Thread: power supplies with minimal radio interferance?

Originally Posted by mstaedt

I took the computer back out of my truck and set it on the front seat of the van. Got another monitor (we use the exact same one at work) and set it on the dash. The Visteon is still in the glovebox of the van and running through the stock radio via the antenna out cable. With all of that powered up, including sending the VGA signal to the monitor, reception is excellent. It's not perfect ("perfect" being what it is with no computer in the car), but it is close.

I can reassemble some more of my truck system into the van, but when I get to the amps I'm going to have to move back into the truck since I would have to remove the back seats to get the amps out.

I still can't figure out what's better about my van. I can say that there are practically no opportunities for ground loops in the van since I don't have any audio cables in there. Maybe it's like mazda8's trunklid open vs. closed condition - just a change of environment.

I don't know if anyone is still following this thread or not. I'm using it as a work log, so I'll keep posting...

I'd been driving my mini-van to work and back for several days with the setup quoted here with no interference problems. So I decided to move back into my truck.

I now have the computer back where it belongs on the back wall of the cab, powered up through the trucks wiring harness.

The monitor is back in the dash and connected to the computer via the VGA cable which is still under the carpet. The only thing different here is that I am powering the monitor from the cigarette lighter socket.

The Visteon is still under the seat and powered by the truck harness. A key change here is that I ran a wire to the ignition-in on the Visteon from a fuse on the truck instead of the 12V rail from the computer.

NONE of the audio is hooked up or powered on. I'm listening to the radio through headphones plugged directly into the Visteon.

Everthing was fine on my trip to work this morning. The computer (WITH the M2-ATX), the Visteon, and the monitor CAN all live happily together!

I'm, going to drive like this for a couple of days while I figure out what to hook up next.

Originally Posted by mazda8

my mazda has the window antennae, which is directly above the computer.

I'm going to see if it in the m2-atx this weekend by swapping the power supply with an AC one.

What I think I might ultimately have to do is shield the wires going to the antennae, but I don't want to spend money on shielding stuff before I know that is the problem. I've heard of foil being able to shield it, is that true?

before you go about shielding the wires.. open up the connector box (somewhere either at the top of the glass or behind the rear panels) and disconnect the antenna connector from the glass connector to see if that makes a difference. Alot of people with glass antennas dont realize they've got to be powered and forget to do that during the computer installation.

Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

before you go about shielding the wires.. open up the connector box (somewhere either at the top of the glass or behind the rear panels) and disconnect the antenna connector from the glass connector to see if that makes a difference. Alot of people with glass antennas dont realize they've got to be powered and forget to do that during the computer installation.

Powered?

Is it not already powered?

You've lost me. So go back and disconnect the antenna completely? I don't see the good there?
Please explain what you mean a little more

lol its very simple. if you have removed your head unit and replaced it with a pc, you have to be sure the "power antenna" lead is connected to a 12v source. If not, your glass antenna is practically pointless. An easier way of testing whether your antenna is powered is disconnecting the wire going into the glass antenna and seeing if that distorts/kills your reception. Most of the time that test is easier than getting in the dash and checking the wires where your head unit formerly resided.

Originally Posted by Sonicxtacy02

lol its very simple. if you have removed your head unit and replaced it with a pc, you have to be sure the "power antenna" lead is connected to a 12v source. If not, your glass antenna is practically pointless. An easier way of testing whether your antenna is powered is disconnecting the wire going into the glass antenna and seeing if that distorts/kills your reception. Most of the time that test is easier than getting in the dash and checking the wires where your head unit formerly resided.

....Thats the thing, I am using the OEM headunit.

I´ve been dealing with a RFI issue by my M2-ATX PSU confirmed since with a regular ATX PS it´s working fine not interfering with HQCT radio. Looking for a solution I´d like to know if someone tested the IEI PS that fits in my voompc case model IDDV-6304140A and can talk about how much RFI it generate.
Thanks

OK guys I am going to share my two cents here!

I found out that when I pull out the serial cable of my Visteon, reception dramatically improved.

Maybe it is not only the power supply "only", any thought on this?

This could be the magic bullet!!!

I found out that there is actually a serial "optical" loop isolator in the market, I wonder if it would solve the problems once and for all

Check this out http://www.usconverters.com/index.ph...roducts_id=187

RedScorpion The PS is 100% responsable for it. I replaced my M2 with a new and expensive IEI (Industrial version of PS) and the noise disappear completely so I have no doubt.
In your case you have a ground loop back that is transmitting the noise.