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Recommendations for a Good Quality Antenna Mounted Common ...

Author: Jeremiah

Aug. 04, 2025

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Tags: Electrical Equipment & Supplies

Recommendations for a Good Quality Antenna Mounted Common ...

I'm currently working on taming the RF noise covering all of the frequencies I can receive with my three SDRs. I've identified my UPS as the primary noise source, I've bought several hundred dollars worth of ferrite rings of various materials covering a few kHz through 1 GHz and several lengths of LMR 100, 195 and 200 to wrap around the various ferrite ring stacks. They didn't help, one or two seem to make the noise audibly worse. I'm planning to replace my UPS with two or three new ones that have very low noise since the ferrite chokes didn't really work. I'll have to work on that later on. . . .

In the mean time I want to put some common mode chokes out at my HF, VHF and UHF antennas to try to lower the noise from that end as well. Can anyone recommend good quality premade common mode antenna chokes? I was looking at this one:


They seem to make good SDR radios, I would hope their chokes are as good. I know that one could probably be built "cheaper" but what I have done so far hasn't worked out well and I want something that has been designed, built and tested and known to be "good". Something that will reduce the noise as much as possible. Anyone know of anything better?

Thanks Thanks for the information, I'll take a look. I was planning to put them at the receiver and the antenna. It seemed to be effective from some of the videos and pages I've seen. Is it really necessary at the antenna? Or is the receiver end good enough? I would think both, but I'm still learning as I go.

Also, is it very effective for VHF and UHF? I haven't seen much in the way of chokes for VHF and UHF receivers.

Thanks again for all of your help.

The best common mode RF chokes I know of are made by MyAntennas. They publish specs which are really good where other companies don't even know how to test their products to get a spec. They have models for VLF/HF receive only and HF/VHF transmit and receive. They are way more effective than something you can make, unless you really know what your doing and have test equipment to optimize it.

Common Mode Choke

We offer Common Mode Chokes / Noise Suppressors / Line Isolators / RFI eliminators for antenna systems operating from 1.8-50 MHz, Our products are broadband units covering a huge portion of the fre…
Every antenna and radio setup will be different, some might see a big reduction in noise by installing RF chokes at the antenna and/or radio end where others may not see any change.

I originally saw an improvement on a ZS6BKW dipole where I had a home made choke with a single FT-240-31 ferrite core and about 9 turns of coax around it at the ladder line coax junction and I replaced it with a very effective one like the big MyAntennas CMC-250-5K here: CMC-230-5K 2-30MHz. My noise floor in general went down a few dB and many birdies and noise humps were reduced. Adding a second choke (MyAntennas CMC-130S-3K) at the radio end made further but slight reduction in birdies and noise humps. I suspect if I had gone from no choke to the MyAntennas chokes instead of starting with my home made one the improvements would have been greater.

It would be nice if you could borrow an effective choke and test before buying.

Thanks for the information, I'll take a look. I was planning to put them at the receiver and the antenna. It seemed to be effective from some of the videos and pages I've seen. Is it really necessary at the antenna? Or is the receiver end good enough? I would think both, but I'm still learning as I go.

Also, is it very effective for VHF and UHF? I haven't seen much in the way of chokes for VHF and UHF receivers.

Thanks again for all of your help.
Thanks yet again for the information, I appreciate it. Yeah it would be nice if I had an effective choke to test, unfortunately I will have to buy my own to know for sure.

Every antenna and radio setup will be different, some might see a big reduction in noise by installing RF chokes at the antenna and/or radio end where others may not see any change.

I originally saw an improvement on a ZS6BKW dipole where I had a home made choke with a single FT-240-31 ferrite core and about 9 turns of coax around it at the ladder line coax junction and I replaced it with a very effective one like the big MyAntennas CMC-250-5K here: CMC-230-5K 2-30MHz. My noise floor in general went down a few dB and many birdies and noise humps were reduced. Adding a second choke (MyAntennas CMC-130S-3K) at the radio end made further but slight reduction in birdies and noise humps. I suspect if I had gone from no choke to the MyAntennas chokes instead of starting with my home made one the improvements would have been greater.

It would be nice if you could borrow an effective choke and test before buying.

Differential Mode vs. Common Mode Chokes - Triad Magnetics

Noise and other electromagnetic interference (EMI) can pass through electronic equipment as a result of coupling, conductively, via the equipment wires. When this noise occurs on a single line, it adds to the carried signal and is referred to as differential mode noise.

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In an electrical circuit, a choke is used to eliminate differential mode noise, blocking the high-frequency alternating current (AC) noise while letting the direct current (DC) or lower frequency AC pass.

Chokes can be designed to block audio noise or radio noise, depending on the frequency of the interference.

To remove the extraneous signal from the cable, they use an inductor, consisting of wire wound into a coil around a core.

When unwanted signals occur on a pair of conductors, however, it is referred to as common mode (CM) noise and adds to both lines in the same direction. This can happen in equipment power cables, where the CM noise adds to the signal and neutral lines, or on the supply and return of any two wires that connect to equipment, such as an RS232 signal cable.

Common mode chokes, or common mode inductors, consist of two or more coils of insulated wire on a single magnetic core. Each winding is put in series with one of the conductors. This means that the magnetic fields of the wires combine to present high impedance to the noise signal. The desired signal can pass through the coil easily, but the noise component is attenuated, or completely blocked, by the resulting high reactance of the inductor. Overall, the choke has a low electrical resistance, allowing for minimal power loss in the process.

Since the desired currents should be equal in each coil, but the currents are flowing in opposite directions (current flowing in on one conductor, current flowing out on the other conductor), these desired currents cancel their magnetic field within the inductor core. This cancellation effect allows the core to have a relatively very high inductance to maximize the attenuation of the noise signal.

Common mode inductors are only effective when the desired currents are equal and opposite on two separate conductors, and their reactance is only effective to the noise signal. Filtering of noise from a single conductor requires a differential mode inductor.

Application of Common Mode Inductors

Common mode chokes or inductors are used in many industrial, electronics, and telecommunications applications to remove or suppress noise and other EMI on power supply cables and signal lines.

Frequently used in light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, electronics ballast, and switch-mode power supplies, common mode choke inductors filter and smooth the output, attenuating noise that would get back

onto the power line. These chokes also allow for easy equipment compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standards and other regulations.

Further reading:
60W LED Explosion Proof Light, UL 844 Certified Class I Division II ...

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To reliably protect electronic equipment from malfunction, optimal common mode inductor quality, durability, and reliability are critical. Whether being used to prevent unwanted noise or protect against the disruption of vital information conveyance, common mode chokes are often essential components in medical equipment, train signaling systems, and any application where interference is a major concern.

Application of Differential Mode Inductors

Differential mode inductors are used to reduce the amount of relatively high frequency AC currents in circuits with low frequency AC or DC currents. They can be used individually or grouped together with multiple inductors spaced across different locations (most commonly in the power out line and also in the power return line of power supplies).

The drawback to differential mode inductors is that they must be designed to work well (not saturate) with the full-rated desired output current while still having enough inductance to sufficiently reduce the noise signal. The size if the inductor is proportional to:

L * I^2

A differential inductor that has a comparatively high inductance and must work with a large desired current can be tens or hundreds of times larger than a unit of smaller inductance or current rating.

Triad’s CMF Series Dual Mode Common Mode Chokes

Triad Magnetics engineers and manufactures long-lasting, high-quality magnetics solutions for a wide range of industries, from medical and industrial to renewable energy and power conversion.

Although we currently offer more than a thousand standard products, we are continually developing new products to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs, including our newest offering, the CMF Series Common Mode Inductors.

Triad’s CMF Series Common Mode Inductor chokes are actually dual mode components, since they are effective in suppressing both common noise and differential noise.

Conveniently combining both functions into one compact unit, our common mode chokes are available in either a vertical or horizontal configuration; this versatility is especially useful when space must be considered in the design.

With a rated voltage of 300V AC and inductances (L) ranging from 10mH to 100mH, our custom dual mode common mode chokes are available in current ratings from 0.45A to 2.3A, all with low DC resistance. Each unit can operate within the wide temperature range of -40 to 105 °C. 

Whether you select from our standard offerings of reliable common mode inductors or order a custom design or a design based on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) requirements, Triad’s strict quality standards ensure that you’ll receive only the most reliable, long-lasting noise suppression components.

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