Hey fella's and gal's.. Got a small AM down in KY that does OK at post-sunset power at 23 watts, but when we go to full power at 500 watts in the daylight hours, it screws up the computer and automation! We've moved the programming computers and equipment to the furthest room to the south of the building, away from the Transmitter building and tower... However the grounding system runs under the elevated and stilted building/studio..... Any ideas??? "Skip"
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RF seems to be causing problems with new computer and automation...
- Thread starter skippertthomas
- Start date
O
OttoM
Guest
Can you be a little more specific when you say "it screws up"? Does audio fire randomly? Does the computer freeze up? Is it a rackmount industrial-grade PC or an inexpensive "clone" computer?
At first glance I'd check the connections TO the computers and make sure they're well grounded.
At first glance I'd check the connections TO the computers and make sure they're well grounded.
Ridding a facility of RF can be a major challenge but the best tactic is a system-wide approach observing good audio wiring and grounding technique throughout the facility. Avoid passive balanced to unbalanced connections and use a single point grounding scheme that keeps the shields grounded at one end only, no exceptions. Do not import any source grounds through a shield or unbalanced conductor. Make sure a duplicate ground is not sneaking into the system through a modular plug “green wire”. If you are you are using unbalanced IHF sound cards, pay very close attention to these and treat them accordingly. These are just a very few points but represent where I have found most issues over many years.
Good luck.
Good luck.
E
Eng.Mike
Guest
skippertthomas said:
Hi, I've been there with that same problem. What I did was rip out all of the CAT5 cable that I had just ran and replace it with shielded CAT5 cable that had its shields directly bonded to copper strap which was bonded to the station's ground system. I did the CAT5 grounding near the Ethernet switch. It cleared up the problems with the new automation system. One good thing to do is to not DC bond the CAT5 shield at the PC end but use a 0.1uf capacitor between the CAT5 shield and a spade lug connected to the PC case. That keeps any DC loop current out of the CAT5 shield.
Rob Stutson said:
All the above.... You name it, it will happen.....
One word for you: Power. Try a filtered power strip from Radio Shack that has a broadband filter in it. An isobar would be another option. You want to try to find one with more than let's say 40db of filtering. I used to work under a 50kw directional (nights) that blasted about 170kw right over the studios. Clean power is paramount. After that it's time to play with .01uf bypass caps and grounding. My guess is cleaning up the power will solve your problems. Good luck!
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