I’ve noticed that when I plug in my SP140 battery, my VHF airband radio has constant electronic interference that prohibits it’s use—has anyone found the same and (if so) figured out how to resolve the issue? The radio is an Icom A16 (brand new) and works well when the motor is unplugged----if it’s connected and turned on, there’s a constant squelch/static that does not turn off, regardless of squelch adjustment nor when Tx button pushed. I was thinking about getting one of those magnetic cable blocks that some cables have, and putting it on the battery cable but didn’t know if this would interfere with the safe operation of the motor.
Has anyone had similar issues?
Thanks for any help offered!
Andy
I have a similar issue with my X4 and A14. It is reduced significantly if I hold the antenna vertically close to my chest. I guess my body attenuates the interference a lot but that does make me wonder how well the signal from the X4 transmits out behind me. Also I only had the issue when under power. With the motors not spinning it was fine.
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Same radio…same problem here with my SP140. I can still use it, but it is not great.
The problem is not as bad with my X4 either. Let me know if you find a solution…I’ll do the same.
Bill
Bill, I’ve picked up a few ferrite rings I plan to secure to the battery cables—I’m hopeful it will act like those cable shield kind of things and at least make the radio useable (right now mine isn’t even a little useable over the interference). I’ll let you know how it goes!
Andy
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Btw the rewritten 6.0 firmware I just released seems to handle interference much better. Try it out at config.openppg.com
Curious if that solves some of the issues for you
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Following this topic as I also have an Icom radio and have to use it to communicate with Air Traffic when I fly in certain locations. I have not used it with the SP140 yet, but if I can’t communicate via the radio, I won’t be permitted to fly in these locations. Praying someone finds a fix soon.
I noticed this on my A14 with my X4. Keeping the antenna vertical directly in front of my chest seemed to shield it quite well. However I don’t know if that also shields or attenuates the signals I want to send and hear from behind me.
A bit of a bump to this post I guess but I’ve just flown my new SP140 v2.5 for the first time, before flying I connected my airband to test and as soon as there is any throttle input the radio squelches to the RPM of the motor.
My squelch is adjusted to the lowest sensitivity to no avail. This was an issue I had for the longest time with my ICE machine, hoping someone has already found a fix before I try and figure out myself 
Aviation radios are VHF-AM, similar to the AM radio in your car. Amplitude modulation is sensitive to electromagnetic interference (EMI) from electric motors. This is a problem in the automotive world and many EV manufacturers have simply chosen to remove AM radio receivers from their cars. This paper gives some insight and some advice: https://www.cargroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AM-Radio-RFI-Technical-Report.pdf and here is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNnMuJl5gJ8.
I’m keen to try to resolve this, as I like to fly in controlled airspace sometimes. Communication via aviation radio is a requirement to access that airspace.
Andrew
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Yep, I’m aware of the issues with AM but also the one safety upside to it and why aviation will likely hold on to it for some time to come. I wonder what they have done to overcome these problems with the small electric planes they use for training…?
EMI can largely be designed out, and where it can’t you can mitigate it.
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I will trial a few things and see what works best, I’ll try the simple option first by putting a ferrite over the controller cable as by moving the radio around I found that the interference is coming mostly from the hand controller and cable. Otherwise I have some copper shielding and will go from there.
The controller cable is likely acting as an antenna. Try shielding it with a braid, or if the cable is already of a shielded type, connecting the shielding braid to battery negative.
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Recent cabling is shielded!
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Ok interesting to know, it seems to be squelching when the controller is close to the radio and when the throttle is first pressed, not much interference when the motor is already spooled and more throttle pressed.
Likely the simplest solution will be to keep the radio at the furthest possible distance from the controller. I wanted to use the pocket on the right side of the harness but oddly the zipper starts from the bottom, meaning I can’t have the antenna sticking vertical from the pocket…