Merry Christmas everyone. And apologies since I expect the question I ask here is old hat, but I've researched everywhere and still can't find a solution that works:
When using the Ham Radio Deluxe satellite tool for satellite tracking with automatic Doppler shift adjustment, I have a periodic 'polling?' noise issue with my Yaesu FT-897, the same as I had last field day with HRD and a FT-857. There is a periodic noise burst that coincides with the black square animation on the upper left of the satellite tracking tool screen. This noise burst makes it impossible to listen to very faint signals, and is annoying as all get out when waiting for a satellite to come into range. FM and SSB modes. I want to use the HRD program with its built in Doppler shift tracking, but it is unusable -for me- as a result of this problem.
During Field Day the FT-857 rig was controlled by a laptop, and yagis were about 20' away pointing at the sky. This current FT-897 setup is on a desktop style office computer into eggbeaters warming the clouds.
My CT-62 interface cable is shielded, but the shield was not connected! I tied the shield to ground, no difference. The RS-232 extension cable used is also shielded. Grounds are good in this upstairs office shack but I am about 12' above the ground rod. Trying different grounding makes no difference. Ferrite Beads on the comm cable, looped multiple times through the beads, etc. makes absolutely no difference. And I just tried a USB to serial interface replacing the RS-232 from the computer, no difference. So I've shielded and beaded and grounded and experimented to no avail.
This is a really annoying problem, and I feel there must be something elementary that I am missing either in the FT-897 setup or in HRD. I expect it is a Yaesu FT-897/857 problem, but again it may just be a setup issue.
Any response is appreciated, Dave KI4PSR