Nine New Ones!

Tuning around the AM band with my new ELAD FDM-S2 SDR receiver last week, I logged three new stations:

- WGYM on 1580 kc in Hammonton, NJ, transmitting 1 kW 168 miles to the SSW.

- WACK on 1420 kc in Newark, NY, transmitting 500 W, 232 miles to the WNW.

- WQFG689 on 1710 kc in Jersey City, NJ, transmitting 10 W, 85 miles to the SW. WQFG689 is a TIS for Hudson County, NJ.

Friday night, I tried recording the whole AM band for two minutes at 10 PM EDST. I spent a few hours listening to the recording and logged six new stations:

- WNEB on 1230 kc in Southbridge, MA, transmitting 1 kW, 73 miles to the NE

- WICH on 1310 kc in Norwich, CT, transmitting 5 kW, 45 miles to the WSE.

- WEMG on 1310 kc in Camden, NJ, transmitting 250 W, 162 miles to the SW.

- WWRU on 1660 kc in Jersey City, NJ, transmitting 10 W, 85 miles to the SW.

- WTTM on 1680 kc in Lindenwold, NJ, transmitting 1 kW, 162 miles to the SW.

- CKAT on 600 kc in North Bay, Ontario, 455 miles to the NW.

All were heard using an 80 meter inverted Vee antenna.

I am very happy with my new radio, but there is a problem: interference from the MacBook Pro battery charger/power supply. The interference is so strong that only the strongest AM stations are above the noise.

The cable between the charger and the computer is the problem because the noise disappears completely when I disconnect the cable from the computer even though the charger is still powered.

I installed ferrite cable clips on the cable, but that made no difference.

I wrapped the cable 20 times around a toroid ferrite core, but that made no difference.

One solution that works is to use the ELAD-MacBook Pro combo without the battery charger. This gives me a few hours operating without the interference, but sooner or later, the battery will need to be recharged.

Anyone have any other solutions?