Aquasignal tricolor noisy on VHF

[KASHMIR]

I have fitted an Aquasignal series 34 Tricolour and anchor light to my masthead and it makes an insane amount of noise in the VHF. Has anybody else had this experience?

[daletournier]

Do you use a Led globe?

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[KASHMIR]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Do you use a Led globe?

The Aquasignal are LED.
I previously had a Lalezas with and LED bayonet globe and it was not noisy.

[daletournier]

Several years ago I started losing vessels on the AIS at night, they were there and then they weren't ? . ....it took me along time to work out what was going on. It was only when I was using my tri light, if I swapped to my deck level navigation lights all was well. The rf of the Led I had fitted was interfering with the vhf antennae that I shared with the AIS.

Cheers Dale .

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[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by KASHMIR

I have fitted an Aquasignal series 34 Tricolour and anchor light to my masthead and it makes an insane amount of noise in the VHF. Has anybody else had this experience?

I am going bet that the LED current management is inadequate. Go to the Marine Beam site https://store.marinebeam.com/ go to the bottom of the page and follow the Technical links. There is discussion on PWM regulation and radio interference.

LEDs must be current regulated. You light likely uses one of the older PWM systems with a too low pulse frequency and possibly without other VHF controls. This is probably from sourcing the cheapest bulk PWM bulbs available. This will also include old stock. We have replaced our older Aqua-Signal tower IC bulbs with Marine Beam. We have no VHF interference and the antenna is 6 inches away. We are particularly aware of the issue and only buy from Marine Beam or other quality sources. This is a case where lowest price is not the best plan.

If this bulb came with the fixture I would be very disappointed.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by KASHMIR

I have fitted an Aquasignal series 34 Tricolour and anchor light to my masthead and it makes an insane amount of noise in the VHF. Has anybody else had this experience?

This is a common problem with several brands. You should complain to the store where purchased and to Aqua Signal directly. They may offer advice or replacement. A filter on the DC power cables may help but a new light should not require an external filter.

In general, an LED light should be more than 1 meter from the VHF antenna but this is not always possible at the mast head.

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[NahanniV]

Originally Posted by KASHMIR

I have fitted an Aquasignal series 34 Tricolour and anchor light to my masthead and it makes an insane amount of noise in the VHF. Has anybody else had this experience?

I have the Series 34 Tricolor+Anchor version and have not noticed an "insane amount of noise".

Mine is mounted at the masthead within 10" of the VHF antenna.

The power leads run in the same conduit as the VHF CoAx.

Can you quantify "insane" ?

Cheers,
JM.

[onavegador]

I had the same noise when using multi voltage LEDs (10-30V) for the tricolour and and anchorlight at masthead. The distance from the masthead antenna was about one foot may be some inches less.
That happend when using Multivoltage LED bulbs in the Tricolor and also after changing to the NAVILED pro from Hella which design convinced to buy.
With the AIS I had no problems as the antenna for the AIS was about 15 feet above deck level and so about 50 feet away from the tricolor and anchor light. In my opinion and experience high enough to receive AIS Signals from ships more than 30 Miles away or even Nav aids up to several hundred Miles away (eg. Cap Finisterre when leaving the Azores).

If in need to use the VHF I changed from the masthead to the decklights, but that was so seldom necessary so I was not looking for a change.

When I changed the first time from normal bulbs to LED that was done with night owl LEDs from Fiji 11 years ago. But the withe LED in the tricolour changed the colour of the green segment to near blue. It failed soon and was replaced with no hassle and I used the powerful LED as an near deck anchor Light after. Reason: often the anchorages where crowded at night by dinghies and fishermen so I found a powerful light not high above the water useful.

[KASHMIR]

Originally Posted by NahanniV

The power leads run in the same conduit as the VHF CoAx.

Can you quantify "insane" ?

Cheers,
JM.

By insane I mean if I turn the squelch right up it will cut out the noise, I think with the squelch that high I would have better communication by SHOUTING
I have two antennas on the mast head, one for radio and one for AIS. I have not noticed any deterioration in AIS performance so I will try and swap the antennas but I need to dismantle the boat to do this, so it won't happen soon. All cables and coax run in the same very full conduit.
At least you have given me some feedback on the Aquasignal, thanks. Aquasignal say they have never heard of a noise issue.