USB cable causing radio interference

Petrolhead · 22 Sep 2017 at 18:44

I have got into ham radio and bought a HF rig. This can be controlled thro my PC however the USB cable I am using causes interference.

Its a printer style cable USB Type A Male to Type B male

Can anyone recommend a suitable cable that's properly shielded

Rroff · 22 Sep 2017 at 18:50

Where is the interference manifesting? its possible its coming from inside the PC and being transferred on the cable or it could be related to a ground loop issue and be eliminated with a ground loop eliminator, etc. or it might simply be solved with some snap on RF chokes depending on what the actual problem is.

Petrolhead · 22 Sep 2017 at 18:53

Its the cable as as soon as I remove the cable (PC still on) the interference stops

Rroff · 22 Sep 2017 at 18:56

Have you tried removing it from the PC while still connected to the equipment? I'm not sure from your description if the cable is itself picking up noise like an antenna or just a conduit for noise from another source.

Petrolhead · 22 Sep 2017 at 20:21

Good idea and will try this and report back

Petrolhead · 23 Sep 2017 at 11:54

Did a short video to show the problem

BenhB · 26 Sep 2017 at 11:01

I've seen a problem at work with Surface Pro 3s. The USB cables supplied were causing the wifi to drop out.
Try, wrapping the cable in foil. Or getting a couple of ferrite cores and put one each end. Or replace the cable for one with ferrite cores.

Petrolhead · 25 Oct 2017 at 09:05

I bought a large ferrite core and wrapped the cable around that and it cured the problem, thanks