Reducing spurs and broadband noise

K6OZY

In the constant effort of reducing noise being generated internally on the QTH,  I came upon an interesting article on QST in 2003 after seeing a wiring diagram in the manual for my PWRGate that I use in my GoBox that I keep my 6700 in.

I currently have it wired as:


But the manual makes reference to an alternate method referred to as the W1ZR configuration.



The QST article is here:  http://www.k6ozy.us/stuff/QST_Dec_2003_p41-44.pdf

I have a 100aH Deep cycle AGM attached to it.    Since the PWRGate has a 10A charge circuit, this would make me believe that all TX activity would be primarily provided by the battery instead of the power supply.   I was told that this configuration also greatly minimizes spurs and noise from the power supply to interfere with our beautiful waterfalls.

Is there any merit to this?

KY6LA_Howard

Yes most definitely. That's the way I run it Unless you are running RTTY or Rag Chewing on AM Your rig will run for a while,on battery until,the battery voltage drops and needs the power supply. On receive you will be 100% battery power

Jim KJ3P

Ditto... I've been using this configuration for a couple of years with no problems. I can't speak to spurs, since I haven't heard any!  I use a linear supply in the configuration, and only a 55 Ah  AGM battery (because it suits my intermittent...and often QRP...operation). I have also put one of those cheap modular digital voltage meters across the battery as a monitor to keep a rough watch on it.

Steve N4LQ

Yes and Ditton....but which one?

Jim KJ3P

I was referring to the W1ZR config.  In my system, the PWRgate seems to allow the battery to get down to 12.8V before it begins a charging cycle, going up to about 14.2V.  Not sure if this is the way it's supposed to work, but there's been no problem. My Flex 6300, by the way, does not seem to mind the very slow voltage fluctuation (cycle time is hours/days, depending on activity).

George KF2T

do you guys notice much difference between battery and analog/linear supplies? would having a battery float on the DC bus be effective?

K6OZY

I'm using an Alinco switching supply currently.  I have a buck booster to help it stay at 14v, but I have had under volt issues before using a battery-only solution.  That is a very good question if it drops down to 12.8, then under load it would go even lower and impact maximum power output.