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Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2024 9:20 am
by VK3ICM
Started Thetis v2.10.3.5 this afternoon - appeared to load normally, but when I hit the 'power' button in Thetis, it took much longer to hear the relay click and the panadapter to start, and then I saw this on 40m:

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Posting here, because starting up with a blank database, everything seems normal. I poked around thinking a filter setting may have got screwed up, but couldn't resolve it with my original database file. Prefer not to start over from my last backup - any suggestions where I could be looking?

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2024 10:03 am
by K1LSB
I suggest you re-start with a blank database then import a recent database. That might clear the issue (and might not, but it's worth a try).

Mark

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2024 10:10 am
by VK3ICM
Thanks Mark - tried that bit no joy.

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2024 12:51 pm
by w9mdb
If you select a different empty Rx antenna port is it still there? That will tell you if it's in the rig or in the antenna.
And what does the wideband display look like?
Unplug MIC

8KHz interference is not real common but others have seen it from different equipment.

https://gearspace.com/board/so-much-gea ... crazy.html

If this was in the audio space IPhone has a nice app called Audio Spectrum Analyzer by Vlad Polyansky -- does cost $30 for one time charge but does a really nice 20Khz wide spectrum display that you can point with your mic around the house to identify audio interference.
This appears to not be an audio interference though as it is 8kHz intervals but sits at 20Hz on the LSB side.

I assume if you change frequencies the noise frequencies do not change. So hopefully the wideband display is informative.

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 5:03 am
by rdwing
What about every 10 kHz? A few months ago I've started getting similar interference, not from my house so it will be tough to track it down.
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Viewed on another radio you can get a better picture.
Screenshot 2024-01-16 210246 (Medium).png
Screenshot 2024-01-16 210246 (Medium).png (737.8 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 5:10 am
by w9mdb
Is that with the antenna disconnected?

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 7:03 am
by rdwing
No, only with the antenna connected.

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2024 2:32 pm
by w9mdb
So no noise with antenna disconnected?

In that case time to suspect a power supply somewhere -- you have 8KHz intervals going on which sounds like a switching frequency.

You should be able to find it with an AM radio tuned off-station.

Maybe a solar invertor recently installed in the neighborhood?

Re: Suddenly slow to power-on and 'apparent' RFI

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2024 6:21 am
by VK3ICM
Mine must be a database problem - reset from scratch and the RFI disappears.