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Reviews For: Timewave ANC-4/4+

Category: Receive Accessories

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Review Summary For : Timewave ANC-4/4+
Reviews: 79MSRP: 199
Description:
Antenna Noise Canceller
Product is in production
More Info: http://old.timewave.com/support/ANC-4/anc4.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15794.3
K9YC Rating: 2006-06-30
Useful, but has problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The ANC-4 can help a lot with receive noise, but it has two problems. First, it overloads rather easily with strong local signals, especially AM broadcast. When this happens, it's useless. The only good cure is to shorten the sense antennna (a lot).

Second, it creates some nasty key clicks. I learned this when testing for interference with a neighbor ham about 5 miles away. We were dismayed when he was less than 1 kHz wide and I was more than 60 kHz wide on his very good receivers. I turned off the ANC-4, and then I was less than 1 kHz wide at his QTH.

Bottom line -- use it if it's the only way you can operate with nasty local noise, but turn it off when you transmit unless you want to put out a dirty signal that causes a lot of QRM!
HA5X Rating: 2005-12-04
Made 50 MHz usable Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
UPDATE:

6m is not allocated for HAM radio in Hungary. But in August 65 or so stations got an experimental QRP licence. I was one of the fortunate allowed to work on the magic band.

In Budapest there is a 120 kW ERP television transmitter working on the 6m amateur radio band. In fact this station is the main reason for 6m being banned for amateur radio. Can you imagine what noise that station means all through the band? I tell you: S9++.

The ANC-4 however helped a LOT, earning me hundreds of QSOs next to that video transmitter. The most important trick was to have a noise antenna outperforming your DX antenna. Many Budapest HAMs used yagis to pick up the TV signal while only using a GP to work the DX... In my case the noise antenna was a dipole with signal maximum on the TV-station, while the antenna I used for contacts was a GP. The noise yould be nulled out on 95% of the band, and I was even able to work meteor scatter, picking up weak bursts.

The ANC-4 box is one of the best purchases I have ever made.

W0EKS Rating: 2005-10-12
From QRT to QRV Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been troubled by power pole noise as high as 20-over-9 for the past two years. The local utility has been either unwilling or unable to resolve the issue, so I have done the next best thing in purchasing the ANC-4. It has proven to be a godsend for my situation.

The only tricky part was narrowing down the right noise-sensing antenna to use. I ultimately settled on running coax on the ground out toward the offending utility pole, then connecting 6 feet of insulated wire to the coax center conductor, and finally positioning the wire near one of the pole's guy cables.

The ANC-4 requires some tweaking to use but I'm gradually developing a better knack at balancing noise phase and noise gain for the best effect. Sometimes the settings are repeatable for the particular band / frequency in use but most of the time they aren't, probably due to the day-to-day variations of my noise source. The T/R hang time is switchable via an internal jumper from 500 msec to 7 msec to accommodate cw and digital modes.

The results have been dramatic. While the ANC-4 doesn't seem to eliminate more than one noise source at a time, it really helps with the one that's been crippling me the most. Now it's worth buying the transceiver(s) I've been eyeing for so long :-)

73,

Jack - NØNV
K6IOU Rating: 2005-09-04
Interesting! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well . . . it didn't remove the noise I had hoped it would. I was probably expecting too much. Afterall, atmospheric noise is not the kind any device of this type could cure.

I thought my unit might be defective so I ran a series of tests, introducing artificial noise in the shack. It worked perfectly!

The unit is certainly constructed of heavy duty materials. As others have mentioned, the all-steel case is a welcome change from the plastic crap so many other manufacturers use for ham gear.

All-in-all a nice piece of gear . . . even though it didn't help here. One of these days I will try it in a motel room. I know from previous experience that motels are awash with QRM.

DON
K6IOU
N3HKN Rating: 2005-05-30
Effective Noise Reduction Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Given the strength of some noise sources Ham radio is simply not worth it. However, when you can "notch" out the offending noise fun & functionality return. Living in a condo environment with the usual restrictions the antennas (GAP and mag loop in attic) pick up lots of junk. I am able, in most cases, to notch out the noise and enjoy comfortable reception.

The case is made from heavy steel and stays put as well as providing good shielding. I found a used "not working" unit on eBay and picked it up for $70. Replaced one transistor and works as advertised. Cost $0.22.
K8FLY Rating: 2005-01-30
a must Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was amazed it how well the anc is at canceling noise , power line , cable tv ect . something i alway attributed to being just poor upper band condx turned out to be some kind of noise produced that sounds like static , well the anc took care of that too . if you live in a area that is prone to local interfrence , this is a good path to choose! as i read before if ther eis more than one noise source , it probably will only take care of the one noise , also working with homebrew noise canceling(listening antenna for the anc to cancal opposeing noise ) is something that each indivual has to design to fit the problem . my self i constructed a small loop & it seem to work well . i sure wish i had this fine addition in my shack beore this . try one & see i dont think you will be disappointed!
Bill k8fly
EI6IZ Rating: 2005-01-10
Interesting Applications Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I don't have a local noise problem but I use the ANC-4 in conjunction with My K9AY loops and my other wire antennas to phase out non-local stations / interference for LW & Medium-wave Dxing often it allows me to dig out stations that are under other stations that I would not otherwise be able to log. it's also useful for reducing interference and noise on 160m. here I use it with my 160 M horizontal loop as the noise antenna (The Horizontal full wave loop is predominately high Angle) in conjunction with the K9AY loops to reduce QRM from Europe.

The ANC-4 has an internal preamp for the noise antenna that I really must disable since in my setup my noise antenna tends to have a bigger signal than my RX antenna, other than that it has been a very useful addition to this shack.
G4SJP Rating: 2005-01-09
Pretty good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have found the unit to be pretty effective most of the time against a mixture of in-house computer type hash and lord-knows-what from outside. It can be fiddly to get good results and does not always seem to work reproducibly but nevertheless I have not regretted its purchase (ebay, about half new price). It will reduce noise on 80m from 20dB over 9 down to S6 or 7 so it is a good enough improvement to be worth having. I have yet to find a noise antenna that does it all, and I dare say such a thing probably does not exist!
If you are weighing up the pros and cons as I did for a long time, then so long as you do not expect a no brain solution then I doubt you will be disappointed.
K7NG Rating: 2003-11-14
Useful but don't expect too much Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got my ANC-4 in a trade...It's got the 'old' JPS logo and JPS-printed manual, but it DOES have the AM filter and notch. I have put it to good use in a variety of noise situations and I think it does pretty much what I had hoped for. I agree with the comment about only being good for one noise source at a time - and that means you have to pick which noise is doing the most damage and live with the rest. It isn't always possible to get ANY improvement, either. I'm not complaining, just making a comment.
I have found that the RF amplifier in the noise antenna path is unstable. Sometimes it MAKES more noise than it eliminates - usually squeals or mystery carriers that disappear when the unit is turned off. I have been experimenting with grounding, ferrites, etc. and still find that sometimes it just isn't possible to use the noise canceller, because it squeals if the gain control is advanced enough to make the cancellation work. These problems only occur at certain frequencies, so maybe changing noise antennas might help...my next experiment.
My noise level on 17M is higher than 15 or 20M, and I thought it sounded like power line, but the ANC-4 doesn't touch it, though it does have an effect on 20 and 15 where I don't need it as badly.
It certainly isn't a box that you can use without a LOT of experimentation, but I did a lot better in the CQWW with it than I ever would have without it - and that's not a bad bottom line!
IV3EPO Rating: 2003-11-13
I love it !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
It's one of the best equipment i've ever bought.
I use a simple home-made dipole 12 feets long like noise antenna and on 7 Mhz it kills local noise and i can hear low signals.
It's most useful than DSP unit but you've to keep in mind that you've to read well instruction manual before using.
Thanks Timewave...good job !!

73 de Giorgio