HAM interference with fog lights?

[Louisiana Overland]

I am having some added static/interference when fog lights are turned on. The fog run on the factory wiring harness but are diode dynamics brand lights. The radio power takes from a block under drivers seat that is supplied via 2awg direct from battery. The antenna is on rear hatch mount. Fogs are on lower front bumper. This is a yaesu ftm400 in a 2017 4runner. Has anyone ever experienced this? Any idea fir solution?

 

[Ubiety]

Have not experienced myself but I know that Kenwood sells a couple/few noise reduction parts for mobile environments. One is a big toroid and the other a hefty capacitor? Let me know if you need help finding model numbers.

 

[J.W.]

I’m guessing your fog lights are LED? It’s pretty common to get occasional RF interference from LED lights. You might be able to minimize the interference with an inline noise filter. I saw them on sale at Crutchfield the other day for about $12.

If that doesn’t work, you may have some coupling from the line to the lights or the battery, in which case you’ll need to re-route the wires. Let us know what you find that resolves the issue.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

I suspect a leg of the 2awg in engine compartment needs reroute. If that doesnt resolve, then I will be stumped for sure.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

Where/how do the filters install?

 

[J.W.]

I suspect a leg of the 2awg in engine compartment needs reroute. If that doesnt resolve, then I will be stumped for sure.

If that line runs anywhere near the alternator, I bet you are right.

The inline noise filters are a simple install, just cut and splice on the wire. The trick is finding exactly where the issue is. Usually closer to the fuse block end the better but that is not a hard and fast rule.

 

[Ubiety]

The large toroid just goes inline with power. The noise filter you have to chase down where to put it (never had to do that).
Hmmmm, I have an LED light bar with headache lights. Headache lights are on at night and I have never noticed anything on the radio... Maybe I should go find a lonely road to experiment with the real lights on?
@Louisiana Overland can you describe the interference? Particular frequency? Ham/GMRS? Would like to make sure I cannot find anything similar while we have this time on our hands. Thanks!

 

[Louisiana Overland]

I am new to HAM. Just installed the radio and studying for license which I aim to get as soon as libraries reopen. I have not been able to wrap my head around programming the radio with the RT software, so the only thing I am doing currently is monitoring a NOAA weather station about 60 miles away. I can have it on and it comes through fairly clear and if I switch fogs on it brings on static that pretty much renders it unlistenable. The radio does have the MARS modification and eventually when I am able to figure out the programming I would like to be able to monitor GMRS also.
On another note if anyone is willing to help with the programming I would appreciate the assist.

 

[Ubiety]

@Louisiana Overland
>> programming the radio with the RT software
Is this Yaesu specific SW? I don't know it but there are folks around here who use Yaesus. Somebody will give you a hand, answers may already be in the forum.

The Kenwood in the Jeep has the MARS mod as well - I'll give your scenario a try. Thank you!

 

[J.W.]

I am new to HAM. Just installed the radio and studying for license which I aim to get as soon as libraries reopen. I have not been able to wrap my head around programming the radio with the RT software, so the only thing I am doing currently is monitoring a NOAA weather station about 60 miles away. I can have it on and it comes through fairly clear and if I switch fogs on it brings on static that pretty much renders it unlistenable. The radio does have the MARS modification and eventually when I am able to figure out the programming I would like to be able to monitor GMRS also.
On another note if anyone is willing to help with the programming I would appreciate the assist.

Programming with RT is pretty easy. I don't think it's specific to Yaesu but you should be able to program it pretty easily.

When you open it, there should be a bunch of fields with titles like "receive", "transmit", "offset direction", "name", "tone", etc. (yeah, I know there are a lot.

It looks like you are close to Baton Rouge so use somewhere like Repeaterbook to find local repeaters to program. Let's take the KD5SL repeater and look at what you need:



So 145.4900 is your first field "receive frequency"
The offset is -0.6MHz so you'll want to put 144.8900 as your transmit.
So 600KHz will be your offset
Offset direction will be minus
Operating mode will be FM
Name is KD5SL
Tone mode is "tone"
CTCSS is 107.2

Adjust your power settings for how far away you are (use the lowest power setting you need to reach the repeater). I think everything else you will leave alone. It looks like some of your local repeaters have RX tones (both in and out) so add that to the RX CTCSS on the repeaters that require it. If no tone is listed, you can leave those blank.

Someone else jump in If I've overlooked anything. I don't use RT much but I think I covered the bases. Let me know if you have any other questions on the programming. Good luck!

 

[Ubiety]

See I told you someone would jump in and help out! Thanks @J.W.
Such a friendly place!

 

[Dilldog]

Where is your radio grounded? From everything i have heard it's best to run power and ground straight to the battery with a fuse in both.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

Where is your radio grounded? From everything i have heard it's best to run power and ground straight to the battery with a fuse in both.

I have 2awg ground and power run from battery to a distribution block under drivers seat. One side of block powers the ham. The other powers audio equipment. I am prepared to run direct to battery if needed but have not implemented the things i wanted to try first. I have been busy with a dash mount and additional usb outlets. FWIW, the led fogs cause no noise or interference with the other audio equipment, only the ham receptiin is affected.

 

[Dilldog]

I have 2awg ground and power run from battery to a distribution block under drivers seat. One side of block powers the ham. The other powers audio equipment. I am prepared to run direct to battery if needed but have not implemented the things i wanted to try first. I have been busy with a dash mount and additional usb outlets. FWIW, the led fogs cause no noise or interference with the other audio equipment, only the ham receptiin is affected.

Most car audio stuff has built in filters, so it's rare to get noise there.

 

[Flipper]

Its probably the power supplies in the led lights that is causing RF interference. RF stands for radio frequency. RF is transmitted thru the air not your wiring, but your truck wiring can pick it up because it does not have shielded wire. I have the same issue with my Sirius/XM tuner in my truck. The head unit (Audiovox)has a really crappy internal power supply . Soon as I turn the xm on I have to kick up the squelch two numbers on my 2M . The interference is going thru the air not my wiring although the DC wiring through the truck does absorb the interference to some point. The point is it’s radiated first, not internal. Filters will help but probably are not going to solve the problem. The power supplies in your lights are basically radios transmitting noise when they are on. Try doing some research on a better quality lights and ask the manufacturers if they have issues with RF radiation. The good ones will know what you are talking about. A possible fix would be to disassemble the lights and get some 3M 77 spray adhesive, spray it on some HD tin foil and line the inside of the light housing especially where the power supply is, but this could also cause a heat build up issue. Another trick to finding a RF leak is get a small AM radio, no specific channel, and hold it near the suspected piece, while on, if you get a loud buzz that’s where your RF is coming from, the closer you get, the louder the buzz. I tried not to get too technical, hope this info helps.

 

[FastLayne]

I am new to HAM. Just installed the radio and studying for license which I aim to get as soon as libraries reopen. I have not been able to wrap my head around programming the radio with the RT software, so the only thing I am doing currently is monitoring a NOAA weather station about 60 miles away. I can have it on and it comes through fairly clear and if I switch fogs on it brings on static that pretty much renders it unlistenable. The radio does have the MARS modification and eventually when I am able to figure out the programming I would like to be able to monitor GMRS also.
On another note if anyone is willing to help with the programming I would appreciate the assist.

Check out the CHIRP programming software - Home - CHIRP

The software is free and works with most radios. All you need is a USB programming cable. I use it for my Baofengs and my Kenwood. It works great and is easy to use.

 

[TheGreyhound]

I am having some added static/interference when fog lights are turned on. The fog run on the factory wiring harness but are diode dynamics brand lights. The radio power takes from a block under drivers seat that is supplied via 2awg direct from battery. The antenna is on rear hatch mount. Fogs are on lower front bumper. This is a yaesu ftm400 in a 2017 4runner. Has anyone ever experienced this? Any idea fir solution?

DId you ever get this resolved? I am having the exact same issue with my LED pods causing broadband static into my GMRS Midland 275. I've tried ferrite chokes on every line imaginable, taking power directly from the battery, and still no improvement. Kind of a bummer to have to choose between seeing and hearing.

I just thought to go out and use a handheld and see if it also gets interference... it definitely does. Not as bad, but its definitely coming over the air. Bummer, means the LED lights themselves are the problem.

 

[Louisiana Overland]

DId you ever get this resolved? I am having the exact same issue with my LED pods causing broadband static into my GMRS Midland 275. I've tried ferrite chokes on every line imaginable, taking power directly from the battery, and still no improvement. Kind of a bummer to have to choose between seeing and hearing.

I just thought to go out and use a handheld and see if it also gets interference... it definitely does. Not as bad, but its definitely coming over the air. Bummer, means the LED lights themselves are the problem.

Which lights are you running? A friend has his antenna mounted about 8” from a led ditch light and no static. I have been focused on other projects and havent come back around to trying to resolve this one yet.

 

[TheGreyhound]

Which lights are you running? A friend has his antenna mounted about 8” from a led ditch light and no static. I have been focused on other projects and havent come back around to trying to resolve this one yet.

Just amazon specials.... theyre all essentially the same. The antenna is a Nagoya UT-72 on a magnetic mount. prolly 4 feet from the lights (antenna on roof, lights on hood). Power and antenna wires arent running parallel to each other either. The static is in the air, as confirmed by my handhelds. Seems just crappy lights that put out a ton of EMI

 

[MidOH]

Just turn the fog lights off when on the radio. You still have your main lights.

Bad pulsewidth power supplies on LED's usually can't be fixed. Grounding, rerouting wires, nothing. Crazy bad THD. It's becoming a nightmare in the industry. Building electric demand drops nicely, but THD goes through the roof and can screw up dimmers, UPS's, even backup generators.

Even high end Rigids have this issue. Cheap chinese lights, haha, forget about it.

All of my mains are halogen, my aux lights are led and halogen. All aux are off when the radios on. The poor guys that paid $3000 extra for a jeep with OEM led's?............Haha. Call it Karma for blinding everyone.