ARRL New England Division to Combat RFI
The Californer/10218452

SAN DIEGO - Californer -- Radio frequency interference (RFI) has become an issue for many radio amateurs. Solar energy systems, LEDs, switching power supplies, dimmers, variable-speed motor controllers and other devices have all raised the noise floor. In some cases, RFI makes communicating via amateur radio all but impossible, and this impacts the ability of radio amateurs to provide emergency and public service communications.

To combat this problem, the ARRL New England Division has created teams to help radio amateurs find sources of RFI and eliminate or reduce the interference. These teams are also able to provide additional assistance when required, such as working with utility companies, the ARRL, or even the FCC.

A $23,640 ARDC  grant will allow the New England Division to purchase RFI equipment for each of the seven sections in the division. Each kit will have the following equipment:

• Icom IC-705 transceiver for RFI detection and spectrum capture.
• DX Engineering NOISELOOP receiving antenna and a DXE-NL-PRE-ATT-1 preamplifier- attenuator to detect sources of high-frequency RFI.
• Elk Antennas 2M/440L5 Dual-Band Antenna for locating RFI sources in the VHF and UHF portions of the spectrum.

In addition, the division will be purchasing a Radar Engineering RE-243 Broadband RFI Locator for detecting power-line noise and a Radar Engineering RE-245 Circuit Sniffer for detecting indoor noise sources. This equipment will be dispatched to the sections when needed. The funds will also help the division with on-site training for all seven New England section teams.

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About the ARRL New England Division
The ARRL New England Division includes the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In this geographic area, the division supports the awareness and growth of amateur radio and organizes and trains volunteers to serve their communities by providing public service and emergency communications. To learn more about the ARRL New England Division, go to https://nediv.arrl.org/,

About ARDC
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) is a California-based foundation. ARDC makes grants to projects and organizations that follow amateur radio's practice and tradition of technical experimentation in both amateur radio and digital communication science. Such experimentation has led to advances that benefit the general public, including the mobile phone and wireless internet technology. ARDC envisions a world where all such technology is available through open source hardware and software, and where anyone has the ability to innovate upon it. To learn more about ARDC, go to  https://www.ampr.org.

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