The Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) has issued a press release to acknowledge the $23.6K grant it awarded to the New England Division to equip its RFI teams. In part, the press release states:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ARRL New England Division to Combat RFI
An ARDC grant will provide teams in each of the ARRL’s New England sections with the equipment they need to find and eliminate radio frequency interference.
November 11, 2022—Radio frequency interference (RFI) has become an issue for many radio amateurs in the past decade. Solar energy systems, LEDs, switching power supplies, dimmers, variable-speed motor controllers and other non-linear devices have all raised the noise floor. This impacts radio amateurs across the board, including those participating in emergency communications, traffic handling, and those talking with friends on the air. In some cases, it makes communicating via amateur radio all but impossible.
To combat this problem, the ARRL New England Division has created teams to help radio amateurs find sources of RFI and eliminate or reduce the interference. These teams are also able to provide additional assistance when required, such as working with utility companies, the ARRL, or even the FCC.
A $23,640 ARDC grant will allow the New England Division to purchase RFI equipment for each of the seven sections in the division. Each kit will have the following equipment:
● Icom IC-705 transceiver, outfitted with a backpack and spare battery, for RFI detection and spectrum capture.
● DX Engineering NOISELOOP receiving antenna and a DXE-NL-PRE-ATT-1 preamplifier- attenuator to detect sources of high-frequency RFI.
● Elk Antennas 2M/440L5 Dual-Band Antenna for locating RFI sources in the VHF and UHF portions of the spectrum.
In addition, the division will be purchasing a Radar Engineering RE-243 Broadband RFI Locator for detecting power-line noise and a Radar Engineering RE-245 Circuit Sniffer for detecting indoor noise sources. This equipment will be dispatched to the sections when needed.
The funds will also help the division with on-site training for all seven New England section teams. Rob Leiden, K1UI, Assistant Director for Spectrum Protection & Utilization, notes, “This grant will really help our dedicated teams combat RFI throughout the New England Division.”