30m keyboard interference

[Gwen Patton]

Thanks to everyone with input on my keyboard issues.

I managed to solve it today. I also have been exploring other issues
suggested regarding RF and current in the shack, and have a choke on its
way that should help with that, but I received one part first: a new
keyboard.

I'd been using a Kinesis Freestyle 2 ergonomic wired keyboard for the PX3,
but the new one is an inexpensive Amazon Basics 2.4ghz wireless keyboard. I
got right on 30m in PSK31 mode, and got ZERO extraneous characters or other
garbage in my keyboard buffer. I didn't have much time to experiment, but
did have time to test it on RTTY as well and still got no extraneous
characters. My guess is that the stray RF was getting into the keyboard's
cable between the two halves of the unique split keyboard. That cable is
not shielded, or not well, and was a prime target for stray currents or
emissions. The wireless keyboard has no such vulnerability, and thus no
entry point for garbage.

It also would seem that my brief test on 30m PSK was detected by an
operator in Wisconsin, as I got an email from "PropNET", something similar
to PSKReporter, that logged my signal. The timing, band, frequency, and
mode were all consistent with when I was testing, so I was at least heard
1200+ miles from home on 4 watts. I consider that a win, even though it
wasn't a proper QSO.

I'll still be taking steps to deal with stray RF and common mode current in
the shack anyway -- it's good operating practice in any case.

Thanks again for all of your good suggestions!

73,
Gwen NG3P

--

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Jenny Everywhere's Infinite: Quark Time
http://quarktime.net
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[Jim Brown-10]

On 9/4/2018 5:05 PM, Gwen Patton wrote:
> My guess is that the stray RF was getting into the keyboard's
> cable between the two halves of the unique split keyboard.


My money would be on the cable between the keyboard and what it was
plugged into, or the keyboard itself.


>   That cable is not shielded,

Shielding may or may not be part of the problem. A more likely cause is
a Pin One Problem in whatever it's plugged into.  See
k9yc.com/RFI-Ham.pdf for a discussion of the Pin One Problem.

73, Jim K9YC

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