Hi - I have a study / workspace with all sorts of electrical things: a laptop, a second screen, a scope, a signal generator, a guitar amp, a sound system, some lighting, a phone charger, and and air conditioner (for the human!) The room is carpeted with whatever came with the house, synthetic fibre of some sort. The "workbench" is an old wooden dining-room table, with countless layers of varnish and furniture polish, I guess. I have too many multi-plugs, but they all chain back to a single wall socket.
I'm looking for tips to reduce excessive electrical noise.
If I hold the scope probe tip with one hand and hold the ground in my other hand, I get pretty dirty 50HzPeak-to-Peak of about 4 volts. If I dump my elbows onto the table, that goes up to about 7V P-P. The usual things like turning off the aircon, screen unplugging things, etc. don't yield an obvious culprit.
Similarly, my DVM can generate a 5V square wave. If I place the DVM on the table (in its rubber case, etc), there is noticeable signal distortion visible on the scope,
If I move the DVM onto an adjacent table it cleans up the signal considerably, (not perfectly).
So I'm looking for tips: ways to identify the key culprits, and then useful tips for mitigating this, e.g. get an anti-static mat for the carpet first, or cover the table with a mat, or try varnishing the table with a conductive varnish. If I get some mats, should they be insulating or conductive?
I'm looking for tips to reduce excessive electrical noise.
If I hold the scope probe tip with one hand and hold the ground in my other hand, I get pretty dirty 50HzPeak-to-Peak of about 4 volts. If I dump my elbows onto the table, that goes up to about 7V P-P. The usual things like turning off the aircon, screen unplugging things, etc. don't yield an obvious culprit.
Similarly, my DVM can generate a 5V square wave. If I place the DVM on the table (in its rubber case, etc), there is noticeable signal distortion visible on the scope,
If I move the DVM onto an adjacent table it cleans up the signal considerably, (not perfectly).
So I'm looking for tips: ways to identify the key culprits, and then useful tips for mitigating this, e.g. get an anti-static mat for the carpet first, or cover the table with a mat, or try varnishing the table with a conductive varnish. If I get some mats, should they be insulating or conductive?
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