Static on monitors??

[ginkgotree]

Just this morning we had a tremendous amount of static
coming across monitors...both thru speakers and headphones
on the airstudio board. Transmitter seems fine although it effected our
signal strength a little ...STL etc etc ok.
This happens when temperature outside warms up. Don't know the cause.
Can anyone help? Our engineer can't seem to figure it out. It cleared
in the 9a hour...was like this for about 3 hours. Ok the rest of the day
Thanks!

 

[jammerdave]

We suffer from temperature inversions here in the sacramento valley. They can do exactly what you describe.

How high is the transmitter, and how low is the studio, and what distance between them?

If the signal is coming from above an inversion layer, it may have
difficulty penetrating the layer at a distance. Most noticible
with higher gain (read that squashed at the horizon) antenna systems.

Sometimes if this is a problem, a lower gain transmit antenna may help
penetrate the layer...
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/weather/A0848126.html

click link for an explanation of what an inversion layer is, although it does not address radio signals. This problem can affect STL's as well, although modern digital systems tend to suffer through it and survive.

Good luck, let us know what you find..

fmnostatic




> Just this morning we had a tremendous amount of static
> coming across monitors...both thru speakers and headphones
> on the airstudio board. Transmitter seems fine although it
> effected our
> signal strength a little ...STL etc etc ok.
> This happens when temperature outside warms up. Don't know
> the cause.
> Can anyone help? Our engineer can't seem to figure it out.
> It cleared
> in the 9a hour...was like this for about 3 hours. Ok the
> rest of the day
> Thanks!
>

 

[BoardmanDJ]

Tis the season!

You can hear a station half way across the country...over your local stations frequency


> We suffer from temperature inversions here in the sacramento
> valley. They can do exactly what you describe.
>
> How high is the transmitter, and how low is the studio, and
> what distance between them?
>
> If the signal is coming from above an inversion layer, it
> may have
> difficulty penetrating the layer at a distance. Most
> noticible
> with higher gain (read that squashed at the horizon) antenna
> systems.
>
> Sometimes if this is a problem, a lower gain transmit
> antenna may help
> penetrate the layer...
> http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/weather/A0848126.html
>
> click link for an explanation of what an inversion layer is,
> although it does not address radio signals. This problem can
> affect STL's as well, although modern digital systems tend
> to suffer through it and survive.
>
> Good luck, let us know what you find..
>
> fmnostatic
>
>
>
>
> > Just this morning we had a tremendous amount of static
> > coming across monitors...both thru speakers and headphones
>
> > on the airstudio board. Transmitter seems fine although
> it
> > effected our
> > signal strength a little ...STL etc etc ok.
> > This happens when temperature outside warms up. Don't
> know
> > the cause.
> > Can anyone help? Our engineer can't seem to figure it out.
>
> > It cleared
> > in the 9a hour...was like this for about 3 hours. Ok the
> > rest of the day
> > Thanks!
> >
>

 

[Turntable]

If it's an AM station, your problem most likely is static discharge on your receive antenna (the one attached to the air monitor).

-A

> Just this morning we had a tremendous amount of static
> coming across monitors...both thru speakers and headphones
> on the airstudio board. Transmitter seems fine although it
> effected our
> signal strength a little ...STL etc etc ok.
> This happens when temperature outside warms up. Don't know
> the cause.
> Can anyone help? Our engineer can't seem to figure it out.
> It cleared
> in the 9a hour...was like this for about 3 hours. Ok the
> rest of the day
> Thanks!
>
<P ID="signature">______________
"...How can you be deaf, with ears like that??"</P>

 

[taylorengineer]

> Just this morning we had a tremendous amount of static
> coming across monitors...both thru speakers and headphones
> on the airstudio board. Transmitter seems fine although it
> effected our
> signal strength a little ...STL etc etc ok.
> This happens when temperature outside warms up. Don't know
> the cause.
> Can anyone help? Our engineer can't seem to figure it out.
> It cleared
> in the 9a hour...was like this for about 3 hours. Ok the
> rest of the day
> Thanks!
>
Is the static on your monitor speakers and headphones ONLY or do you hear it on all radios? Are listeners calling in to complain?
If only on your systems I would switch out the tuner/mod monitor....whatever delivers your off-air audio.Could be component failure or temperature sensitivity.
If on all radios.....switch out gear in audio path until you find it. Borrow or rent it if you don't have a spare.

 

[LeeSmith]

Another question, has it rained recently and can you relate the rain to the onset of the static?

Water getting into the antenna feedline can cause a considerable loss of signal to the monitor receiver and play havoc with the system. Also, off-air broadcast monitors can require a greater level of signal than a typical home stereo unit.

This gave me fits last winter/spring until I went on the roof and found a squished spot on the RG-6 coax that feeds our 6 element rooftop yagi and it was just that spot where it was in water on the roof. I tried the cheap & dirty fix of cutting and trimming back a few feet of the cable but water had gone too far along its length. The quick fix worked OK ... but not for long.

A new cable was required to cure the problem permanently.

Regards folks
Lee Smith