TV antenna signal problem

I agree about the surface mount caps being small, like trying to work with fly poop. I used to put .01 microfarad disc caps across the power leads, still effective but easier to work with than those things you can't hardly see.

No diodes.. The problem is that in order to regulate the voltage to keep constant illumination and to protect from over voltage and burnout.. And it's those switching regulators that are causing the problems with the power leads themselves acting as antennas radiating all this wideband noise that is killing radio and TV receivers, as well as VHF Wx and amateur radio receivers. The fix is to remove these switching regulators and just current limit them with resistors. The are regulators out there used for RC aircraft that are very very clean (they have to be), but they're ~$30 ea.

SCVJeff wrote:
All of them that I've played with are generating RFI into the antenna directly.

Are you saying the diodes, themselves, are generating RFI or the regulation circuit?

FWIW, I'm using Asian, non-regulated LED panels, a mix of 36 or 48 3528's and the newer 5050 panels. My float voltage is 13.2-13.6v, depending on charging source. I had thought of using a linear regulator for the lamp circuits (actually an easy thing to do with my layout) but all the panels are still functioning and I don't experience any detrimental RFI. I have my own DIY UHF antenna and a dipole for radio.

All of them that I've played with are generating RFI into the antenna directly.

The short answer is don't use the lights when watching TV. You could try using a light farthest from the TV. If that works try the nest farthest one. Some may work because of distance.

Messing with the lights will cost money and may be futile for some.

camperpaul wrote:

RoyB wrote:

The other problem is the manf are within the FCC limit rules for creating RFI that may interfere with your other electronics.
Roy Ken

Part of that problem is the regulations (Part 15) concerning incidental radiation are decades out of date.

I'm sure 'LED' wasn't even a decipherable acronym last time anyone was revising Part-15

CT_WANDERER wrote:
I installed LED's light in my MH this spring. Put in 14 LEDS. I only have one set of lights that causes problems with my OTA TV. Most of the time I use Sat TV. The light over the dinning table has three DB contact LED's. I tried put aluminum foil around the light (as a light shade) and the OTA TV came in. Not sure if this is a way to work around this problem or not. But if I remove the foil I lose the OTA TV. Putting the foil back on and it comes in again. Most of the time I use the Sat, so it is not really a problem for me. Just thought I would pass this along. Gary

It is not the "magic bullet" but it is valid.

The foil is acting as a Faraday shield and attenuating the radiation from the LEDs.

I installed LED's light in my MH this spring. Put in 14 LEDS. I only have one set of lights that causes problems with my OTA TV. Most of the time I use Sat TV. The light over the dinning table has three DB contact LED's. I tried put aluminum foil around the light (as a light shade) and the OTA TV came in. Not sure if this is a way to work around this problem or not. But if I remove the foil I lose the OTA TV. Putting the foil back on and it comes in again. Most of the time I use the Sat, so it is not really a problem for me. Just thought I would pass this along. Gary

RoyB wrote:

The other problem is the manf are within the FCC limit rules for creating RFI that may interfere with your other electronics.
Roy Ken

Part of that problem is the regulations (Part 15) concerning incidental radiation are decades out of date.

I didn't have any beads that would fit, so I was only doing caps. But the biggest difference was imply twisting the powerleads from the base of the DC-DC conv. Not completely gone perfect but a huge difference. With balanced power and a few caps Those results were shared with Greg over at Starlights