Your average band noise smeter reading on HF

[KA5S]

At the moment, with antenna/tuners as below and a Ten Tec Jupiter 538; the tuners are in the shack.

Carolina 160-80 Windom W 100 FT LMR400 to LDG Z-11 Pro
20FT High 100FT Dipole W 30FT Ladderline/BALUN/30FT 9913 TO AT1000 Pro Tuner

1.9 Windom s6 Dipole S6 (Jupiter's int tuner AND AT1000Pro needed for dipole)
3.75 Windom s6 Dipole S5
7.16 Windom S6 Dipole S5
10.115 Windom S4 Dipole S4
14.15 Windom S7 DIPOLE S6
18.1 Windom S4 DIPOLE S3
21.15 Windom S3 DIPOLE S3
24.91 Windom S3 DIPOLE S2-3
28.4 Windom S3-4 DIPOLE S3

These antennas are oriented N/S with the Carolina Windom on the East side of the lot and the dipole not quite over the house near the middle. They are due replacement; previously, with 200 ft LL fed dipoles at N and S ends of the lot I measured as low as 1 uV (<S0) on an FT920.


Cortland
KA5S

[K2NCC]

small loop here. S-meter bounces between zero and 3 at the moment on 20M.

[N8HM]

Between S5 and S8. Antenna is a MFJ magnetic loop on my apartment balcony.

[N0SYA]

Between S5 and S8. Antenna is a MFJ magnetic loop on my apartment balcony.

Have you tried to null that noise?

[KD8NGE]

My worst band by far is 40 meters. Some nights I can have an S7 noise level about 40% of the time. I do use the internal pre-amp always. 20 meters and up are never a problem. I do live in the city so I would expect a little noise from time to time. It is just something you have to adjust too and learn to work around.

I resent weeks I have had a lot or noise in the form of static crashes due to all the storms down round Tenn. I sure wish they would keep their noise to them selves down there.

Almost identical to my QTH only no amplifiers.

[AC0FP]

Depends on how I set my attenuators, pre-amps, and RF gain, and which antenna I'm using. Could be anywhere from S0 to S9+

This is the correct answer, the original question was way to broad and can't be answered.

fp

[KB3LAZ]

Without preamp or attenuator on average S5-S9 on 75m. Pretty much nothing on any other band. A bad transformer used to destroy 10m for me but a squirrel fixed that.

[KI6ZIF]

Yep, that was helpful.

It is actually.

Appreciate the info gents. I should have been more specific by asking for band noise level when that band is open; 20 daytime, 40 all day, 80 at night, you get the idea.

I've got a 167' horizontal loop. And oddly enough, when the band is open is when I see the lowest noise levels. However once everyone in the neighborhood comes home and fires up their Plasma/LCD/LED Tv's, microwaves, CFL lamps etc.. Yeah I get S5-S9+. Again though, when the bands are open, I get lower S readings in the S3-S5 range.

[KA9VQF]

Most of the time there is little band noise here with the semi resonant hunk of wire in the sky. {it is cut to be resonant around where The Breakfast Club hangs out.}

But,... around Christmas time the neighbors put out a heard of mechanical lighted reindeer that will pretty well destroy all radio reception when the timer on them kicks in.

I guess that's my payback for turning all the touch lamps in his house on and off when I operate.

[N7GH]

I live near the coast in Washington State: noise levels here are very common S3-S7. I've found those rare occasions when here is less than S1 noise and tried to work, but the air is dead. I've only had bands open and been in the shack 1 time where I could work with less than S1 of noise--it was glorious! I worked someone that had a signal of 5/1. A good balun and ferite beads go a long way to getting you out of the common mode noise link too.