Bartek Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 So ....for the past three weeks I've been soldering like a madman. About three feet away from my workbench I have an alarm clock radio. What can I say I like to listen to NPR as I sniff the fumes. Today for the firs time I noticed an odd thing. I was working on the 1/8" return for my HD cable run and any time I touched the sleeve arm of the connector with the tip of the soldering iron the radio would take and RF hit. A pretty bad one! I tried this a few times and sure enough, thats what it was. I disconnected the soldering base station and the anomaly went away. ???? what's going on, Induction?? Anyway, I know that this has little to do with the purpose of this group, but since there are a few of you out there with solid RF understanding / ham radio maniacs, I'd thought to ask. Bartek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ve7kjr Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 ham radio maniacs I guess that would be me. Hi Bartek I will keep my answer simple and to the point. Your soldering station has a u ground plug on it,,, correct,,,the tip of the soldering iron is wired directly to that u ground for safety if you were to be working around a live circuit "lets say 120V" . Your clock radio is using part of the electrical wiring in your house as the antenna for FM. Therefore when you touch the tip of the iron to a piece of metal you are also connecting to the antenna of the radio. This will only happen on FM as the radio has a built in ferrite core antenna for AM. There is nothing wrong with listening to NPR. VE7KJR (PHIL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt McGowin Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 p.s. make sure that you solder in a good ventilated room or have a fan and wear eye protection. matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 " ham radio maniacs, " I resemble that remark! 73, WA8ARZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ve7kjr Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 " ham radio maniacs, " I resemble that remark! 73, WA8ARZ Senator Mike, do you have a HF station set up,,,if so we should try 20 meters sometime. VE7KJR (PHIL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartek Posted March 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 always in good spirits Senator Mike, " ham radio maniacs, " was used as a term of pure endearment!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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