Yaesu FTdx5000MP: Noise Blanker Wide-Mode

The traditional Noise Blanker detects the noise amplitude and timing in the first Intermediate Frequency (1st IF) stage of a superheterodyne receiver. The Noise Blanker then counters the noise by interrupting the signal path to the subsequent stages of the receiver for a short duration (milliseconds) that equals the duration of each noise pulse. This effectively cancels, or blanks out the noise. It might be considered as destructive interference, but true destructive interference uses phase cancellation. The noise blanker is literally chopping out the portions of the signal that contain the noise pulses.
Some radios include an additional wide-mode noise blanker. The regular noise blanker can usually handle power line noise or automotive ignition noise. Other noise, such as that from certain LED light bulbs, wall-wart power supplies, Plasma TVs, wireless phone chargers, garden lamps, greenhouse lamps, etc., can sometimes be minimized with the wide noise blanker, though they usually cannot be completely eliminated.
Some modern transceivers handle the pulse type noise in the digital domain (i.e. DSP). A SDR will deal with the noise in the digital domain, because the SDR has no IF stage.
Try to use only the lowest noise blanker level possible, especially with the wide noise blanker. A noise blanker can adversely affect the selectivity of a receiver, and the quality of the received audio. These adverse affects are even more noticeable with the wide noise blanker.
It is best to only use a noise blanker to temporarily mitigate the problem until the noise can be eliminated at the source.
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73, de N4HNH

[@kb9jqu]

Another great deep dive video from N4HNH. This week I just started to get noise on 40 meters. I’m on the hunt to find it. Fortunately the NB on my Yaesu FTdx10 knocks 80% of the noise out. However I did not know the NB had a wide mode. I’ll have to play with that setting and see if it has an effect. Thanks again Doug!

[@n4hnhradio]

The FTdx10 doesn't have a traditional noise blanker and a wide-mode noise blanker. The adjustments in the menu for timing and decibels allow it to be set for wider duration pulses though. That seems to be the method Yaesu has chosen for their newer transceivers, including FT-891, FT-991A, FTdx10, etc. The FTdx5000MP just happens to offer a traditional noise blanker and the option to enable a wide-mode noise blanker that operates from its own parameters. 73, Doug

[@tomm899]

I'll probably watch this eveing. Just got my 5k last month. Your videos are extremely helpful. Been haveing 1200 for 5 years. There's some similarities. 73

[@n4hnhradio]

Yes, the 1200 is a nice rig. It just didn’t benefit from the down-conversion receiver architecture that the FTdx3000D has. Better display than the FTdx5000MP. But I’m not so much into the waterfalls and such. I did buy the SM-5000, mainly for the speakers, but the spectrum scope can be handy. The most important thing for me is the ability to hear weak signals, and the FTdx5000MP delivers, as does the FTdx10. 73, de N4HNH

[@martinvanek5951]

Always good information conveyed in your videos. Speaking of "wall wart" RFI, I purchased Bob Heil's equalizer/speaker combination to improve the sound coming out of my FT-991A. The power supplies for both specifically said for computer use only. Both gave off a ton of RFI. I purchased two FCC rated power supplies from Amazon which fixed that problem. I contacted Heil about it and was given Bob Heil's email. In our exchange he admitted the problem and although Heil Company probably won't reimburse me for the power supplies I had to purchase (only $20 each) they will hopefully initiate a recall. Thanks

[@n4hnhradio]

It really has become more and more difficult to hear these days. Can you imagine jabbing a modern DSP transceiver back in the 1980s, when all we had to deal with was atmospheric and power line noise? I read somewhere that the noise floor has risen 1dB in the past 10-15 years, just from man-made devices. 73, de N4HNH

[@paulmitchell4421]

what is an even more interesting issue is noise blankers on FM! according to the current crop of sdr shills that is not possible however radios like ft1000d or ts850s have effective noise blankers which also work on FM

[@marks2254]

Thanks Doug, great subject. Is there any such thing as an after market noise blanker that goes between the feed line and the radio? Or would that just be a QRM eliminator? Thanks. Mark

[@n4hnhradio]

You are correct. That would be the QRM Eliminator. It takes care of the noise before it ever gets to the radio. It is more effective against short duration pulses, like power line noise. No noise blanker does great at dealing with noise from LED lights, Wall Warts, Plasma TV, laptop power supplies, etc. The QRM Eliminator uses phase cancellation. As long as the pulses are narrow and consistent, it can knock them out. 73, de N4HNH

[@miker8379]

In most cases if you can adjust the nb with a number value it’s a digital nb. Wide mode takes a bigger sample.

[@n4hnhradio]

Usually, with a superheterodyne architecture, the NB is in the 1st IF, even the wide. Such is the case with the FTdx5000. It is best to attack the noise nearer to the source. With SDR architecture, it is digital. And yes, the wide-mode carves out a larger chunk of the signal. That’s why when you go too wide, it becomes distorted. It becomes more square wave. 73, de N4HNH

[@RhythmicSensations]

That's a nice radio and has a nice noise blanker, but I'm not sure if I understand why you think the 7300 doesn't have a good noise blanker. If you hold the noise blanker button down you'll get more control (level, depth & width) which I find works out very well. 73s KE8OPY

[@n4hnhradio]

The IC-7300 wasn’t able to remove the noise, back when I tried it. But, not all noise blankers can tackle all types of noise. One might minimize a noise that another cannot and the other might minimize a noise that the first one cannot. Even the digital noise blankers struggle with certain types of noise. Like I said in the video, the noise blanker just buys you some time until you can stop the noise at its source. The next best thing to stopping the noise at its source is the QRM Eliminator, which also keeps the noise from ever entering your receiver. I look forward to the day when that technology is built into our transceivers. It would need to be built into a dual-receiver radio with a separate antenna port for each receiver. 73, de N4HNH

[@RhythmicSensations]

@@n4hnhradio Thanks for the reply. It would be great if it was an easy task. I've been tracking and reporting stolen ground wires from the transformers on power poles. And the way power lines and other wiring is disconnected and left hanging when a house is torn down sure doesn't help. This 7300 is only a couple of years old and the noise blanker seems to have improved with the firmware update, but I don't see any mention of it being improved.

[@n4hnhradio]

It might not have been improved. That’s the problem with noise. Sometimes the NB can handle it well, other times not so well. So the noise blanker could be the same and noise is slightly different. I haven’t yet found a noise blanker that can completely knock out the laptop power supply noise in this video. The FTdx5000MP, with its wide-mode, gets closer than some. We are dealing with so many more sources of noise these days that I’m amazed we can still hear at all. I’m glad the radio manufacturers give us these “band-aids” (NB, DSP) but at some point the FCC needs to start rigorously testing electrical devices, like they once did, before they are allowed to be sold. I read somewhere that the man-made electrical noise level has increased by 1 dB during the past couple of decades. That gets added to the atmospheric noise, which we can do nothing about, except use digital noise reduction. I’ve seen the broken or cut ground wires in my neighborhood. Georgia Power was once great about getting out here to remedy the noise but they have been scarce since COVID-19. They haven’t returned my call and it has been 6 months. The last time I spoke to the engineer who sends out crews for noise issues, she said they are severely understaffed and the younger generation doesn’t want a job climbing poles. 73, de N4HNH

[@RhythmicSensations]

@@n4hnhradio Oh yeah, they aren't really meant to get rid of it all, just soften the ripple, although I once had a uniden cb that did a very good job with just the push of a button, and it didn't do too much damage to the audio while doing it. Most of the stolen ground wiring was replaced without climbing. 73s

[@n4hnhradio]

Power line noise and ignition pulses are usually easy enough to eliminate. My FT-890 manhandles the ignition pulses from my truck. It’s this new stuff, such as LED lights, cheap wall-warts, switching power supplies, heat lamps, plasma televisions, etc. that has presented so much of a challenge for a noise blanker. They are the reason we need wide-mode. 73, de N4HNH

[@oe5pop320]

Many Thanks for this Video! Great as usual! Bg To you. 73 de OE5POP

[@n4hnhradio]

You’re very welcome! 73, de N4HNH