Yo! Michael:
Saturday August 17 1996 12:25, Michael Black wrote to All:
 MB> I haven't seen this product so I can't say whether this applies to
 MB> this product or not, but here goes.
 MB> The inside of a computer is one of the noisiest places I've seen,
 MB> radio-wise.  Even computers that have been tested and given the
 MB> right certification can be noisy if you get close enough.  This
 MB> Mac Plus of mine, I can't hold an am broadcast radio within
 MB> two feet of it without noise showing up in the radio.
True enough.  Very true.
 MB> If you actually take off the cover, the noise generated goes up
 MB> even more.  And this is with the relatively strong signals of
 MB> local broadcast band stations.  Admittedly, the noise does drop
 MB> off rapidly as you move the radio away, but close it's bad and
 MB> would be worse with weak signals.
Again very true.
 MB> So this WinRadio plugs right into the bus of a computer.  It's not
 MB> near the computer, it's not next to the computer, it's right inside.
 MB> If the thing is not extremely shielded, it might not work so well
 MB> in the environment.
WinRadio is very well shielded, as a matter of fact.  The actual radio 
section look a lot like a shielded compartment inside a base scanner. Except 
it's heavy.  Very heavy.  Like a tank.
 MB> Worse than the act of holding a scanner too
 MB> close to the computer (as someone was having a problem with last
 MB> month), the radio runs off the power supply of the computer.
 MB> All the switching transients can come directly to the receiver
 MB> board instead of having to pick them up  through radiation.
Ummmmmm, true enough there, too.
 MB> Even if the board is extremely well shielded, and the power supply
 MB> lines are extremely well filtered, you still have to connect
 MB> the receiver to the outside world, via coax to the antenna.
 MB> And that coax has to run out of the computer, presumably near
 MB> the computing equipment for a while, before it even reaches
 MB> the actual antenna.  ANother big chance to pick up noise from
 MB> the computer.
Maybe.  But good coax, well shielded, is an answer.  Computers are networked 
using either cheap coax or, of all things, unshielded twisted pair.  There 
are many ways these days to resolve noise problems.....AT THE DESIGN LEVEL.
 MB> SO this is something to watch for when considering buying
 MB> any radio that plugs into the expansion bus of a computer.  The
 MB> idea may be neat and tidy, but that doesn't mean that it's
 MB> a perfectly good idea.
True, in a philosophical, musing perspective.  But in specific, my WinRadio 
which was installed yesterday seems to pick up less noise and more signals 
than any of my scanners and shortwave rigs on the same bench.
 MB> You'll have to actually try the thing to see how well it
 MB> works inside the noisy environment of the computer.
It's too soon to give a real report, but so far the concerns you expressed 
and which I shared for years......do not seem to materialize in WinRadio.  
When I turned the unit on for the first time, WWV at 10 MHz was clearly 
heard.  But I hadn't connected the antenna yet!  My other radios never detect 
WWV without the antenna connected.
Of course, I always keep the case off that computer, so perhaps some signal 
got into the back side of the BNC connector.    The point is.....and 
it is a preliminary point......that computer noise seems to be not an issue 
for WinRadio.  I'm listening to NOAA up in Santa Barbara as we speak, 200-mi 
away. The signal is weak, but still full quieting.
Right off, I don't see a computer noise problem.  And that was once my main 
concern.
Bill Cheek | Internet: bcheek@cts.com | Compu$erve: 74107,1176
Windows 95 Juggernaut Team | Microsoft MVP
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