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Dx'ing & Listening to the radio in 2010

K

kenb

Am I the only one having weird whistles and tones on various frequencies on AM radio when trying to DX??? I don't remember this being a problem back in the 1990's. I have some frequencies that have whistles that shift in itensity and tones change while listening going up-and-down. Weird stuff! I don't know if it is due to lack of broadcasters today not watching VU meters and overmodulating their signal because the FCC is not watching them closely? Or, is it HD broadcasts causing the interference? Or, is due to the proliferation of cell towers --the big ones and all the smaller cell boosters that are being put on street lamps and poles located on private business properties? Maybe it is just the new car radios (I have a Buick) but then again I have noticed it on my CC RADIO from C.Crane Co. and other portable radios I have at home. Maybe it is proximity to multiple AM towers on a nearby mountain peaks??? One is a 50kw 720 AM - KDWN Las Vegas. Perhaps it is Area 51 North of Las Vegas???
 
More likely various CPUs clocking noise modulating with the RF. Switching power supplies are one of the worst enemies of clean AM reception. Also the blue-green Vacuum flourescent displays used in many kinds of electronics, consumer and even professional. In the 90's there were a lot of hotels that used RF modulated multiplexing to serve multiple lines to the rooms, and only the strongest signals were able to ride above it. Every medium or weak AM signal was plauged by whistles, even out in the parking lot, forcing me to drive to "somewhere else" to listen to the radio.

Try turning off everything built after 1980, and see if the problem still exists.
Oh, and all GM auto instrument systems have bad RF whistles, about every 90 khz up and down the band.
Does the noise still happen when you're in the "accessory" position?

Best of luck. Keep us informed.
 
I thought it was just my radio, but yes In my 1998 ford Contour I get sqealing and squaling and whistles intermitently in my car on AM. Im glad to see thats it just no my car.. I blame Iboc, because this comes and goes and it doesnt matter where your driving at.
 
Ive noticed DXing in hotels during the daytime, it has that weird noise as if something were being sucked in and then it would be silent for about 2 seconds with a weak station in the background and then do the same process?
 
IBOC will sound like splatter and static on the adjacent frequencies to a station. You should be able to null out the IBOC noise just like you can null out a station by turning the ferrite rod antenna in your radio or external antenna if your radio has one. If its a local then your probably just stuck with the IBOC noise since you cant null it out.
 
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