SS TRAN AMT 3000 AM TRANSMITTER GROUNDING QUESTIONS

[fleis...@comcast.net]

Hello all,

I use an SS Tran AMT 3000 AM Transmitter..workes great. I use a
copper water pipe for a ground. My ground wire streches about 15 feet
or so. (maybe more)

When I'm transmitting I have a very strong signal,but I still deal
with an intermittient hum.


The signal where the ground wire is very strong.It almost overlloads
radios near by. I don't mind that.

My real issue is on the on the other side of the house (a small ranch
style) As strong as my signal is, where my 1941 radio console (has to
bere due to lack of any other space) sits, I get an internittent hum
and intrusion on my inhouse signal of 1420( Sometimes there is no
signal problems at all)


Question 1. If I were to move the ground to go across the basement
(directly under living room with console) and use a grounding rod
outside would that increase my signal strenth to the console and
eliminate the signal intrusion and hum?

If so, how deep should a grounding rod be? are there different types?
Whats the best?

3. Is it true that if you attach the ground wire from the transmitter
to the cable tv connectors that will be a good ground and boost
signal?

4. Why when I plugg a vacume cleaner in near the radio, does the hum
dissapate for a while? It goes away right away.

I had an electrican come to the house and check all electrical
groundings. He fixed a few things but that didn't change anything.

Thanks!

Barry F.

[Roger Jones]

I use one of these... I have experienced modulation (tunable) hum but
I'm never quite sure if it's my restored radios (not all do it) or the
Tx itself... I'm leaning to the former! When it was in the workshop I
grounded the black wire and strung the white one up but it made no
difference. Now that I've moved the AMT3000 to our upstairs office
I've just thrown them both out, black wire not grounded (white wire up
the bookshelf, black dropped down into the usual cable mess!) and
peaked the antenna trimmer (drilled a small hole in the plastic case
to get at it easily.) There's still a bit of mod hum on some radios
but not enough to worry about. BTW, I use 1300 KHz.
Make sure all the RF chokes on the PCB DC supply are IN circuit (I
think that's "jumpers out"... check!)
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Roger

[Dave M]

It might be the power supply (wall wart?) that's powering the transmitter.
I've helped other tinkerers with hum problems that turned out to be poorly
filtered or unfiltered DC wall warts.
Does a small transistor portable radio hear the same hum? If so, it's
originating somewhere in your house or very nearby,
While the hum is present, carry the portable radio around and see if you cna
find a spot where the hum is loudest. Look closely in th evicinity for
anything electrical that might be the cause of the hum.
Hints: Fluorescent lights, electrical kitchen appliances, electronic bench
ewuipment (TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED SOLDERING IRONS), motors, air
conditioners, etc. You get the idea. They can all be suspect in this kind
of situation.

--
Dave M
A woman has the last word in any argument. Anything a man says after
that is the beginning of a new argument.

[fleis...@comcast.net]

> that is the beginning of a new argument.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Thanks for the thoughtful relpys.

After my last post, I found an old post by Phil Boylyn of SS Tran. He
stated that he has his ground wire to a water pipe and the ground
point of the and an electrical outlet.

I tried it, and it seems to have eliminated 90% of my hum problem. Now
just a trace of hum can be heard intermittently. I've been excited
about this all day. I had my SS Tran on since early this morning, and
there had been no hum in the kitchen, bedroom, deck, and basement. I
may have lost some of the off property range, but its worth it not
having hum in the house.

Now I'm just dealing with intrusion in my signal (1420) on my 1941
RCA 29K console radio in my living room. Any ideas on that? That too
is a random mystery, that has driven me nuts for three years,
especially between 5:00 and 7:00pm.

Thanks Barry F.

[spsffan]

I've noticed that nearly any audio source that I connect which is
powered by regular mains AC causes hum. (CD players, DVD players, etc.).
Mostly I use a portable CD player which (although it has batteries in
it) is powered by a wall wart.

Nowthen, another thing that seems to matter a whole lot is placement of
the antenna wire for the SSTRAN itself. A half inch one way or another
seems to do it.

But, there's another weird thing. I have a Zenith 10S464 console, with a
Zenith (forget the model number) 8 tube AM/FM table radio sitting on tip
of it. If i turn on the FM radio, even before it warms up, the console
looses its hum. At least it used to. I turned the AC plug around for the
console, and thing seem soo much better.

Grounding is tricky here. I don't trust the plumbing, as they replaced
the pipes (in and out) a couple of years ago. The drains are clearly
plastic. The incoming is copper, but far away from the SSTRAN. I Do get
acceptable coverage and sound now though. I haven't tried my regular AC
powered DVD player (used because it plays MP3s off of CD discs)
recently. I guess I should give it a try again.

Regards,

DAVe

[fleis...@comcast.net]

> DAVe- Hide quoted text -

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I've heard that if you connect the SS Tran ground wire to the
connectors where your cable TV--internet comes onto the house, that
the signal is boosted by the coaxial cable. Is that true?

Our cable connectors are underneath (in the basement) where the (1941
RCA 29K) console radio sits. Should I try connecting my SS Tran gorund
wire to those cables? Would that damage the SS Tran? Would it make
the signal even stronger near the console and stop the intermettent
signal intrusion? I've put put a portable radio with a signal strength
meter in the same location as the console, you can see the meter dip.
It only happens where the console sits. (due to lack of space the
console radio has to sit in that location)


Any ideas?

Thanks!

[spsffan]

I haven't ever had cable (except when living with my parents years ago)
as I refuse to pay for television (or radio) as long as I can get it
over the air as Jack Benny intended. Actually, since digital TV came
along, I think I get better programming than the folks around here with
basic cable.

> Our cable connectors are underneath (in the basement) where the (1941
> RCA 29K) console radio sits. Should I try connecting my SS Tran gorund
> wire to those cables? Would that damage the SS Tran? Would it make
> the signal even stronger near the console and stop the intermettent
> signal intrusion? I've put put a portable radio with a signal strength
> meter in the same location as the console, you can see the meter dip.
> It only happens where the console sits. (due to lack of space the
> console radio has to sit in that location)
>
>
> Any ideas?
>

Thanks!
>
>
>

It sounds like you have, for whatever reason, a dead spot and that is
right where you put the console. How about running an antenna wire out
of the console to a better location?

Just a thought.

DAVe

[fleis...@comcast.net]

On Apr 17, 4:07 pm, spsffan <spsf...@hotmail.com> wrote:

Why didn't I think of that? The radio has a giant loop antenna, where
would I connect the wire? Now that I think of it, I did have a wire
for shortwave connected to a screw terninal.

Maybe there is an AM connection as well. How long should the wire be?
and what type and gauge of wire?