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picking up cb through my stereo, what's up with that?

getright99

getright99

least likely to succeed
i'm getting what i believe is my neighbor's cb through my stereo. at first i thought i was going nuts but every now and again there it is, clear as day. i'm wondering what causes this.
thanks,
mike
 
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Don't know the cause. Used to pick up the radio of the cop who lived across the street.
 
If your neighbor is running illegal power on his CB then it could be bleeding all over the dial.

You might ask him if he runs any extra power? legal is only 4-5 watts. And depending on how big of a problem it is and if he will work with you to NOT use it during your listening periods you won't have to call the FCC.
 
We used to get the same thing from our neighbor through our TV. He had a big ham set-up in his house with a 100 foot antenna. I believe they sell some sort of filter he can connect to his antenna or CB somewhere.

We told him about our concerns (in a nice mannor of course) and he was very nice about cooperating with us. He got ahold of a filter, and we never heard him again!
 
RF can be picked up by your speaker wires and rectified in the output amp stage. Especially 27 mHz. At that frequency a 1/4 wavelength is about 8.5 ft, and if your speaker wires are somewhere around a multiple of 8.5 ft that can contribute to it, speaker wires are acting as an antenna. You would hear the RFI regardless of the volume control setting. There are cures for that. If it's effected by the volume control, the RFI from your CBer friend is getting in ahead of the volume control somewhere, line level or preamp stage. Can be tricky to eliminate if it's picking that RF up internally.
 
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It is more likely that you are getting RFI - RF from his transmitted signal superimposed into voltages someplace in your system. I am a ham radio operator and have used (legal) very high-power transmitters in my historic neighborhood. RFI city ...

See if you can determine where it is entering the system. Is it only when you have a particular component selected? (For instance, if you only ever hear it when using your CD player, then that is probably where it is entering your system.) This makes fixing the problem easier. If you hear it on every component, it might be harder to solve, but can be done.

In the world of amplitude-modulated RF, speakers make fantastic antennas. If the interference is ever-present, start at the speakers and wind the speaker wire (at each speaker) through an appropriate RF (ferrite core) choke. CB is at 27MHz, so a type 31 mix is probably best. You can also use type 43 mix. I think Radio Shack actually has a snap-on ferrite choke that is reputed as being effective. I think it is type 43 mix.

If that does not fix it, you will need to do some investigative troubleshooting - hopefully a cooperative effort with your neighbor. (Edit: Ed is right and presents a couple of good ways to figure out where the RF is getting in.)

Here is a photo of a simple choke that I might have used right at the speaker to fix some RFI at my house. www.radioworks.com sells some convenient snap-on ferrite cores (good type 31 mix) for RFI problems. I am not affiliated with them, but they seem to really know their stuff.

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Good Luck ...
 
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Mark W. said:
If your neighbor is running illegal power on his CB then it could be bleeding all over the dial.

You might ask him if he runs any extra power? legal is only 4-5 watts. And depending on how big of a problem it is and if he will work with you to NOT use it during your listening periods you won't have to call the FCC.
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Yeah, He might have one of these...I do. Ask him to switch it to low. :lmao:
 

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If he is using a powerful enough linear amplifier it can come over you speakers even when your amp is off. I lived in a small town at the height of the CB craze and a guy 1/4 mile away was using a linear amp and I could hear him through the speakers with no power. The feds finally busted him when the neighbors reported him because they couldn't pick up over the air TV or radio when he was on.
 
As the "conditions" get better, you might hear more RF finding it's way into your system. Lots of the guys who run these testicle cookers are cool and will try not to be a problem. Look for the antenna and be cool about it. You might even get a deal on tubes if that's what your into.
 
Make sure your interconnect cables are in good order. I was using a pair that had good shielded wire and good RCA connectors, they were just hastily assembled. Anyway, I was picking up Radio Free Mexico and the arcing of the A/C relay contacts opening up.

I swapped in my carefully assembled pair and no radio, pops from A/C relays opening up.
 
djv8ga said:
As the "conditions" get better, you might hear more RF finding it's way into your system. Lots of the guys who run these testicle cookers are cool and will try not to be a problem. Look for the antenna and be cool about it. You might even get a deal on tubes if that's what your into.
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He should be cool about it, VERY cool about it, I'd say; assuming he's running an illegal amp, that is. :scratch2:
 
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That can be a tough egg to crack. As mentioned before it the operator is a licensed ham they should be cooperative and able to fix the problem. But there are other wise-elbows out there that slap on powerful linear amps, and don't really know what they're doing.
 
I had this problem in the early 80's. My preamp was a Hafler DH101. I contacted them and they sent some ferrite beads that I slipped over the phono input wire leading from the RCA jack to the phono board. Either that fixed it or the CB'er stopped transmitting.
 
Back in the late 70'S I used to do alot of mobile linear amplifier repair..My neighbors use to bitch about the same thing..:scratch2: especially when loading up the beam antenna with 500-1000 watts..:D
 
i was a cb'er and now a ham. its not uncommon for a cb'er to be harder to deal with in these situations.

try talking to the guy and seeing if he helps fix the problem. if he tells you to F-off then i suggest something a little more aggressive.

i had a similar problem with a guy running lots of power in my neighborhood that was a nasty drunk so i took a magmount cb antenna and hooked it to an old signal generator and left it on for weeks on his favorite frequency with a 1khz tone. you cant talk to folks you cant hear. needless to say the problem went away.

legal? maybe not. problem solved.. yes
 
Back in the mid 70's I had a fairly strong interest in CB. One of my favorite setups was an SBE Console II, Siltronix 100 VFO, Turner Super Sidekick mic and an Antenna Specialist Starduster on top of the house. :naughty:

One night the skip was just outrageous so a buddy of mine brought over his 500 watt linear. Well, the very first time we keyed up we managed to black out TV screens and broadcast through the audio on the sets for 12 blocks in all directions with BRRRAAAKKKE SKIPLAND. This took place like on a Wednesday night around 8 PM so everybody in that bedroom community was watching the tube. Not knowing what was happening we kept transmitting for almost 10 minutes. Another CB friend happen to recognize me on his TV and gave me a call on the phone, he was the first in a long list of flamming calls that night. :para:

That was the last time I ran with "boots" on, at least @ home anyways.
 
djv8ga said:
The F.C.C. really doesn't care about people running power on 11 meters anymore.
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They probaby don't pursue them in an active way, but I'd guess a few complaints might stir up the hornet's nest.

But, I didn't say anything about the FCC... :scratch2:
 
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