why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

why the heck is my reception going to hell AT NIGHT ??? have eton e1--
random wire antenna out the window, i hold bare copper end to center of
pal jack and switch on external antenna (i know i know-- better antenna
and proper connector are on the way).

BUT, I get decent reception in the late afternoon via this method.
HOWEVER, at night, this terrible BZZZZZZZZZHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM buzz is
all over the damn dial. Omnipresent. Occasionally radio taiwan breaks
thru it on 5950, but generally this is all i hear.

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

PS: i live in the west hollywood hills at about 800 feet elevation.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Dimmer switch?


what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Well sounds like you have RFI from an electronic/electrical device. Try
these URL's
Touch lamp and dimmers
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/touchlamp.html
AND
http://www.kyes.com/antenna/interfer...erencedex.html

There see
Compact Florescent Lamps, Track Lights, and other Unfiltered Switchmode
Power Supplies.
Filtered Switchmode Interference.
Amplifier/Front End Overload.
Overhead Power Lines, Neon Signs & Small Motors
More


"tom k in L.A." wrote in message
ups.com...
why the heck is my reception going to hell AT NIGHT ??? have eton e1--
random wire antenna out the window, i hold bare copper end to center of
pal jack and switch on external antenna (i know i know-- better antenna
and proper connector are on the way).

BUT, I get decent reception in the late afternoon via this method.
HOWEVER, at night, this terrible BZZZZZZZZZHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM buzz is
all over the damn dial. Omnipresent. Occasionally radio taiwan breaks
thru it on 5950, but generally this is all i hear.

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

DJ wrote:

Dimmer switch?


what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.



Street lights?

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

hombres, we have dimmers up the ying yang in this house. lutron
maestro's plus radio ra. oy vey. is my shortwave hobby doomed?

On Jan 20, 7:39 pm, craigm wrote:
DJ wrote:
Dimmer switch?

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.Street lights?

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

tom k in L.A. wrote:
why the heck is my reception going to hell AT NIGHT ??? have eton e1--
random wire antenna out the window, i hold bare copper end to center of
pal jack and switch on external antenna (i know i know-- better antenna
and proper connector are on the way).

BUT, I get decent reception in the late afternoon via this method.
HOWEVER, at night, this terrible BZZZZZZZZZHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM buzz is
all over the damn dial. Omnipresent. Occasionally radio taiwan breaks
thru it on 5950, but generally this is all i hear.

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.

Maybe, if the over-priced Eton E1 came with an internal ferrite-bar
antenna, you wouldn't be having these problems. BTW Bob, the Eton E5 is
way over-priced, too - you could have gotten two Degen 1103s (same
radio), for the price of one Eton E5.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

In article . com,
"tom k in L.A." wrote:

PS: i live in the west hollywood hills at about 800 feet elevation.

People turn on other electronic devices that generate the noise. Try
turning off lights with dimmer switches, TV, computers, cell phone
chargers and the like.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

In article . com,
"tom k in L.A." wrote:

hombres, we have dimmers up the ying yang in this house. lutron
maestro's plus radio ra. oy vey. is my shortwave hobby doomed?

On Jan 20, 7:39 pm, craigm wrote:
DJ wrote:
Dimmer switch?

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.Street lights?

Just turn them off or you might try turning them all the way on. The
power is pulsed to the lights when the dimmer is between off and full on.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

What frequencies are you trying to get at night? Every night between
12000 kHZ and 30000 kHZ there is no reception because the sun has gone
down. At which time stations between 1800 kHZ and 12000 kHZ come in. As
far as the buzzing and humming it sounds like you have fluorescent
light fixtures and TV interference. Also
you could be getting AC line interference. The solution is to turn off
the lights or find another place in the house. Also I've found that if
your random wire is to long it will receive to much RF and overload the
front end of your
receiver. You will need to experiment with wire lenghts and not so much
wire types.
It's funny you mentioned you have an Eton E1,,,, I have an Eton
E5 and also listen to Radio Taiwan on
5950 kHZ around 200 UTC. I have found that using a piece of lamp cord
about 7-8 feet long works really well.
A wrap the bare end around the base of the telescoping antenna, and
bingo. I've had good luck with this setup.
-----------------------------------------Dave in St.
Louis---------------------------------------
tom k in L.A. wrote:
why the heck is my reception going to hell AT NIGHT ??? have eton e1--
random wire antenna out the window, i hold bare copper end to center of
pal jack and switch on external antenna (i know i know-- better antenna
and proper connector are on the way).

BUT, I get decent reception in the late afternoon via this method.
HOWEVER, at night, this terrible BZZZZZZZZZHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM buzz is
all over the damn dial. Omnipresent. Occasionally radio taiwan breaks
thru it on 5950, but generally this is all i hear.

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Go to a park away from all the "noise". Dimmers, fluorescent lights,
AC lines. and so many things we don't know could affect
reception.........Good Luck........Dave, again-----------PS. be
thankful your in LA it's snow here in St. Louis.
tom k in L.A. wrote:
hombres, we have dimmers up the ying yang in this house. lutron
maestro's plus radio ra. oy vey. is my shortwave hobby doomed?

On Jan 20, 7:39 pm, craigm wrote:
DJ wrote:
Dimmer switch?

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.Street lights?

That's what happens to me when someone in a neighboring apartment is watching cable television.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

i went out to the edge of our yard and reception was fine-- the
bzzzzzzhmmmmmmmmm decreased as distance from the house increased.

can this be fixed with an external antenna mounted sufficiently away
from the house, but with an ultra-shielded lead-in cable to the house?

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

In article . com,
"tom k in L.A." wrote:

i went out to the edge of our yard and reception was fine-- the
bzzzzzzhmmmmmmmmm decreased as distance from the house increased.

can this be fixed with an external antenna mounted sufficiently away
from the house, but with an ultra-shielded lead-in cable to the house?

Yes.

--
Telamon
Ventura, California

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

as it gets dark out ..... more people turn on lights, signs, etc etc
You are probably picking up 1/2 of west hollywood hills' RFI


"tom k in L.A." wrote in message
ups.com...
PS: i live in the west hollywood hills at about 800 feet elevation.

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

tom k in L.A. wrote:
i went out to the edge of our yard and reception was fine-- the
bzzzzzzhmmmmmmmmm decreased as distance from the house increased.

can this be fixed with an external antenna mounted sufficiently away
from the house, but with an ultra-shielded lead-in cable to the house?


Yes . . .

take your radio outside, truck it around in the yard, find the best
reception area,

put up an antenna there.

then put in a nice shielded co-ax into your house, shielding the whole
thing.

Duct tape is actually a fairly good shield, BTW . ..

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

wrote:
tom k in L.A. wrote:
i went out to the edge of our yard and reception was fine-- the
bzzzzzzhmmmmmmmmm decreased as distance from the house increased.

can this be fixed with an external antenna mounted sufficiently away
from the house, but with an ultra-shielded lead-in cable to the house?


Yes . . .

take your radio outside, truck it around in the yard, find the best
reception area,

put up an antenna there.

then put in a nice shielded co-ax into your house, shielding the whole
thing.

Duct tape is actually a fairly good shield, BTW . ..



I convinced my better half of that some months ago. She wasn't impressed.

http://www.muncie.k12.in.us/garfweb/...20tape%203.JPG


Perhaps you meant the aluminium foil stuff which goes by some other name?


http://www.infraredheaters.com/images/at-1x2.jpg




mike

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

In article . com,
says...
why the heck is my reception going to hell AT NIGHT ??? have eton e1--
random wire antenna out the window, i hold bare copper end to center of
pal jack and switch on external antenna (i know i know-- better antenna
and proper connector are on the way).

BUT, I get decent reception in the late afternoon via this method.
HOWEVER, at night, this terrible BZZZZZZZZZHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMM buzz is
all over the damn dial. Omnipresent. Occasionally radio taiwan breaks
thru it on 5950, but generally this is all i hear.

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.



Could be a nearby transformer going sour when the sun goes down. I had
one about a half mile away from me that put out all kinds of hash when
the sun went down, or when it got below 60 degrees or so. It wasn't
horrible when it was warmer out, but when it got cold, wow!


Lightning took care of it one night, after about 2 years of the local
power company telling me "It's on the list".

BDK

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

How did you figure out that transformer was the cause? I have a very
similar problem--horrible RFI when it's _cold_ outside. I figured it
must be a neighbors heater, but now you've got me thinking.

-Art

BDK wrote:

Could be a nearby transformer going sour when the sun goes down. I had
one about a half mile away from me that put out all kinds of hash when
the sun went down, or when it got below 60 degrees or so. It wasn't
horrible when it was warmer out, but when it got cold, wow!


Lightning took care of it one night, after about 2 years of the local
power company telling me "It's on the list".

BDK

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Dang Right,,, Lamp cords do work pretty good.For longer ''antenna''
wire,,, try different lenghts of extension cords.
cuhulin

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Malibu got some snow a few days ago.
cuhulin

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

In article . com,
says...
How did you figure out that transformer was the cause? I have a very
similar problem--horrible RFI when it's _cold_ outside. I figured it
must be a neighbors heater, but now you've got me thinking.

-Art

BDK wrote:

Could be a nearby transformer going sour when the sun goes down. I had
one about a half mile away from me that put out all kinds of hash when
the sun went down, or when it got below 60 degrees or so. It wasn't
horrible when it was warmer out, but when it got cold, wow!


Lightning took care of it one night, after about 2 years of the local
power company telling me "It's on the list".

BDK



It had this weird pattern to it, it was something like. BUZZZT,
BUZZZZZZZZT, BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT! I always thought
it sounded like someone welding.

The last buzz of the three really went a long time. Over and over again.
I was walking my dog one night, and under a transformer that always
loudly hummed, came the same noises in the same pattern. I went home and
got my almost deaf portable AM radio, and it was easy to track it down.
I called the power company the next day, and go the usual BS. It was
worth losing power for a few hours to finally get it changed. I wonder
how much longer it would have been buzzing away if it hadn't gotten
blasted off the pole.

Before that, the next door neighbor's dimmer was killing me. Insane
noises all over the lower bands. I finally went over one night, and
changed it out for them, no charge. The woman next door was from London
and when I told her I listened to the BBC, she got all excited and went
out and bought a RS DX-440 to listen to it.

BDK

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

I just installed a whole house full of RadioRA. Those things are
terrible. Not only the dimmers but there are little "repeater boxes" in
the house too and if you turn them off the remote keypads won't work.
Now that entire house buzzes in every radio.

gb

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government
has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't
enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a
crime that it becomes impossible to live without breaking laws."

-- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

tom k in L.A. wrote:
hombres, we have dimmers up the ying yang in this house. lutron
maestro's plus radio ra. oy vey. is my shortwave hobby doomed?

On Jan 20, 7:39 pm, craigm wrote:

DJ wrote:

Dimmer switch?

what in tarnation am i doing wrong?

please help!

thanks.Street lights?

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

The married Irish woman I chat with via email,she lives about sixty
something miles Southwest (Bognor Regis,West Sussex County) of London.If
she ever moves to America,I doubt if she would ever be interested in
listening to England ever again.
cuhulin

why does my reception go to hell AT NIGHT ???
 

Normally I get all sorts of buzzing, rasping, crackiling noise over the
whole RF spectrum. I have identified some of them. Some of the
fluorescent light bulbs put out an awful racket. The can be sniffed out
with a portable radio and replaced with quiet ones. All light dimmers
are replaced with off/on switches. The Neptune washing machine has a dc
motor so no washing while I am trying to listen. But in spite of these
efforts there was still lots of RF noise at about a S5 level.
One night we had an ice storm that took out the power line. The RF
silence was deafening. I could hear dx station clearly for the first
time. Brother Stair, Alex Jones, EWTN, they were all in there ( just
kidding) But there were still RF noises that could only be on the
phone line. Unmodulated carriers, beedeleebeedelee sounds. all up and
down the dial, but not wideband like the electrical racket. Then the
phone lines went out when another tree went down. At last! no RF
racket. I started logging dx for the first time in years. Then the
power came back on and it all went away. So there are three sources of
RF racket:
(1) Things inside your house (and neighbour's)
(2) the power lines
(3) the phone lines
The only fix that worked was to put up a sloper at the back of the lot
and run 150ft of co-ax to the house. There is still a little hash,
about S2 but it is the best I can do.