PGXL crashes computer

edwinhigg

My PGXL causes my computer to crash when it puts out more than 400-500 watts. I've put ferrite beads on all leads, and it did not help. Can anyone recommend a desktop that is less susceptible to RF. Currently I am using a Dell Inspiron.

Dudley WA5QPZ

Don't forget to clamp a ferrite on the AC line to the computer and the video cable coming from the monitor.. Grounding the computer and amp to the same RF ground may help also .. Is this on one particular band or frequency ?

Dudley, WA5QPZ

Martin AA6E

You may have too much RF in the shack. Is your feedline too close? Is there RF current on the outside? (Try an unun for isolation.) Is the antenna close by? Etc. Would expect some bands worse than others.

73 Martin AA6E

Mike Steventon

Hmm. You might have a try with DXE Iso-Plus in-line ethernet filters on all your ethernet connections. I do not yet have the PGXL or TGXL, but I think it would be a worth-while effort. I have included the link to take you to their web-page. It would appear that the filters may be just what you want/need, according to the reviews and general description. My current plan is to get the TGXL later in the year to marry with the 6600M, and I will use these as an additional safe-guard just in case I get "pick-up" from any stray rf due to extra wires etc floating around at the rear of my equipment!

Good luck in solving your problem.

73 de Mike G4GWH

Link:

dxe-iso-plus-2

Mike-VA3MW

Yes, this is a high RF problem and it would also help if you describe the rest of your station setup, the bands it happens on and the antenna you are using. This will help get you some better answers.

Also, how far away from your station are your antennas.

KM4CQG

On my setup 6700, pgxl & Antenna Genius I only see RF issues on 160m & 80m at 80watts and above.

I had to run 5 ferrite on various coax and Cat5 to get these results.

My computer isn’t grounded but all other equipment is.

km4cqg

Ian

Al K0VM

Having your equipment ( PC/radio/amp/tuner ) bonded together with short ( < 2 ft ) straps can also be helpful in mitigating RFI issues as can short ethernet runs from your radio/pc/Amp to your router/switch

AL, K0VM

edwinhigg

Thanks Guys...My 6400 and PGXL are rack mounted in a 3' tabletop rack. Everything, including the computer is grounded to a very good DC ground. The CPU is about 10' from the rest of the rig. I am in a second story shack and my antenna is a Buckmaster OCF dipole. The antenna apex is about 30' above the shack and about 50' above ground. I have ferrites on every lead I can think about, including the power leads. Presently I am operating the PGXL on 120 VAC while I wait on the electrician to install 240 VAC service. I did find that the ethernet cable to the PGXL was causing a problem. I replaced it and that improved things a little more than somewhat. 20 M and 17 M work pretty well now, but I am still having problems on 10 M, 40 M, and 80 M. My ethernet router is about 20 feet from the rig, but its cables are long. I have ordered the DX Engineering filters and a high power 1:1 UN-UN. By the way, The RF has eaten up three wall-warts.

KA9CFD

When I first received the PGXL, I had RFI issues where my ethernet switch would power off whenever I keyed the amp. This was happening on just about any band 160-6m. Tried swapping out the switch and putting snap on ferrites all over the place with no success. I also had bought the DXE ethernet filters with no success. I ended up buying pairs of ethernet to fiber adapters through Amazon and replacing the cat6 cables with fiber for the runs to the switch. That cured my problem entirely. The adapters and fiber cables are all plug and play. Easy to set up. You might think about that route if your RFI issues is getting into your ethernet cable runs. It would have been a lot cheaper just getting the adapters in the long run. Good luck.

Jay KA9CFD

edwinhigg

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edwinhigg

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KA9CFD

I replaced the cat6 cable runs from the Flex to my ethernet switch and from the PGXL to the ethernet switch. I also am using ethernet to fiber adapters for the new tuner genius to the ethernet switch. The main culprit in my set up was the cable from the Flex radio to the switch. I dont know why. At that point I decided to replace them all. I was pulling my hair before hand. lol.

Mike-VA3MW

I have also noticed that using switches that are metal cased are more RF quiet and have less RFI issues.

edwinhigg

I am making progress by increments. Every little thing I have tried has helped and the major problems are going away. So far I have replaced one ethernet cable, connected everything I can find to the station ground, swapped keyboards, and added a pound or two of ferrites to all of my computer leads. Today I installed an UN-UN next to the output of the amp and that made significant improvement. The fiber hardware is due in tomorrow and I think that will help considerably when I replace the ethernet cables with fiber. The PGXL is working like gangbusters but It is surely unforgiving of sloppy work on the rest
of the station. By the time the electrician finally gets the 240VAC service installed things should be clicking. Thanks for all of the free advice. I really enjoy hearing from one and all. 73...Ed...KD5B.