?LEDs causing interference with VHF?

[boofus]

This illustrates the problem with retrofit bulbs. Trying to fit too much into too small of a package. There will be issues with these bulbs, premature failure, cheep circuitry, etc. Be careful with these on your boats and homes in the future. The next generation of high brightness led's will outperform any of the Dr. Led style bulbs, but will be best used in purpose built fixtures that are engineered for the specific needs of LED's. Haven't looked too closely at the ogm lights, but as with most things, you get what you pay for......

[sailingdog]

I would second contacting James and seeing what he'll do for you... but I would warn you that Dr. LED's record of standing behind their product is less than stellar. Also, as Maine Sail has pointed out, their honesty about their lights and USCG approval is less than complete. A lot of sailors have bought their products based on price and the "USCG certification", which most of their products don't have, and found that their products don't have much in the way of reliability either.

I would highly recommend getting a USCG approved/certified LED light fixture. Unfortunately, this is generally a more expensive option than keeping the existing light fixture and replacing the bulb. The OGM tri-anchor light is about $380... the Lopolight is a bit more expensive... and Hella Marine has a new one out, but I haven't seen pricing on it yet.

Current USCG-certified LED tricolor or Tricolor/anchor light manufacturers include:

Signalmate, about $350 as an introductory price and started manufacturing this month.

Orca Green Marine, about $380 for the tri-anchor

Aquasignal, with their Series 32 LED lights.

Lopolight, which is probably the most expensive brand

Hella Marine, has a new Tricolor/anchor LED light

[14432]

Do you have a masthead antenna? If so, it could be that you knocked something loose at the masthead during the installation - although that would not explain the static only while the light is on.

[FishmanTx]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

FishManTX—

I'd point out that I have the OGM Tri-Anchor LED light and an Icom M504 radio and have no issues with buzzing or interference.

Just quoting what I found. If you read carefully it sez.."...with those few folks who are experiencing RF interference". Which indicates not everyone has the problem. Unfortunately, Littleflower does. And it's not unique to OGM. But she has a replacement bulb with a standard fixture.

It's more than likely a power/grounding issue, noisy v-reg, etc. This is why placement of the choke is as close to the fixture as possible. If you have a separate driver/supply, put the choke on the cable as close to the supply as possible. Since they are dirt cheap, you could put one on both ends.

I've heard a little bit of bad rep about Dr.LED...

Re: Hella:
Hella NaviLED Trio
about $400

[Doupirate]

I have a OGM anchor light USCG 2NM and it has the interference problem. Orca admits their earlier models have that problem.

But there is worse: it is submersible but not vapor tight hence resulting in a catastrophic condensation problem. http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...tml#post796912

I would suppose being submersible is a USCG requirement. Therefore I recommend avoiding all USCG approved lights.

The interference problem is not a big deal. It suffices to install this on the power supply circuit of the radios and the noise is filtered out. I installed it two days ago: