AM Broadcast RFI Kits

Ladder Line baluns are used to match the impedance seen at the end of the ladder line to a coaxial cable, usually 50 ohms, but a ladder line balun can also be used to match to 75 ohm coax like RG-6/U used for cable and satellite installations. While RG-6 doesn’t have the same power rating as larger cable, it is very useful for beverage antennas or receiving antennas which don’t carry a lot of power.

The impedance seen at the end of the ladder line will not be the same as the characteristic impedance of the ladder line (typically 300 or 450 ohms). Good ladder line antenna designs try to have the impedance at the end of the ladder line attachment to the balun close to 200 ohms so that a 4:1 balun can be used to match to 50 ohm coax.

A typical ladder line antenna is shown in the picture below:

Ladder Line antenna Diagram - AM Broadcast RFI Kits

Palomar Engineers has ladder line to coax 4:1 baluns in both kit form and also assembled in a variety of 1 watt to 10KW power levels to suit the needs of many customers. The ladder line baluns are designed for balanced output and are generally used at the end of a run of ladder line from the antenna. The baluns connect to the ladder line and then transition to coax cable to you antenna tuner or radio station.

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When considering solutions for AM broadcast (550 Khz – 1.8 Mhz) you should consider Mix 77 ferrites available in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Choose a size to give the maximum number of turns of the affected wire or cable.

AM broadcast transmits on a low frequency with large antennas.  Consequently it takes a large antenna to receive the signals.  Typical “antennas” are AC house wiring, phone lines, long satellite or cable TV cables, DSL/CAT5 lines running between rooms, etc.  The device wires that connect to these  “antennas” need to be choked with as many turns through the ferrite as possible.  Some installation examples are shown below on this page.

For AC/ DC power cords and coax cables the F240-77 (2.4″ OD, 1.4″ ID) “Donut” toroid is the most popular.  Also available are smaller toroid donuts and Mix 77 beads. Shown below is a graph with 8, 10, and 12 turns through the toroid – obviously more turns has higher choking impedance.  Mix 77 toroid products are HERE and Mix 77 small beads (for small wires) are HERE

F240 77 Turns Comparison 1024x648 - AM Broadcast RFI Kits

F240-77 Turns Comparison from .1 – 8.1 Mhz

Shown below is a graph of frequency response verses choking magnitude for a F240-77 in the AM Broadcast band for a 12 turn coil around the toroid. (Same info as above but different frequency range).

AM Band Choking Graph F240 77 1024x648 - AM Broadcast RFI Kits

F240-77 Choking Impedance in AM Broadcast Band

 

 

Typical Installations for Donut/Ring Toroids

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AC Cable on F-240 Toroid – 6 turns

20131210 115137 150x150 - AM Broadcast RFI Kits

Ethernet Cable on F-240 Toroid – 7 turns

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Audio or Mic cable on F240- 12 turns

 

 Extra Mix 75 Snap On Beads  HERE – VERY effective for AM Broadcast RFI