Telephone Interference

How to prevent it How to eliminate it

by

Dave LeVasseur, NDL

Dakota Division Convention August 6th, 1999
(This presentation may be downloaded from www.dailypost.com/~davel)

Seminar contents
Definitions Overview: how telephones work Common mode interference Commercial filters Step-by-step procedure to get rid of TPI Building your own filters References Wrap up

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Definitions

On-hook: telephone in idle state; ready to make or take a call

off-hook: in the process of making or taking a call Central Office (CO): where the other end of the wires go after they leave your house Local loop: the wires between the CO and your telephone
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Definitions

TPI: TelePhone Interference Hybrid: device that separates (isolates) inbound and outbound telephone signals from one another. Also known as 2-wire/4-wire converter.

Tip and Ring: the names given to the wires in the local loop. Named for their connection to plugs used in older central offices.
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Definitions

Differential mode signal:

A signal which appears as a voltage difference between a pair of conductors but may have no reference to earth ground.

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Definitions

Common mode signal:

A signal which appears as a voltage on a pair of conductors having the same phase and polarity on each conductor with respect to ground.

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How Telephones work

Typical telephone network
Central Office

48V battery

~100Vrms ringing signal

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How Telephones work

Typical residential installation methods

Straight cable runs:

Jack Protector block Service Entry Jack Jack

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How Telephones work

Typical residential installation methods

Loop-series wiring:

Protector block

Service Entry

Jack

Jack

Jack

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How Telephones work

All telephones have three separate

subassemblies:
Speech Network Dialing Mechanism Ringer (bell)

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How Telephones work

Speech Network contains:

Microphone (transmitter) Earphone or speaker (receiver) Hybrid (2-wire/4-wire converter)

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How telephones work

All communication occurs over two

wires. This requires a hybrid to separate the incoming and outgoing signals.
The hybrid (2-wire to 4-wire converter)

may be implemented using transformers or operational amplifiers.

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How telephones work

Transformer hybrid:

Image courtesy of Midcom, Inc. 6-Aug-1999 TPI Presentation 13

How telephones work

Op-amp hybrid:
Tx 600 10k
(Balance network)

10k
Rx

to telephone line
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How telephones work

Rx
Balance Network

Hybrid 2-wire port

Tx

4-wire ports

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How telephones work

Rx
Balance Network

Hybrid

Tx

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How telephones work

Rx
Balance Network

Hybrid

Tx

Sidetone

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How telephones work

Most modern telephones rely on

electronic rather than magnetic components (diodes and op-amps instead of transformers and inductors) making them prone to interference.

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How telephones work

Typical telephone interface circuit

Image courtesy of National Semiconductor, AN-397 6-Aug-1999 TPI Presentation 19

Common-mode interference
Radio Frequency Interference is most

likely the result of a strong common-mode signal becoming converted to a weaker but perceptible differential signal.
Telephone systems use twisted wires to

assure that any interfering signals are balanced on each wire.

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Common-mode interference
Common-mode RF becomes a differential signal by becoming unbalanced:

Capacitive effects count, too.

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Common-mode interference
Common-mode RF becomes a differential signal through rectification:

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Common-mode interference
We need a special impedance: one that opposes commonmode signals,

Z
V V

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Common-mode interference
We need a special impedance: one that opposes commonmode signals, but doesnt impair differential signals.

Z
V

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Common-mode interference
Solution: The Common-Code Choke

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Common-mode interference
Magnetic flux caused by common mode current is accumulated, producing an opposing impedance
differential mode current

common mode current

Magnetic flux caused by differential currents cancel each other; impedance is not produced.
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Common-mode interference

Image courtesy of ARRL (RFI handbook) 6-Aug-1999 TPI Presentation 27

Common-mode interference
This is NOT a common-mode choke:

Image courtesy of ARRL (RFI handbook) 6-Aug-1999 TPI Presentation 28

Common-mode interference
Add a couple of capacitors to reduce high-frequency differential noise:

(Typical values range between 47pF to perhaps 100pF)

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Commercial Filters

Images courtesy of K-Com filters

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Commercial Filters

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Images courtesy of K-Com filters

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Step-by-step process
Make sure the problem is truly due to RFI

Verify that the interference is present only when youre transmitting. Run the transmitter output into a well shielded dummy load - if the problem persists, the power wiring may be the culprit.
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Step-by-step process

Note that long lengths of telephone wiring can act as tuned antennas...

Telephone cable
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Step-by-step process
Step 1:

Check the grounding points

Verify that a ground connection of good integrity is available at the point where the telephone wires enter the premises.
If it seems the installation does not include a valid ground connection, contact the telephone company to have it repaired or installed if needed.
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Step-by-step process
Step 1:

Check the grounding points

Verify that one of the wires going to each jack contains a connection to earth ground. (and if they dont, make the appropriate connections so they do) Ground all unused wires in the cable, just for good measure.
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Step-by-step process
Step 2:

Install modular filters

Install modular filters on the telephone(s) exhibiting interference. Check each telephone for interference after installing a filter.

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Step-by-step process
Step 3: If RFI persists, break up the

telephone cabling by using in-line filters.

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Step-by-step process
Make sure youve kept a good ground

wire connection throughout.

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Step-by-step process
Step 4: If RFI still persists, one telephone

may be contributing to your RFI problem

Disconnect all telephones* and reconnect them one at a time until the bad telephone is found. Replace the telephone or improve its ability to withstand RFI using a more aggressive filtering technique. *Dont forget to disconnect fax machines, alarm systems and set-top boxes!
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Building your own filters

Obtain a toroidal core made out of ferrite (not powdered iron) having a permeability between 250 and 1500. The best type of ferrite is nickel-zinc (NiZn) since this material works well at RF. The toroid should be large enough to hold at least 20 turns of both wires. You can use a larger toroid to pass the plug end of a telephone cord, but for an equivalent core height youll get more inductance per turn with a smaller diameter toroid.
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Building your own filters

Wind the turns bifilar, that is, both wires kept together (twist them if you like). Spiral them both in the same direction around the core. To wall jack

To telephone (keep wires short)

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Building your own filters

If you happen to know the cores inductance factor (AL) you can approximate your filters inductance. Try to get at least 200 H of inductance. (inductance of most materials drops with higher frequency)

This example has 20 bifilar turns on a toroid with an AL of 500. Always count turns on the inside of a toroid. L = N2AL (nanohenries) L = (20)2500 = 200,000 nH = 200 H
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OD:0.825 ID: 0.52 T:0.25

Fair-Rite material #43

42

Building your own filters

Add a couple of 47pF to 100 pF 1KV capacitors

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Building your own filters

Image courtesy KY-Filters 6-Aug-1999 TPI Presentation 44

Building your own filters

Jack

Install filters at the positions marked X shown here

x Protector block

x x Jack Service x Entry x x x x

Jack Jack

Jack

x
Jack

Service x Protector x Entry x x block

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Sources

Commercial Filters K-Com P.O. Box 82 Randolph, OH 44265 Tel: (330) 325-2110 Fax: (330) 325-2525 info@k-comfilters.com www.k-comfilters.com

(Available at Burghardt Amateur Center in Watertown, SD)

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Sources, cont.

Ferrite toroids: Fair-Rite Corporation P.O. Box J 1 Commercial Row Walkill, NY 12589 1-800-836-0427 ferrites@fair-rite.com www.fair-rite.com Amidon Inductive Components 250 Briggs Avenue Costa Mesa, CA 92626 1-800-898-1883 sales@amidon-inductive.com www.amidon-inductive.com

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References

QST, May, 1991, Basic Steps Toward Eliminating Telephone RFI by Pete Krieger, WA8KZH, pages 22-25. The ARRL RFI Book, ARRL publication No. 235, chapter 9, Telephone RFI, 16 pages (First edition). Ham Radio magazine, September 1985, Understanding Telephones by Julian Macassey, N6ARE. Also available at: http://www.mmainteractive.com/electronics/phone/how.htm K-Com web site: http://www.k-comfilters.com Telecom Digest Archives: http://mirror.lcs.mit.edu/telecomarchives
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References, cont.

Building your own filters: John Browne, KI6KY http://ky-filters.com/ FCC Telephone Interference Survey http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/rfitelfcc.html FCC Telephone Interference Bulletin CIB-10 August 1995 www.fcc.gov/cib/Publications/phone.html
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Thanks for your attention !

Questions ?