TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY BULLETIN NR 17.07 DATE: February 12, 2017
SUBJECT: STRONG RF AND COMPUTERS.
When operating a radio and using a computer, be sure to keep the transmitter's radiating antenna, and transmission line as far away from your computer as you can. Strong Radio Frequency or RF signals can play havoc with your computer. The RF can erase or severely scramble the memory you have saved on your computer's hard drive, floppy disks, or thumb drives.
Strong RF signals can also generate high voltages inside the computer, where only low voltages should be. If this happens, sensitive circuits inside the computer, or other such devices could be destroyed, causing the device not to work. RF signals can enter into the computer in several ways. The antenna can be too close, or the transmitting equipment not properly grounded.
If not properly grounded, stray RF that is traveling along the outside of the transmission line can be radiating enough signal to do the same thing as the antenna. When using your computer, attached to your transmitter, and operating any of the Digital Modes such as Packet, be sure to use good shielded cables on all of your components to keep RF from getting into the computer. Good shielding and proper grounding will also help from having weak RF signals generated within the computer getting into the receiver, causing it to be unable to hear those weak signals.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV