Wednesday, April 3, 2019

EMC Troubleshooting speaker relay matrix

There is relay a matrix designed to switch between active and passive speakers in a music shop. There are actually two matrices, each in a different showroom. It has been observed that one matrix switches speakers almost inaudible while the other makes a quiet but annoying click. Here is a screenshot of a signal recorded at the output of the speaker relay matrix. This is matrix switching line signal for active speakers so it was possible to record it directly:
Recorded distortion on the output of the matrix, at the beginning and ant the end there are disturbances which I believe are 4 bytes digital transmissions coupled on the audio signal.

Because of the location and surrounding equipment only one rack with a matrix can be opened, namely the one which generates audible disturbances, it looks like this:
Wiring arrangement in the matrix
The matrix consists of daisy-chained modules, each module is switching one input signal to 1-of-8 output jack sockets. A single module can be simplified to the following:
Single module of the relay matrix
In reality a single module is more complicated (I assume GND is switched too) but it describes the idea. A complete matrix is built in two rows and wired like this:
Current wiring of 10 modules in the matrix (outputs not shown because they are shielded on the other side of the panel)
See how many times digital signal cable is crossing and running parallel to analog signal wiring. I believe there is magnetic coupling between digital and analog lines. To make it worse, both are wired without shield, such arrangement is actually prone to cross-talks and requires longer cables. I suggested changing arrangement to something like this:
Improved wiring of 10 modules in the matrix
In the improved wiring concept there are shorter cables, and there is no unnecessary zigzag. I believe this will remove unwanted disturbances on the switched analog signal. Rearranging is possible because every module has its own configurable address, I am not even sure what exact type of the digital transmission is used. Maybe daisy-chain order can be changed even without readdressing modules. I will update this post when it's done.