Product Warning! RF Noise from Mastervolt Smart Regulators
Jim Spriggs
If you are looking at installing a "Smart" regulator
on an existing alternator,
BE WARNED...
DO NOT BUY a Mastervolt Alpha Pro.
They produce high levels (S7 to S9) of wide-band Radio Frequency (RF) noise.
This causes so much radio interference that it prevents reception
of most HF radio signals such as weather fax, airmail etc while
the engine is running.
So far, the dealer has suggested fixing the problem by
1: "Put the regulator in an aluminium box"
2: "cover all the leads to the alternator in alfoil"
How about that for great service ?
A better suggestion would be to drop it overboard...
When I return from cruising this season,
I'll be removing it from the boat,
and replacing it with something that works properly and doesn't
produce RF noise.
Any suggestions which SMART REGULATOR is better ?
David
(Other Keywords for searching...
MARINE RADIO NOISE,
HF NOISE,
ALTERNATOR SMART REGULATOR,
MARINE RADIO NOISE)
Dennis O'Connor
Go here
http://www.bandcspecialty.com
for solutions... Clic on regulator.. The over voltage protection module also
highly recommended...
Denny
"Jim Spriggs" <See.Mess...@forReply.net> wrote in message
news:3f4d7830$0$15136$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
Larry W4CSC
<See.Mess...@forReply.net> wrote:
I just installed an Icom M802 HF SSB with AT-140 antenna tuner into a
41' ketch that has an electronic battery charger that replaced the old
French 110/220 saturated reactor charger originally put in the boat by
Amel. I didn't install it.
HF radio, AM radio and the Alden WEFAX receiver are completely blocked
with hash from 50 Khz to over 24 Mhz by the charger, forcing you to
shut it off before you can get a weatherfax or listen to the
broadcasts at a dock.....
FCC needs to certify boat equipment to protect boaters' radio comms
from cheap, shoddily-designed charging equipment like this. If ABYC
is supposed to have standards to that effect, they must all be
ignored......
Putting the NMEA multiplexer in an aluminum Bud box improved HF
reception by 10 dB, too! I forget what the no-name company is that
produced this unrepairable epoxy brick multiplexer, at the moment,
sorry.
Larry W4CSC
Isn't it becoming more practical by the day to make
Iraq's desert the new World Nuclear Waste Disposal Site?
Jim Spriggs
> electronic battery charger
> hash from 50 Khz to over 24 Mhz by the charger,
> also
> noisy epoxy brick multiplexer
What brands / models are these Larry ?
It helps to warn people.
73
David - VK4GL
Larry W4CSC
you tomorrow and post them probably Saturday late. I think the
dual-channel 10A charger is a Heart. It came with the Amel Sharpi my
buddy bought in Florida and it's under the main hatch step and hard to
get to, but I'll go get the data.
On his old Endeavour 35 sloop, he installed a brand new Adler-Barbour
12V/110V reefer unit into the boat's ice box. Another captain and I
brought the boat back to Charleston, SC, from Daytona Beach, FL up the
ICW to Mayport then under sail on a rhumbline to Charleston in the
ocean. That damned fridge drove me crazy until I figured out where
the noise it was CONTINUOUSLY making on VHF Ch 16 broke the tight
squelch in a regular throbbing
rhythm....P..P..P..........P.P...........P..P..P............P.P.............on
and on. (P equals a pulse just opening the VHF squelch even set as
tight as I could put it). I shut off the fridge after the search
determined the Adler-Barbour was the source. Their response was to
shield the control box with tin foil.....totally unacceptable.....
Ron Thornton
Is boat equipment exempt from the radiation requirements placed on other
consumer products.
Ron
Charles Cox
automotive electronics. I think the idea is that such equipment is considered a sub-system and it is the responsibility of the
system designer/installer to contain & exclude interference at the system level. In other words, marine and automotive electronics
are not considered consumer products, so the purchaser has to take more responsibility for selecting and installing them, than say a
clock radio. Of course, if the manufacturers don't provide noise radiation data, it can be impossible to properly design your
system except by trial & error.
--
Chuck Cox
SynchroSystems Motorsport Computers
Hopped/Up Racing Team
<ch...@synchro.com> <cc...@fas.harvard.edu>
<http://www.synchro.com>
Larry W4CSC
Thornton) wrote:
The way boat crap is built, it's exempt from everything, I'm
sure!.....(c;
Vito
>
> I believe "unintentional radiator" marine electronics are exempted from some of the (Section 16?) regulations, ...
Yes, provided they do not interfere with any licensed radio service. FCC
regularly cites owners of everything from electric fences to public
power companies for interference. These typically inform the owner that
he must fix the device, shut it off, or face $1000+ per incident fines.
Of course if y'all own the interfering device ... (c:
Jim Spriggs
> Is boat equipment exempt from the radiation requirements
> placed on other consumer products.
I don't think so. I intend to lodge a complaint with the
Australian Communications Authority (Aussie FCC type body)
and will advise how it proceeds...
David - VK4GL