CB radio power line interference?
I'm running a little Cobra 19 DX IV with a 4' Firestik fiberglass antenna trunk mounted on a 99 Pontiac Sunfire. The first day I installed the radio, I took a drive around the block to see if I was getting interference, sadly, I was getting huge amounts of RFI. However, the interference only happened when the car was actually moving. Sitting in my driveway revving the engine and turning on the fans didn't create a problem. After some tweaking and many quick drives around the block over a few days, I gave up. After having the radio in for a few weeks I noticed that in some places while driving I had almost no interference while in others, it over powered everything. I then noticed that there was a direct connection between power lines running along side the road and interference. The higher voltage the line, the worse the interference. However, even just residential lines cause big problems. This makes my CB almost useless anywhere in my town or any town, since their are power lines pretty much everywhere. The 10 mile drive to my girlfriends house is useless for my CB too since there are large (I think around 130k volt) lines that run the entire road and literally through her back yard. If I'm outside of a town and their aren't any lines. I have absolutely no interference at all, not even from the car doing 60+ mph with the fans on high. Why does it seem like I am having far more problems with this type of interference then most? Is there anything I can do to help combat the problem without destroying the power grid across the United States lol? Is it just cause I have the cheapest CB you can buy? Is it some problem with the antenna? Is there some sort of filter that can be placed between the CB and antenna to help eliminate anything other than the 27mhz frequency? I know I wrote a book here, so thanks to anyone who read the whole thing.
What would cause a popping/crackling sound in one of my stereo speakers?
Most popping or crackling sounds in an audio system come from a bad or dirty connections. Sometimes they do come from a faulty unit or component, but in most cases it is a connection issue. Whether that connection is in the connectors, wiring, circuit board or components, or even just a bad solder joint, wherever that connection is, finding it becomes the main issue to tackle. There are some relatively simple methods that can be used to locate it.First identify which part of your audio system has the issue. The fact that it is only in one of your speakers is a huge help in identifying what might be causing the noise. If both channels had the same noise, this method would not work. You can easily identify the source by swapping the channels and seeing if the noise moves or stays on the same channel.For example, swap the channels the speakers are connected to. Does it persist on the same speaker or does transfer to the other? After swapping, if it remains with the same speaker ( other channel), then it is the speaker connections (or the speaker itself) that are problematic. If it is now on the same channel (other speaker), it is somewhere in the system, before the speaker connections. You can continue to swap different components back and forth, swapping channels and work back to where the source and component is identified.Sometimes just connecting and reconnecting the cables and components solves the problem, as the connection is improved. Good luck!One component that usually becomes noisy that way (more of a crackling sound than a popping one)is a potentiometer (also called a ‘pot’, normally volume controls, bass-treble-balance controls, etc.). These can be easily identified by rotating or sliding the controls as the case may be, and listening for the noise. These can be cleaned with the right solvents or sprays.Worst case scenario is a failed or failing component such as a transistor, capacitor, resistor, solder joint (actually solder joints are relatively easily repaired, just identifying the problematic one is the challenge!), etc.Once you have identified the part or unit in the system that is causing the noise, then it will be easier to decide how best to correct the issue (replace or repair).
Buzz in car stereo when headlights are on?
Do you have a pioneer head unit? If yes pioneer hu's have been know to have a poor ground plane on the rca output. If you take a piece of wire and strip it back slightly and wrap it around the shields of the rca's and ground it to bare metal that is attached to the chassis of the vehicle, some rca's have a wire on them already and this is what that is for. Also try regrounding your hu on more suitable point. If you have a digital multi meter a proper ground should read less than 0.5 ohms of resistance. A ground loop isolator should always be a last resort as the are just a band aid. EDIT If you want you can email me at audiovolt@yahoo.com. The reason why the noise is also there when you have your headlights on is because your HU's ground is being shared with many other components in the car like your headlights, parking brake turn lights etc. When you add a aftermarket head unit its always a good idea to reground it if your experiencing noise. The other components on that ground are introducing noise into the system because the ground they all share is inadaquite, causing a high resistance ground plane. If you have a meter and meter that ground wire you most likely see a resistance higher than 0.5 ohms.
Why does the static in my car radio get worst when I accelerate?
It's inducted noise from the engine. Either you have a poor ground to your audio system, a poor quality set of RCA signal cables, or or could simply be the vehicle itself. Try a noise filter to see if that repairs it (check all of your wiring for the radio of course first) and that should take care of the problem. If it does not, it is possible that the problem may lie inside the radio itself, and it may be time to get a new one.
New stereo messed up my car!?
plain and simply you don't give enough information.like what yr and make of the car we are talking about.newer cars have other functions in the wiring harness running the stereo.and the stock radio in newer cars some times have external amplifiers installed in the car itself to run speakers.did you use a plug in adapter to hook to the new head units wiring harness and plugs into the wiring harness from were you removed the old stereo from.they sell this at wall mart car audio area give them the yr make and model of your car and they will sell you the right one,it comes with a wiring diagram follow it to a tee and cap or tape all wiring.they call it plug and play with most of the work done on the bench and then you just plug in the plugs to you wiring harness under the dash.if this is a newer car you best go to any audio installer and see if you can get some answers from him,if its a 2000 or under in yr you should be able to fix this yourself.if its a newer car they have anti theft devices in the radio itself and will not turn back on without a code.hope this helps you out.
How do I get rid of static in the car radio....can't listen to it when the engine is running?
There are a couple of reasons for the static, signal degradation due to Rf interference usually because of an unshielded antenna cable or a wire next to the antenna that is putting out EM (electro-magnetic) interference. If the static is apparent on all functions i.e. CD, and radio. The it is something between the amp and the speakers that is causing the problem. Check to make sure the screw mounts are firmly in place and you get no vibration in the system, then check to make sure there are no power wires on top of or next to the casing as these can create Rf and cause your system to feed back slightly making a static to ground. Check also to see that the speaker wires are firmly in place and have no breaks in the line or are not next to power or high frequency lines. I don't know how old the radio is, or what the hook-up is, but it sounds like you either have a faulty install, or the system is not shielded properly. Suggest you check the items mentioned, you may also want to change out the fuse, it may have a phase short that's causing it to cross link within the fuse panel. You may also try changing the position of the ground wire the radio is using as this can create problems as well. Hope this helps.