My monitors are picking up the radio

[hibidy]

well, by deduction it seems as though those monitors have an issue.

Did I miss something or are they under warranty? Seems that would do the trick....obviously they must be aware of it (though might not admit to it)

[UltraJv]

The simple solution is to identify which cable/s is causing the problem by removing one at a time and to buy some ferrite rings to wind the cable in.

[C00kie]

I will head out directly and buy one.

Buy what?? You can do this test without spending a dime. One of these options:
* piece of tape on ground pin of mains plug
* use an ungrounded power socket
* use an ungrounded power extention cord
* temporarily disconnect the ground connection on a power strip

By sheer interest... how come you are so skilled about radio?

I got one of these for my tenth birthday:

[vins]

i've got a similar problem: the radio is picking up my mixes. anyone got a solution for that?

(right, i'll get me coat...)

[skipscada]

Sorry, I haven't time to read the whole thread, but I had the same problem. Google for "ground loop". It might be the thing. I found some articles that helped me. Sound on Sound had one, I think.

[DrGonzo]

I will head out directly and buy one.

Buy what?? You can do this test without spending a dime. One of these options:
* piece of tape on ground pin of mains plug
* use an ungrounded power socket
* use an ungrounded power extention cord
* temporarily disconnect the ground connection on a power strip

Ah! But I needed buying extenders anyway for my girlfriends studio

Made a few tests today with some weird results. I isolated the ground pins with isolating tape (double layers to be sure they didn't get worn) - the pop-ish radio was still there.
When I was at the Electro-Shoppers Paradise I also bought an extender with filters for RFI/EMI and here comes the weirdo part. I actually _think_ the radio got turned down (not all the way though) from one of the sockets. But I can be wrong here. It can be me wishful hearing. The weird thing is that after me jacking the power cords out and in for comparison - the good socket stopped working. And now that socket dead as a rat.

Cookie and all others. I am most grateful of your expertise and time you put into this. I believe this could be a good thread for future users to read as well.
But I get the feeling I should make some decisions.

Is the cause lost? Is there a faintest possibility that an UPS would solve the problem, even partially?

[DrGonzo]

well, by deduction it seems as though those monitors have an issue.

Did I miss something or are they under warranty? Seems that would do the trick....obviously they must be aware of it (though might not admit to it)

Warranty is still there. But as the sneaky person I was at that time, I decided to buy them from a different country (www.thomann.de) and something tells me that just the postage for these two gigasaurus bricks would cost something like half of the cost of buying new ones.

[DrGonzo]

Sorry, I haven't time to read the whole thread, but I had the same problem. Google for "ground loop". It might be the thing. I found some articles that helped me. Sound on Sound had one, I think.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct03/a ... diosos.htm

Holy smoking camels!

I think I've stumbled across a solution. The Sound On Sound article makes a test involving isolating with ordinary baking foil. Mad as it looks right now - it's actually working. That is: for the five minutes I've been trying it.

The radio is gone.

[kenn]

Oh yes. I am most sure about the FM band.

Technically that's close to impossible... (but you never know!)

It's not as impossible as you think. One of the sound systems I helped troubleshoot was a disco install in a bar that had radio bleed. This bar was about a mile from a major FM tower so the field was fairly intense, and the station was obvious (actually there was several FM stations audible at once. I also happened to work for one of those FM radio stations at the time )

They had a Citronix disco mixer, and it had dirt-simple op-amp gain stages with no RF filtering, that happily demodulated the FM. I substituted a better disco mixer and the problem was gone.

Your experiments, including the foil thing all seem to support the conclusion that RF is entering and being detected by the active amp circuitry. Maybe the foil thing will work for you, especially if you can open the monitors and get the foil close to the circuitry. (danger! warranty-violation!)

As a technician, I would probably tear into the circuit itself and try to determine the part that was most susceptible to RF and modify it. (danger! even more of a warranty-violation!)

Anyway, you have a clearer idea of the problem now.

[DrGonzo]

Your experiments, including the foil thing all seem to support the conclusion that RF is entering and being detected by the active amp circuitry. Maybe the foil thing will work for you, especially if you can open the monitors and get the foil close to the circuitry. (danger! warranty-violation!)

Now my desk is now looking like a bad me-wanna-build-a-70s-scifi-movie-control-desk Unfortunately, your idea of do the isolation on the inside, is deeply appealing. But I'll wait and see. I'd rather not do that myself. I did some wild monitor patching when I was an Atari-kid. One or two years later I realized how bloody dangerous my trick was.

So to make a conclusion for those who experience the same problem - check out foil. If that works - then you know what the problem is, and can probably come up with a solution.

Have to go. I feel like I should dress up as Dr Spock.

[Optomadic]

Even stranger.. Whenever my rc car comes withing 3 feet of my monitors I can hear some weird broadcast...