2018-08-05, 09:07 PM
Hi!
PaddyB has already mentioned a possible reason for your issue.
Most likely the performance degradation is caused by noise on the power supply, this might be either due to a noisy input source or the serial combination of the external switching regulator and the onboard switching regulator of the Pi, used to convert 5V to 3.3V. If using two switching regulators in series, they might oscillate and regulation is not reliable anymore. If the power source is unstable, sensitivity gets really worse.
Keep in mind to use low noise power supplies. The best solution would be a linear voltage regulator, no switching converter. However, in general, most converters are switching regulators due to its higher efficiency. It is absolutely crucial to use only high-quality converters!!
I will add a list of recommended regulators soon. If there are suggestions from the community, I will test any suggested converter in the lab to have reproducible results.
Regardless of this post, I have already done tests in the past, comparing the reception performance using two different step-down converters. The difference is quite amazing!!! I will publish a video of the comparison in the next few days.
Regards,
Thomas
PaddyB has already mentioned a possible reason for your issue.
Most likely the performance degradation is caused by noise on the power supply, this might be either due to a noisy input source or the serial combination of the external switching regulator and the onboard switching regulator of the Pi, used to convert 5V to 3.3V. If using two switching regulators in series, they might oscillate and regulation is not reliable anymore. If the power source is unstable, sensitivity gets really worse.
Keep in mind to use low noise power supplies. The best solution would be a linear voltage regulator, no switching converter. However, in general, most converters are switching regulators due to its higher efficiency. It is absolutely crucial to use only high-quality converters!!
I will add a list of recommended regulators soon. If there are suggestions from the community, I will test any suggested converter in the lab to have reproducible results.
Regardless of this post, I have already done tests in the past, comparing the reception performance using two different step-down converters. The difference is quite amazing!!! I will publish a video of the comparison in the next few days.
Regards,
Thomas