequency range from about 10 mhz to 18 mhz. Is there more information I could give that would help identify? Thank you
73
Ruben
NB4R
Apache-Labs Anan 7000DLE MKII Black -- Thetis 2.10.3.6 dev_2 -- Windows 11
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FM5GB
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Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2017 10:03 pm

Re: I'm trying to ID lines on waterfall

Postby FM5GB » Mon Feb 10, 2020 12:47 am

Hi Ruben,

the first thing to do is to unplug any antenna from the radio. If the lines disappear its probably an interference of some sort coming "on the air" maybe a local one. If the lines remain the culprit might be some rubbish getting into the power line or any wire connected to your rig (many switching power supplies produce such interference at your place or at your neighbour's. all home appliances have to be checked).
By the way the numeroux vertical lines at the left part of the waterfall are "natural" coming from the guys in the WPX RTTY contest.

Hope you find the cure !

73s Phil FM5GB
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rbduck
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Re: I'm trying to ID lines on waterfall

Postby rbduck » Mon Feb 10, 2020 1:19 am

Hello Phil,

Yea next weekend I'm going to spend a lot of time marking and disconnecting everything. Then rewire the shack, taking more time this time.
Grounding everything. I have radios and antennas all connected to a MFJ-4726. That is a six radio input to six antenna output switch. SURELY noise couldn't be getting in through that. (laugh). I switched over to two separate dummy loads I with those lines. ave connected to that and it didn't make much difference I may try bypassing that tomorrow evening if I get a chance. It could be very well be entering through that switch. I'm aware of all the digital signals on each band. There were a bunch today in twenty meters. They looked a little different than the lines.The only switching PS's I have are a couple computers and maybe in a couple of TV's. The TVs are 50 feet away. I'll find it and eliminate it. It's going to take some time and patience. The older I get the less I have of either one.

Thanks and have a great day!
73
Ruben
NB4R
Apache-Labs Anan 7000DLE MKII Black -- Thetis 2.10.3.6 dev_2 -- Windows 11
User avatar
rbduck
Posts: 327
Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2019 1:49 pm

Re: I'm trying to ID lines on waterfall

Postby rbduck » Fri Feb 14, 2020 12:25 pm

I thought I'd touch base on this issue one more time. This is the first time I've had to sit in the shack since my last writing. The first thing I did was go to 20 meters. As expected all the lines were gone. I'll check back later today.
73
Ruben
NB4R
Apache-Labs Anan 7000DLE MKII Black -- Thetis 2.10.3.6 dev_2 -- Windows 11

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