Mysterious electronic noises

[pandos]

My st60 wind instrument display is making a buzzing noise, faint but annoying. is this normal..

My vhf when receiving just static, can be silenced by switching on the deck light. The light is a led sealed unit, which is probably 25 feet below the metz antenna. Which is connected with good quality coax which passes close to the wiring to the led. Is this normal? My mast head lights are all led and they make no difference to the vhf.

Switching the lights on or off makes no difference to the wind display...

From what I can see every thing ( wind, depth, speed, repeater, remote control ) is networked and fed from the autopilot.

I took out a relay which previously fed the radar/plotter so that this is now fed directly from the fuses box. Would this have caused an issue?

 

[Boathook]

My ST60 wind instrument also makes a buzzing noise. The Stowe dataline wind also did the same. I belive that it's due to the "coil" that moves the wind direction needle. Sometimes it seems a bit noisier than other times.
Can't comment on the other issues.

 

[Roberto]

My st60 wind instrument display is making a buzzing noise, faint but annoying. is this normal..

A few weeks ago I searched some fresh suggestions about this, google funnily provided a link to a thread I opened in 2009. 16 years later I sort of learned to live with the noise.
Noise from ST50 instruments

 

[pandos]

A few weeks ago I searched some fresh suggestions about this, google funnily provided a link to a thread I opened in 2009. 16 years later I sort of learned to live with the noise.
Noise from ST50 instruments

Thanks for that...it is one of those noises that I find hard to un- hear...for some reason I never heard it last year, when I had no cups or wind arrow on the masthead...I foresee a switch on the feed to the wind instrument...

 

[Martin_J]

It might be a similar mechanical setup used within the i60 wind display... I still prefer the i60 analogue wind though over the digital displays of wind so learnt to live with the buzz...

If you had asked about the i60 though, I would have suggested you check firmware (for an intriguing fix)..



Note: Above screenshot is for I60 only.

 

[pandos]

It might be a similar mechanical setup used within the i60 wind display... I still prefer the i60 analogue wind though over the digital displays of wind so learnt to live with the buzz...

If you had asked about the i60 though, I would have suggested you check firmware (for an intriguing fix)..

View attachment 193826

Note: Above screenshot is for I60 only.

That's very interesting....they are essentially acknowledging that it is originally at an unacceptable level!..

I'll have a look at it when I get to the boat during the week.

 

[Martin_J]

Although that suggestion was for the newer i60... but possibly shows they work on a similar principle.

 

[RAFFY]

Hi,
I have two ST60 wind displays and both of them make the same low level buzzing noise. Mildly irritating but the display that is used at present has been like that for at least 3 years. Guess it is OK like that and somewhat comforting to know that I am not alone!!

 

[Rappey]

My vhf when receiving just static, can be silenced by switching on the deck light. The light is a led sealed unit

Thats strange as i thought turning an led on usually increases the static . Does show how much a tiny led can mess with your vhf radio.

 

[Rappey]

My mast head lights are all led and they make no difference to the vhf.

Turn on your vhf to 20/21. Turn squelch down until you hear static. Very carefully turn it up and stop the moment it goes quiet. Now turn your masthead light on.
If no static then you have a well shielded masthead light ! What light is it ?

 

[pandos]

Turn on your vhf to 20/21. Turn squelch down until you hear static. Very carefully turn it up and stop the moment it goes quiet. Now turn your masthead light on.
If no static then you have a well shielded masthead light ! What light is it ?

It's the deck light which is below halfways on the mast...it's one of those crappy combined deck and steaming light units with a led bulb from screwfix... The steaming light, which is a led bulb from the local Chandler's has no effect..

My internal lighting are all LEDs from china via Amazon and none of them seem to affect anything..

All of my other bulbs are from boat- lamps and none of them gave any static on the vhf (I tested them with a handheld before the mast went up)

I just think it's strange that it reduces the volume of static...I noticed it as I switched the light off, the vhf came to life..

 

[Rappey]

The wires of a led can also radiate the emission inteference unless shielded.
Shot in the dark but maybe the electromagnetic interference from the led and its cabling are reducing your vhf signal lowering the static level that you hear?

 

[pandos]

The wires of a led can also radiate the emission inteference unless shielded.
Shot in the dark but maybe the electromagnetic interference from the led and its cabling are reducing your vhf signal lowering the static level that you hear?

I don't really understand this stuff, but the cabling to the antenna is very high quality and well shielded. The wiring to the led is ordinary domestic (nothing but the best of engineering /materials in a Southerly)..

Is your suggestion that I may need to shield the supply from the board to the led or do you think it's just where the cable passes close to the VHF. ?

It's not a huge issue either way as I cannot perceive a likely situation where I'd be using the deck light and the main vhf at the same time..it just seemed very different to the interference that I expected/feared from the masthead lights which are within a foot of the antennas.

 

[Rappey]

Is your suggestion that I may need to shield the supply from the board

In a perfect world possibly but it's not causing major problems so i wouldn't worry about it.