Radio Interferance

[cpsigmtr]

Has anyone else had a problem with radio interferance.

Sitting in my driveway and the radio went nuts, noticed that the neighbour was using his table saw, when he turned it off the radio was OK..then went he turned it back on the inferance returned....even when the radio volume was turned off...is this normal

 

John

[gibvel]

Were you on AM or FM. Totally normal for AM.

[cpsigmtr]

was FM

[gibvel]

How close was the saw and how strong a station. There are some stations, around here, that I'll get interference on that aren't the strongest FM stations around.

[MikeWa]

What you are describing is normal. It would be very difficult to shield from a source that close. Power saws,drills and other electrical devices frequently cause interference which can be on random frequencies. It is also called electro-magnetic radiation. Thus no cel phones or other electrical devices in hospitals or on airplanes during landing and take-off. Even though things like cel-phones transmit at far lower power than a power saw they can and do cause interference.

Mike

[cpsigmtr]

OK thanks

[massey130]

tell yor neighbor to stop runnin his saw, that u want to listen to yor bike's radio whilest cleanin the chrome!

 

[cpsigmtr]

Was out for a ride around town last night listening to the radio on my bike when all of a sudden the thing went wonky....Interferance and when I tried to turn the volume down or switch from radio to CB it would not stop....again is THIS normal or should I be heading back to the dealer to get it checked...if normal then there has to be something that can be done...never had this problem with my 84 venture, mind you it was a after market homer install job on my old bike but still.....interferance of this serverity is not acceptable.

 

John

[sarges46]

It sounds like your cb might be interfering. Check th squelch and turn that down or if you dont use the cb turn it off and see what happens.

 

That thing overrides the radio when it receives a signal and whenever I go under power lines it sometimes goes nuts if my squelch is set to high.

[Condor]

Take it too the Dealer and let them check it out....

[LilBeaver]

In your first post you said that you get this 'noise' when the radio volume is turned way down. Later you said that you get this noise when you change the volume at all. This would indicate to me that there IS some issue with something, possibly two different issues.

First of all, make sure the CB is off, then adjust the volume and see if you still get the noise. If you do, then you can skip down to opening the fairing (although these other options won't take very long and are good to do anyways)

If it does not make that noise, go to the antennas on your bike and trace the wires that come from the bottom of the antennas. Make sure that the CB antenna (the one with the little black thingy in it) goes to the black box under the trunk. Then check to make sure that the one from the radio antenna (the one without the little black thingy on it) does not go to that little black box. If it is, in fact, backwards - you'll need to switch the antennas and this could have been the source of much of the noise with the CB.

Next, there are two large black (5-pin c-bus) connections under the passenger seat of the bike. Press each one of those together and take careful note to see if either of them were loose at all. Regardless of whether it was loose or not, I'd then pull them apart and press them back together 5-10 times (to help clean any build up/corrosion off). Squirt some electrical contact cleaner in each connector, let sit for 1-2 minutes, then blow out to ensure dryness. Put on a dab of dielectric grease and press them (firmly) back together. If one of the connectors were loose, that could have been a possible source of the problem.

The next thing to do would be to pop off the fairing and clean the radio connectors (bundle of 4 large connectors). Before you take them apart, try pushing them together more and see if any of them move. If one of them does, trace the cable back to wherever it goes to - if it goes to the radio head, then you can probably be pretty confident in that it was just a loose connection there. While it is all open, go ahead and clean the connectors anyways, put in a little dielectric grease and button it back up.

The next thing to check (to be complete about your investigation) would be the grounds on your bike. The one for the radio system is located under the plastic neck cover piece to the right (brake side) of the ignition switch. You do need to remove the fuel tank to get to this (but that is literally 3 bolts and a hose clamp - real easy stuff). The next ground is down by the horn - a bolt that goes into the motor. And the CB ground I believe is actually under the trunk, but I do not recall if the trunk needs to come off to get to it or not (no big deal if it is, just undo the electrical connectors and take out the 4 bolts in the 'floor' of the trunk).

If the problem still persists with the noise when adjusting the volume, then unfortunately, you are probably in need of a new radio head or maybe the amp it self.

 

Some noise, that breaks squelch on the CB, IS normal for driving under powerlines, next to big trucks that have CBs, etc.

 

Lastly, if your bike is still under warranty, I would definitely be on the way to the dealer if none of these checks worked since used the radio controller head goes for ~$200, amp for ~$300 and the CB (if you can find one) for ~$300. New: Radio controller head $600, main amp and CB ~$1200 each.

 

Anyhoo, let us know if you have more questions or run into any other symptoms that could help the diagnosis.

 

[Gray Ghost]

This is probably not your issue, but it may help someone else. I started getting extremely loud squealing through the headset when the bike was in motion. It was totally over-riding everything else. Happened with the CB off or on. I did a lot of stuff, including using dielectric grease on connections. Nothing worked until one day I turned the intercom way down. My wife is usually on her own bike so we don't use the intercom very much. Anyway the sound is very clean now.