[OT] Interference from HVAC equipment

[K7TV]

The recent discussion about interference from Plasma TV sets, while not
directly related to Elecraft products, caught my eye as very relevant to
many hams. Perhaps then a discussion of another potential interference
source might be of general interest. Our house furnace and air conditioner
equipment is quite old, and will need to be replaced in the not too distant
future. It doesn't generate noticeable interference, but then none of the
motors involved have continuously variable speeds. Newer, energy-saving
equipment seems often to rely on variable speeds; this suggests to me a
source of potential interference. I'd like to hear about what brands and
models might or might not cause interference, and what you might have done
to fix it.

 

Thanks in advance,

Erik K7TV

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[Jim Brown-10]

On 9/10/2012 10:42 PM, Erik Basilier wrote:
>   Newer, energy-saving
> equipment seems often to rely on variable speeds; this suggests to me a
> source of potential interference.

You are right to be VERY concerned -- variable speed motor controllers
of all sorts are notoriously bad sources of RF trash. BUT -- the best
place for questions of this sort is the RFI reflector, which, as I
recall, is accessed via contesting.com.  When you're there to sign up,
search the archives.  We've recently discussed exactly this matter, and
there have been several more over the past few years.

73, Jim K9YC
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[W5RDW]

My brother, Dexter, K5WDW, just installed RF chokes on the wires going in and out of his heater furnace up in his attic. It was the source of RFI for him on the HF bands. He installed the clamp on style chokes, I think purchased from RF parts. His e-mail is good in www.qrz.com, so you might shoot him a message on his solutions, etc. His house is fairly new, a hometown in Houston.