D
DigitalDon
New member
Here's a topic I don't think anyone has covered yet but hopefully someone has some ideas.
I live in a rural area and want to build a small studio behind my house. This is great because I don't have to worry about disturbing neighbors. It would be built on an existing 30' x 30' concrete pad which already has electrical and water hookups available. Here's the problem. Across the street, approximately 1/4 mile away is a remote FM radio tower. Depending on atmospheric conditions, etc I can occasionally pick up the radio station on corded phones, on the television and during quiet sections while listening to a tape (especially with headphones). My concern is that I'll build this studio and won't be able to keep the radio station out of my recordings.
My day job is in electronics so I understand the theory and principles of radio frequency (RF) shielding. I've worked with shielding inside of electronic test equipment but never on the scale of keeping RF out of a small building. Does anyone have experience in this area? I'm assuming I could wrap the entire building in a metal mesh screen before attaching the outside covering (lapped boards, vinyl siding, or whatever) and ground the mesh. Would this help or would it create a big ground plane antenna? The grid size of the mesh would have to be the proper size to block the radio stations carrier frequency. Much like the "holes" you see in the mesh on your microwave oven door are designed to block that particular wavelength. Am I over-complicating this whole thing? My wife says I have a habit of doing that. I don't know. I'm just thinking about all the "antennae" like mic cables inside an unshield building. I'm also assuming the unwanted RF could enter the building through the electrical service since the power lines are aerial rather than buried.
John Sayers, any ideas here?
Thanks,
DD
I live in a rural area and want to build a small studio behind my house. This is great because I don't have to worry about disturbing neighbors. It would be built on an existing 30' x 30' concrete pad which already has electrical and water hookups available. Here's the problem. Across the street, approximately 1/4 mile away is a remote FM radio tower. Depending on atmospheric conditions, etc I can occasionally pick up the radio station on corded phones, on the television and during quiet sections while listening to a tape (especially with headphones). My concern is that I'll build this studio and won't be able to keep the radio station out of my recordings.
My day job is in electronics so I understand the theory and principles of radio frequency (RF) shielding. I've worked with shielding inside of electronic test equipment but never on the scale of keeping RF out of a small building. Does anyone have experience in this area? I'm assuming I could wrap the entire building in a metal mesh screen before attaching the outside covering (lapped boards, vinyl siding, or whatever) and ground the mesh. Would this help or would it create a big ground plane antenna? The grid size of the mesh would have to be the proper size to block the radio stations carrier frequency. Much like the "holes" you see in the mesh on your microwave oven door are designed to block that particular wavelength. Am I over-complicating this whole thing? My wife says I have a habit of doing that. I don't know. I'm just thinking about all the "antennae" like mic cables inside an unshield building. I'm also assuming the unwanted RF could enter the building through the electrical service since the power lines are aerial rather than buried.
John Sayers, any ideas here?
Thanks,
DD
