Study › General › G4C › G4C10

G4C10

AMATEUR RADIO PRACTICES · - Interference to consumer electronics; grounding and bonding

G4C10G4C →

What could be a symptom caused by a ground loop in your station's audio connections?

  1. AYou receive reports of "hum" on your station's transmitted signal
  2. BThe SWR reading for one or more antennas is suddenly very high
  3. CAn item of station equipment starts to draw excessive amounts of current
  4. DYou receive reports of harmonic interference from your station
Why A ground loop happens when equipment is grounded at more than one point, so the shields and ground leads form a closed loop that picks up stray AC power-line currents. Those currents appear as a small 60 Hz (and harmonics) voltage in series with your audio, which gets amplified and modulated onto the signal. The classic symptom is other stations telling you there is hum on your transmitted audio. The cure is bonding all equipment to a single common point so there is only one ground path.
Watch out High SWR points to an antenna or feedline fault, and harmonic interference comes from overdriving or inadequate transmitter filtering; neither is caused by audio wiring ground paths.
Ground loop = loop of wire near AC power = 60 Hz hum in the audio. Hum on audio, think loop.
HamSandwich explanation, first draft. The question and answers are the NCVEC text.
← G4C09 All of G4C G4C11 →

The rest of G4C

  1. G4C01 Which of the following might be useful in reducing RF interference to audio frequency circuits?
  2. G4C02 Which of the following could be a cause of interference covering a wide range of frequencies?
  3. G4C03 What sound is heard from an audio device experiencing RF interference from a single sideband phone transmitte…
  4. G4C04 What sound is heard from an audio device experiencing RF interference from a CW transmitter?
  5. G4C05 What is a possible cause of high voltages that produce RF burns?
  6. G4C06 What is a possible effect of a resonant ground connection?
  7. G4C07 Why should soldered joints not be used in lightning protection ground connections?
  8. G4C08 Which of the following would reduce RF interference caused by common-mode current on an audio cable?
  9. G4C09 How can the effects of ground loops be minimized?
  10. G4C10 What could be a symptom caused by a ground loop in your station's audio connections?
  11. G4C11 What technique helps to minimize RF "hot spots" in an amateur station?
  12. G4C12 Why must all metal enclosures of station equipment be grounded?
Baofeng UV-5R Dual Band Two Way RadioSponsored · View on Amazon →BaoFeng BF-F8HP 8W Dual Band HandheldSponsored · View on Amazon →