One of the many interesting topics that came up on this morning's net and DMR pre / post net QSO's was the topic of the noise generated by some LED lights. Neil mentioned that his were so bad that he was leaving them behind in the old place! Which got me thinking.... How bad are mine?
I don't have a spectrum analyzer to run lab quality tests for noise levels. But, I DO have a nice shiny new Icom 7100, with 130 feet of long wire antenna and a Diamond V2000A. I also have 4 - $20 Harbor Freight LED shop lights, 1 - $20 Lowes LED shop light, and in the house, several standard LED screw base bulbs, some on dimmers, a Lowes 2' under cabinet light strip and 3 under cabinet LED light "Pucks".
I also have this strange alien craft in the garage....
This little gem goes for about $20 and has 3 Light Pads you can adjust to suit. It outperforms a 200 watt incandescent bulb! Strangely enough, Amazon calls them a "Garage Light".
So, here's the pitch.... I set my 7100 up for AM, turned the pre amps off, selected frequencies in the center of the voice band, set the squelch to just below quieting, and read the S meter. Here is what I found: At 1.900 Mhz, background was S6, at 3.900 Mhz, it was S 1 to 3, at 7.200, 14.300, 21.300, 28.500, 50.200, 144.500 and 443.000 Mhz, there was no reading on the S meter. Turning all LED lights on in the garage, then the house showed no discernible difference in these readings. So, it looks like I lucked out. None of my lights seem to interfere with my radio!
If anybody has more info, lights they know work, lights they now are noisy, other tests to run, we're all ears!!!
Jim K2BHM
Quite interesting and most helpful...Thanks Jim.