Serious issue: Enormous interference from Vero4K PSU

Help and Support Vero 4K / Vero 4K +
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I recently noticed that there was enormous interference on the LW and MW bands around our house. It was clearly audible several hundred meters away around 530kHz. The interference was all over the LW and MW bands and modulated with 100Hz bursts. I tried disconnecting computers, screens and all the usual suspects without finding the culprit. Then pulled the main switch killing all power to the house. Noise stopped… Powered up and went around and tested all electronics. When I pulled the cord to the rack that houses all audio and video al went quiet again… Tested unit by unit… When I pulled the wallwart from the Vero, interference stops, but Vero still runs. It is apparently happy being powered from the USB hub.

Now. Is the Vero 4K really CE-marked? Has it passed EMI testing? With the wallwart? I seriously doubt it…

If I just load the wallwart with slightly over 1A (4ohm resistor) there is no noice so it must be the circuitry in the Vero that acts up.

What shall we do?

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The Vero 4K has been tested and certified. Such an issue would have been noticed before by other users if it was commonplace. I suspect that your issue lies with the power supply. Occasionally these can go faulty (bad coil), or get damaged in transit. A user had interference here and a replacement power supply resolved the issue: Vero 4k power supply problems.

If you send me your order # we’ll get you a replacement PSU out.
I assume that you have not tested with another 5V, 2A PSU?

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I have a bench lab PSU that I can test with. Let me do that and get back.

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In the end I was too lazy to dismantle my LAB TTi triple supply from the top shelf so I dug around in the huge box of discarded wallwarts I have and found one from Cisco Systems that was rated 5V 1.5A. Plugged it in and pulled the USB, Vero still ran and the LW band was quiet…

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I sent you the order number. Thanks again for your speedy reply.

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I’ll get a replacement unit for you today.

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Hi, i’ve fixed my problems with this:

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It’s not clear what problem you’ve “fixed”, since your Vero 4K power supply is still going to be covered under warranty, should it have a problem

This cable isn’t such a good idea, even if it had been more sensibly priced. The normal specification for USB2 allows for a maximum current draw of 500mA, which is insufficient for a Vero 4K (or a Raspberry Pi), so you then need to be careful of the power source. It also makes little economic sense to spend 10 euros on this adapter cable when you can buy a complete PSU for the same money, or probably less.

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OK. So now we have tree dodgy PSUs… I still have not had the time to investigate further, but thanks for the verification @G4eva

Anyone else with an AM-Radio? :slight_smile:

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@G4eva I wasn’t aware that you had a problem with noise on AM bands and couldn’t find any suggestion of this in your post history. Can you clarify what you fixed?

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OK. I had some time to do more research. This is what it looks like: Spectrum from 100k to 1MHz with the standard PSU.

And this is the other PSU, ie a Cisco wallwart:

You can also see how I measured, ie a simple wire loop. It turns out that the “antenna” is the HDMI shield. Connect anything to the shield and noise increases. You do not have to plug it in, just touch the metal-part of the connector to the metal part of the Vero HDMI.

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Now, the picture of the stock PSU spectrum does not give the issue justice. Look at this film and you will see whet it looks like. Ie not discrete spurs, but spurs that wander all around the spectrum.

Unfortunately can I not upload it here, so have a peek at:http://www.dalton.ax/diverse/veronoise.mp4

1 Like
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I wonder if we’ve had a run of a few bad power supplies. I suspect if that’s the
case we will get some forum reports soon.

I will put the Rigol on a PSU on Monday.

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I am facing the same issue. When the box is plugged in, my xbox one controller randomly disconnects or completely fails to connect. Also, the tv reception deteriorates to the point that most tv stations are unwatchable

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Try using another wallwart, that is what I did in the end. I have been meaning to measure the original one, but then I need an isolation transfromer and a LISN to do it properly.

I had a similar issue with the wallwart to the “Leakomatic” (Device that shuts down the water supply in case there is a leak). Ditched that and bought a proper DIN-Rail 24V psu. Issue solved.

My interference was not as bad as yours though and mainly present on the MW and LW bands, but your mileage may vary.

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I got a dodocool DA124 and just ordered these 3A USB to 5.5mm DC cable.
I used this charger for so many stuff and keeps all the power sockets free :slight_smile:

(not that I have problems with the supplied charger as far as I know)

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Sounds like a good kit, even if I am seriously contemplating linear power supplies :slight_smile:

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I have a similar problem with my Vero power supply. It is connected to a remote power socket (like the raspberry pi before) and when I switch it on I get serious distortions in my tv signal (hdmi sources and antenna) to a point where the tv is loosing the signal.

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The golden-ears audiophiles will already have done this. :wink:

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True, but I can definitely hear the noise from this one. I doubt those golden ears would be able to spot the difference in audio in a blind test though :slight_smile: