Guidance with protecting my gears

[mbhangui]

Use all your senses direct on the wiring or wiring accessories not listen through an amp. At least I won't depend on an amp.

Or if you insist of listening to noise use the good old MW radio tuned to a frequency with no station. More to read in the link below

Hearing - chr-chr, pht-pht in your switches, sockets etc., buzzing sounds
Sight - carbon marks, discolored wires or switches or plugs or sockets, sparks when switching, flicker of lights
Smell - burning smell of insulation or melting metal
touch - hot switches, sockets that you handle everyday

I could save my kitchen burning down when I heard some strange sound while switching an induction cooker, promptly changed the burning socket and plug - just 2A overload over the rating of the plug and socket.

a video may explain in detail

Power Line Noise

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association for amateur radio, connecting hams around the U.S. with news, information and resources.

www.arrl.org

+1 to the radio thing. I find the radio from 78 more sensitive than my amp when it comes to detecting noise. The moment you turn on any led tubelight, hell breaks lose. Here is my Sony ICF 6700w from 1978 still doing duty and the noise it picks up on switching on any led tuble light.

New video by Manvendra Bhangui

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Subbu68]

+1 to the radio thing. I find the radio from 78 more sensitive than my amp when it comes to detecting noise. The moment you turn on any led tubelight, hell breaks lose. Here is my Sony ICF 6700w from 1978 still doing duty and the noise it picks up on switching on any led tuble light.

New video by Manvendra Bhangui

photos.app.goo.gl

When I visited my wife's grand father some 20 yrs ago he said to me "You are an electrical engineer. Nowadays have to sit far outside in the front yard of the house to listen to AIR that was crystal clear inside the house a few months ago. Find out the problem". I surveyed his place and asked my wife's uncle the changes he made. The cause for complete cut off of radio signals inside the house was simple, the new briefcase size inverter he that replaced the older bulky one with heavy isolation transformer inside. Switched it off and all the stations were back. The EMI due harmonics the inverter fed back into the system and the house wiring running around carrying it blocked them.

It seems till grand father died he used to ask the inverter to be switched off when listening to radio.

I envy your radio. Have the last of SONY ( ICF-SW 7600GR), ICF-J40, Sangean ATS909 and a Grundig S350.

 

[Subbu68]

Here is my Sony ICF 6700w from 1978 still doing duty and the noise it picks up on switching on any led tuble light.

New video by Manvendra Bhangui

photos.app.goo.gl

I envy your radio. Have the last of SONY ( ICF-SW 7600GR), ICF-J40, Sangean ATS909 and a Grundig S350.

 

[mbhangui]

When I visited my wife's grand father some 20 yrs ago he said to me "You are an electrical engineer. Nowadays have to sit far outside in the front yard of the house to listen to AIR that was crystal clear inside the house a few months ago. Find out the problem". I surveyed his place and asked my wife's uncle the changes he made. The cause for complete cut off of radio signals inside the house was simple, the new briefcase size inverter he that replaced the older bulky one with heavy isolation transformer inside. Switched it off and all the stations were back. The EMI due harmonics the inverter fed back into the system and the house wiring running around carrying it blocked them.

It seems till grand father died he used to ask the inverter to be switched off when listening to radio.

What a story and I can empathise with what he felt. I too miss the days when I would scan for short wave. The EMI is too much. Even if I switch off everthing in my own house, there is hardly stations with good signal. All that was required for our good old ionosphere to reflect the radio waves across. Now it gets blocked for various reasons.

 

[mbhangui]

I envy your radio. Have the last of SONY ( ICF-SW 7600GR), ICF-J40, Sangean ATS909 and a Grundig S350.

grundig, telefunken, philips. And then before that there were valve radios with the special throaty sound. Another radio I have is a Murphy where one has to move the dial with the hand to change the station (I have to find time to restore it).

 

[Love4sound]

So we are having a thesis,Nice

 

[Subbu68]

What a story and I can empathise with what he felt. I too miss the days when I would scan for short wave. The EMI is too much. Even if I switch off everthing in my own house, there is hardly stations with good signal. All that was required for our good old ionosphere to reflect the radio waves across. Now it gets blocked for various reasons.

Yes, it is a sad state of affairs. However, dwelling in high-rise apartments in the middle of city since long I found SONY powered antenna AN-LP1 excellent to catch AIR at Abu Dhabi. A couple of years since I powered my radios.

 

[Subbu68]

So we are having a thesis,Nice

Practicals Navin Just years of experience slogging in the field (substation sites)

 

[mbhangui]

Yes, it is a sad state of affairs. However, dwelling in high-rise apartments in the middle of city since long I found SONY powered antenna AN-LP1 excellent to catch AIR at Abu Dhabi. A couple of years since I powered my radios.

I had shared the same video with Navin, when we were discussing the noise issues he was having. I have become extremely paranoid of SMPS and led bulbs and tubelights. Few months back I have purchased around 100s of Incandescent 40 w bulbs from Amazon. Don't know how long stocks will last. Slowly I will get rid of every light in my house that is based on electronics.

When these TL go bad the amount of wastage that happens is staggerring and criminal. You throw away the IC chips, capacitors and semiconductors along with the LED. The amount of industrial activity that went into making these semiconductors spewing carbon is absolute criminal.

When listening to music, I switch off every SMPS in my room. The only thing that are on are the transformer based equipment. TV, amazon firesticks, mobile chargers, etc are all off.

 

[Love4sound]

Practicals Navin Just years of experience slogging in the field (substation sites)

Hahah keep going. Interesting and informative points.

 

[Subbu68]

Like @mbhangui I too had made a video a couple of years ago with a radio.

Radio is Tivoli Model One - a pure AM / FM radio. Excellent sounding compact radio with all wood cabinet. Switching on a simple LED table lamp causes so much disturbance. Listen to the sound.

 

[headcase]

No wonder we don't get radio catch on our systems anymore. I thought it's the new house construction only the cause.

Would love to listen to 94.5 FM on my AVR sometime and leave it. Fun!

 

[Subbu68]

No wonder we don't get radio catch on our systems anymore. I thought it's the new house construction only the cause.

Would love to listen to 94.5 FM on my AVR sometime and leave it. Fun!

For FM reasons would be more to do with multi path interference, being in "shadow", weather etc. I do get decent FM on that Tivoli with all that LEDs, WiFi etc.

An external antenna should solve it. I stuck a wire dipole in my window (13 floor, no balcony, window panes hinged on top to open only like 30 degree). Just used a thin twin conductor lamp wire (like speaker wire).

 

[headcase]

For FM reasons would be more to do with multi path interference, being in "shadow", weather etc. I do get decent FM on that Tivoli with all that LEDs, WiFi etc.

An external antenna should solve it. I stuck a wire dipole in my window (13 floor, no balcony, window panes hinged on top to open only like 30 degree). Just used a thin twin conductor lamp wire (like speaker wire).

Will try it out sometime. Any wire from a local electricals shop would do?

 

[Subbu68]

Will try it out sometime. Any wire from a local electricals shop would do?

A cheap speaker wire should do. Take a length to reach the window plus 75cm. Split the end for the last 75 cm. Stretch the two wires (that are split) on the window that becomes the dipole. Plug in the other end to your receiver. choose proper plug / connector. F- connector or coax plug as required at the receiver end.

If you can do a bit more work, make an antenna with the wire 75cm plus a bit more for connecting a 75 Ohm coax (used for TV / Sat TV) for the wiring up to the receiver.

Another is with the good old ribbon cable for TV (300 Ohm cable). Same method but 150 cm long, join the two wires at both the ends and cut one wire at the center. These ends are to the receiver through a 300 > 75 Ohm balun and coax cable.

 

[mbhangui]

WIth my Sony ICF radio I'm using just a piece of wire for FM.
I have a sansui vintage tape deck+radio. For that I'm using this 75 ohm dipole indoor antenna

 

[Subbu68]

View attachment 69480

Just the same @headcase but I described (and used) a home made one above.

 

[mbhangui]

Just the same @headcase but I described (and used) a home made one above.

exactly. That's why I posted the picture. To give headcase an idea how to make it at home.

 

[Subbu68]

WIth my Sony ICF radio I'm using just a piece of wire for FM.

Tivoli too gave me one single wire antenna for use as an external antenna or was it Sangean (for my WR-3)I don't remember. But with multi-path interference a full dipole became necessary for clear reception. So came up with that idea of a twin wire antenna with a LED lamp DC supply wire from IKEA

 

[mbhangui]

Tivoli too gave me one single wire antenna for use as an external antenna or was it Sangean (for my WR-3)I don't remember. But with multi-path interference a full dipole became necessary for clear reception. So came up with that idea of a twin wire antenna with a LED lamp supply wire from IKEA

I don't know on what basis manufacturers ship the single wire or the dipole antena. My sansui and all PC computer cards with tv tuner have come with the dipole antena. My Yamaha avr, Sony 2-in-1 came with AM loop antena and single wire FM antenna. Another Sony boom box that went kaput again came with the AM loop antenna and single wire FM antenna. The dipole antena works the best in my house.