2013 Retreat- Brampton. When I plug in the 240V to the van, all MW radio stations are virtually useless as all stations have nothing but static on them. FM is not affected. I have put magnetic ferrides on all leads from the 12V power to the radio, arial, all 12V power to the radio etc- nothing gets rid of the static--- until I switch off the 240 to 12 volt battery charger. The 240V power is earthed to the van chassis. Yesterday I made up a dodgy connection plug without the earth pin to connect the 240V to 12V charger input. No radio static on MW stations at all.
So the static is coming from the 240V to earth on the van chassis. Obviously I am not going to use that plug at all as I don't want to receive a "Darwin award". It was just an experiment to see if the 240V earth was a problem- and it is. I will have to get a 240V to 12 V caravan expert on the job to try and sort it unless someone has a solution. I have been told the problem may be the charger - A Power Saver model BC-012-30AT, but the charger works fine going through all the motions from BULK to Float etc as it should. I have priced a similar new charger and they are ~ $350 a bit much for what seems to be a small problem.
AM interference is a pain in the neck to solve on every level. Earthing is not going to help.
Have a look at radiojayallen for ideas.
https://radiojayallen.com/
The ferrite beads you do need to run around tightly, also the correct number of turns & bother ends of cables.
Have your tried running running the AM radio off a seperate battery, so absolutely no electrical connection of any sort, & very short cables & keep at distance from interference source.
Having said that I like to listen to ABC RN in the outback a 1000km from Sydney. I have triple shielded & multiple beaded my fridge with multiple turns at both ends of the cable with beads, have gutted the fridge, & it's on seperate battery. Still get AM interference from fridge.
It's a pity because the car AM radio is still the best of all the AM radios in extreme remote areas if the fridge is off, or the fridge is tens of metres away from the car.
P.S. Also have issues at home in our block of Units from other Units in our block, with expensive hi-fi equipment.
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Thanks for your input. I have given up trying to solve the issue with my limited electrical knowledge and will now take the van to a caravan repair center or some other radio expert
Car AM radios are brilliantly designed for noise reduction. Maybe buy a car radio (even an old one with knobs, off council clean up). Build it into a portable system with its own battery.
At night I am always amazed how far the car radio can pull in a signal. I have always taken various portable AM radios when travelling. All of them were a magnitude less in getting a signal compared to the car radio.
__________________
Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!
50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
If you are going the car radio route, make sure to get an older one, possibly with a cd player, or even cassette. The later ones are considerably less sensitive on AM, if they have it at all.
Just make sure to test it before doing the final fit-up.
Car AM radios are brilliantly designed for noise reduction. Maybe buy a car radio (even an old one with knobs, off council clean up). Build it into a portable system with its own battery.
At night I am always amazed how far the car radio can pull in a signal. I have always taken various portable AM radios when travelling. All of them were a magnitude less in getting a signal compared to the car radio.
Are you comparing them fairly? What about the antenna?
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