Static in Your Mobile Rig

[Richard Stouffer]

I've been wrestling with some nasty static in the installation in my Toad- it's an 03 Wrangler. I built a filter that was described in QST a couple of months ago- the one with the chain connector for the inductor core. It seemed to do the trick for a couple of weeks, but the noise is back and it's even worse than before. I ran a check on the filter and it's connections and eveything seems fine there. It might be the alternator, but I found out replacing it will run in the $400 range so I'd like to avoid doing that and then finding out it was something else.

I've been all over the ARRL's RFI book and have added a couple of grouding straps between the body and the frame and that has yielded some reduction. The RF ground out of the AH-4 tuner seems adequate.

What steps have any of you taken when you've had the problem?

[Radio]

At local hamfests I buy those little ferrite "chunks" with the hole in the middle for wire and put them all over everything, alternator output lead, heater wire, sparkplug wires, whatever. They help.

Is it "static" or whine or ignition noise?

Radio

[Richard Stouffer]

Thanks and I just order one of those RRI kits. I'm going to bust my butt to avoid buying a new alternator, but I'll bet I'm going to end up having to do that anyway.

[AE5BI]

My '06 has ignition noise. I just leave the Noise Blanker on the 706 on all the time.

[Richard Stouffer]

The NB helps on my end, but I'm told that the static is in my transmissions. So I'm going to keep trying till I kill that beast or it breaks me.

[Radio]

Originally Posted by AE5BI

My '06 has ignition noise. I just leave the Noise Blanker on the 706 on all the time.

My '94 Ford Ranger did that, put little ferrite chunks on the ignition wire and cleared it right up. About $2 for 6 of them at a hamfest. The better they fit around the wire (nice and close) the better they will work.

[N7OQ]

Originally Posted by Radio

My '94 Ford Ranger did that, put little ferrite chunks on the ignition wire and cleared it right up. About $2 for 6 of them at a hamfest. The better they fit around the wire (nice and close) the better they will work.

I love these chokes I bought a bunch a the last Hamfest I was at and will buy more at the next. I have found times where even these chokes wont work then you have to go with filters. I need to add a bunch of them to my converter in the RV and see if I can bring it down, I also have a bunch of .1, .01 and .05 caps that I will add too.