OK, Time for a laugh...on me.

Sparks

Here is today's saga.. really silly...and maybe a heads-up for Flex owners out there.

So, I tune up on 20 mtrs as usual...but this time as it finishes, the RX noise floor pops up to 100DB and I can see only the strongest signals. Pure white noise. In about 2 minutes, it drops back to normal. I hit tune for 2 seconds, zoom out on the panadapter and see two huge noise humps covering Plus/minus 20 meters by a few megahertz. What the heck? I'm thinking that the AM broadcast filter isn't kicking back in after transmitting or tuning. I have a few AM stations nearby. I listen for a stuck relay clicking when it drops back to normal...nope. I then tried the IC-7600 and it did the same thing! Uh oh. So, then the light goes on.....literally.

I installed three LED motion security lights yesterday. The RF from the delta antenna above the house turned these lights on - and the AC PS inside them generates a huge amount of hash on 20. Then they turn off 2 minutes later. I didn't laugh at this, but maybe you can.

Lesson: Security lights can give you a headache on HF.  Be aware.

George KF2T

Good one, Bob! Powerline ethernet, low-voltage halogens, plasma TVs, switching supplies. Gads, it's enough to make me long for the day when the ham radio interfered with electronics, not the other way around!