Thread: power supplies with minimal radio interferance?

I have actually used 3 different mobos today.... my good old EPIA, an old shuttle I had laying around and a GigaByte MA78GM-S2H and with all three, no luck.
So, I now have used two different PSU's and three different mobo's without luck.
Although I prefer a nice and clean install in the trunk only, I am now looking into mounting the HD unit under the bonnet.
Some BMW E46 types have the battery in the front under the bonnet in a nice, dry and sealed compartment. As mine has the battery in the trunk, this means I have some room left... initial test showed that by placing the directed unit there, the interference is minimal, even with the M2.
As there's already a power connection available in that area, only thing I need to do now is extend mitch's cable with a 8P minidin cable, route the antenna and audio cables and I should be ready...... hopefully...
I will keep you posted... not giving up my hope for radio.. yet..

I dont post here much anymore for many reason, but seeing whats happening I though Ill mention a few things. Most of my stuff are now in the other forum.

@kove

There was no need for opus or new motherboard. The first thing you should have done is move the radio away from the PC or any source of interference. While the radio circuit may not be affected by the radiated interference it is most likely that your coax cable is picking it up. Use a high quality coax cable from the radio right up to the antenna.

Make sure the motherboard etc etc are bolted to the case and it is shielded properly. Use ferrite ring on the cables that connect to the radio, the serial cable, audio and power cable. Fit them ferrite on the PC end.

Dont run the coax cable near where there might be source of interference, move them about and you will see the difference.

If you need smoother supply, you can upgrade them caps on your M1/M2-MTX. Thats exactly what I have done and my home brew DAB radio reception improved from okish to very good.

And of course the usual stuff, make sure all the connection are good specially the grounds. Install your PC away from sensitive equipment that may get affected.

Most likely it is your coax thats giving you the trouble. Try to follow all of the above and you should have better reception, every little things does help improve it.

Good luck...

What types of antennas do you guys have? Are they short or built into the rear window?

Originally Posted by durwood

What types of antennas do you guys have? Are they short or built into the rear window?

I got a good old stock mast antenna on the right front fender. I've attempted to add some extra shielding by wrapping the cable all the way from where it comes into the body to where it plugs into the tuner with aluminum tape. This did seem to slightly improve the situation.

yep same here with the stock mast antenna, on the left front fender.

so the tape helped a bit mstaedt, but nothing major?

Originally Posted by ElCap

yep same here with the stock mast antenna, on the left front fender.

so the tape helped a bit mstaedt, but nothing major?

Nothing major. However, I also eliminated the extension cable that came with the Visteon and just ran the factory antenna cable straight to the tuner. That may have also contributed to the improvement (or been completely responsible for it). Unfortunately, I will have to use some kind of extension because without one my cable goes straight from the glovebox to the tuner which is now laying on the floor in front of the passenger seat.

OK - I've finally got the interference to a tolerable level. I've got my system blown down to a bare minimum state, but I now have a place to start as well as some kind of clue as to what it may take to permanantly fix the problem.

Here's where I'm at...

The computer is sitting on the back seat and being powered by a spare battery sitting on the floor. This way the computer power is completely independent of any problems I may have with the truck wiring. I installed a ferrite ring around the power cables right as they go into the case.

There is NOTHING connected to the PC (no monitor, no USB hubs, nothing). I also removed the antenna for the wifi card. I DO, however, have the M2-ATX back in it since I saw no improvewment with the Opus 120w and it didn't fit very well into my case.

The Visteon HD tuner is sitting on the floor in front of the front passenger seat. It is also powered by the battery sitting on the floor. I'm controlling it with the Visteon supplied controller. See my previous post for details regarding the antenna. The audio cables are connected straight to the dash mounted equilizer, bypassing the PC sound card. I have a ferrite ring around ALL of the cables going to the tuner with the exception of the antenna cable.

The equilizer and the amps are still powered by the truck wiring.

Although the reception is still not as good as when the PC is off, it is MUCH improved from where it has been. And it is about as good as the Dual HD head unit I have installed in another car.

Now, I need to decide which way to go. I may try one more time installing the Opus just to put to rest once and for all the possibility that the M2-ATX is a problem. Then I need to figure out what is wrong with my truck wiring. I know I have some places where power cables, audio cables, and antenna cables run together. I will probably end up having to pull up my seats and carpet to re-route some of that. And I will start plugging components back into the computer one at a time to see if any of those have issues.

I'll keep y'all posted

subscribed

baby steps...

I now have the computer off the aux battery and it is powered by the truck. I ran a couple of wires striaght from the fuse panel behind the left rear seat to the PC which is still sitting on the right rear seat. I've also still got the 12V battery and ignition wires to the M2-ATX spliced together.

There was no noticible degradation in reception.

Woohoo!

Next step will be to reconnect the ignition wire back to the original wiring harness. This will leave only the +12V battery wire and ground wire to the computer laying across the seats.