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Question about interference in the home

3x5

3x5

Member
Feb 27, 2016
12
13
13
45
USA
Hello,

First, I apologize for the newbie questions, and if this isn't an appropriate place to post this, please let me know where to go and I'll post there.

I'm pretty new to CB and Shortwave. I have a Realistic TRC-430 that I've connected to an AC adapter, following the manual's instructions. It has a magnetic antenna to stick on your car. I also have a Cobra handheld CB and an old JVC shortwave receiver.

When I plug in the Realistic, I get static on every channel. At first I thought my antenna needed some metal to attach to, so I found a large, metal bowl and attached it to this, which didn't help.

The static is uniform on every channel, and doesn't change when I move the antenna around. This leads me to believe that it isn't an issue of bad reception, but rather that it isn't receiving anything at all.

The handheld does receive transmissions, when I'm using the battery. As soon as I plug in my AC adaptor, the handheld sounds just like the other unit, with uniform static.

My shortwave receiver picks up transmissions, with a lot of static and interference. I noticed that it would get worse when I plugged my laptop into the same power strip, so I plugged into an outlet across the room. This still interfered with the signal.

My setup is in a room next to the furnace, and when the furnace kicks on, this also affects the signal. So this all leads me to believe I have a grounding problem in my house. Can any of you tell me if I'm correct about this, and what I need to do to resolve the issue? Thanks so much
 

The AC adapter is most likely the source of the noise and probably doesn't have the filtering it should do.
 
You will pick up all sorts of electrical interference with an antenna mounted inside.
What happens when you mount the antenna outside above ground. ?( we don't have furnaces or basements in Aus , I'm guessing the room next to the furnace is in the basement.)
And yes the ac adapter may not be filtered enough for radio work .What type and brand are you using??
Simple test remove antenna does the static go away.?
 
Thanks for the advice, vkrules and MOGVZ. I don't have a basement but I did run two wires: One wire is running from the ground screw on the shortwave receiver to my main water pipe, and the other is going up to the roof. They're both simple speaker wires, but this has made my reception way better. The furnace kicking on and off doesn't affect my reception, and the laptop next to the receiver is a non- factor as well. So I'm getting somewhere.

I'm going to run the CB antenna out the hole in the wall and onto my air conditioner. I'll report back the results. Thanks again.
 
If your handheld requires a DC power source, maybe the adapter you're using has AC output. This would explain the noise. Check the label on the adapter. If it says that the output is AC, then you need a different adapter.
- 399
 

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