[AudioI] ground loop on octocard input

[Matt Flax]

Hi there,

 


 

 

OK, lets check the situation;

 


 

 

You have an octo running on a USB supply. You have a preamplifier running from a 9v external battery. The amplification board generates a negative rail line using a switching chip.

 

When everything is using batteries, there is no low frequency noise. When the Pi is plugged into the wall you get a low frequency noise, probably ground loop hum.
 

 


 

 

About the DC bias of 2v, is this necessary ? It is used to bias the Geophone ? how are you generating the 2v supply ?

 


 

 

Can you see the IC used on the switching supply to generate the negative rail ? Can you read it's model number ? Can you tell whether it is a charge pump device or a different type of switching supply ?

 


 

 

An initial gut feeling says that if it is a ground loop, then it is most likely an EM generated ground loop through the Geophone in some way. This is because you have only one connection to the mains supply (the USB charger).

 


 

 

It is possible that this noise is not due to a ground loop. It is possible that the noise is due to the method used to generate the negative rail.

 


 

 

Matt
 

 


 

 
On 29/1/22 07:23, Omar Marcillo via People wrote:
 
 
 Hi, 
 
 
 
 
 I am trying to connect a geophone (a seismic passive sensor ) to the octocard input. My geophone is a passive sensor with two terminals with variable voltage, with very low voltage signal (+/- 10mV) so I added an instrumentation amplifier  (AD620 board) that is powered with an 9V external battery. If the pi is connected to AC power I get a 60 Hz signal that masks everythign (I think it is ground loop somewhere). If I use a power source that is not connected to AC (a small portable charger) the signals looks fine.
 
 
 
 
 I tried adding a small DC to the output of the instrumentation amplifier board but I still have the same ground loop problem.
 
 
 
 
 about the amplification board, it takes 5V voltage and creates -5V to power the circuit, the board has -/+ inputs and varaible gain,  I connect one terminal of the geophone to + input  and the other to GND. I add 2V offset and  feed the ground and biased output to the octocard.
 
 
 
 
 Any suggestion or ideas to fix the ground loop will be appreciated.     
 
 
  
 
 Omar
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 




 

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