Everything seems to be working
For quite some time now I’ve been getting a lot of interference when I transmit on 40m and 20m. Noise through my speakers, USB devices dropping in and out and even at it’s worst monitors blacking out.
Some of the problems are caused when my loop antenna which is located quite close to my shack points directly at my shack (not much I can do about that). But I’ve come to the conclusion after testing with a dummy load that the biggest part of the problem is caused from USB, Power and Transmission cables all running next to each other along the desk.
So, a few days ago I decided to tackle the problem once and for all and I ripped out my entire desk build. I took out radios, computers, screens, power supplies and everything right back to an empty desk. Once everything was stripped out I worked out new cables pathways so that once everything was back in place the power, USB and transmission lines were as far apart from each other as possible. I’ve managed to separate the USB cables from the 2 main transmission cables by about 2 feet with the power cables running between them.
It’s taken a good day and a half to rebuild the shack and then troubleshoot any little problems that cropped up but I’m delighted to say that now, when I transmit on 40m and 20m unless my loop antenna is pointing North/South which is directly at me I seem to have fixed the interference problem once and for all along with the added bonus of being able to clean the foot thick layer of dust and crud that had built up behind everything.
Testing this morning via FT8, WSJTX and PSK Reporter has confirmed everything is working at “optimal” levels with WSJTX reports as far away and Western Australia, Eastern United States and a very nice arch across Europe as per the map on the left
So, it’s been quite a challenge both physically and very much mentally but I have loved every second of it. It kind of felt good to get into some proper technical thinking and problem solving but while it was so much fun it was also very tiering So now I need to rest and sleep a little bit.
All in all a success.