gound noise

[big dady audio]

In my p/u truck i run a rci 2950,4 pill amp,102 steel whip with the large elkin %%WORD11%…3 coax. The antenna is mounted to the rear corner of the bed on the left side.I have two ground straps from the frame to the bed, two ground straps from the cab to the frame.and i also tried to ground the alt by running a ground strap from the alternator to the frame.I still have more noise than i would like in my receive, and its really bad if the channel is quiet,no skip.I have also tried different plug wires to see if that would help.Is there something i have missed or is it even possible to eliminate all the ground noise?My setup works great but the noise is driving me nuts!<img src=http://users.joplin.com/dutch64804/Confused2.gif ALT=":confused2">


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[big dady audio]

In my p/u truck i run a rci 2950,4 pill amp,102 steel whip with the large elkin %%WORD11%…3 coax. The antenna is mounted to the rear corner of the bed on the left side.I have two ground straps from the frame to the bed, two ground straps from the cab to the frame.and i also tried to ground the alt by running a ground strap from the alternator to the frame.I still have more noise than i would like in my receive, and its really bad if the channel is quiet,no skip.I have also tried different plug wires to see if that would help.Is there something i have missed or is it even possible to eliminate all the ground noise?My setup works great but the noise is driving me nuts!<img src=http://users.joplin.com/dutch64804/Confused2.gif ALT=":confused2">


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[Lazybones1222]

Does the noise change with engine speed? Like a clicking noise or is it just loud static?


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[Lazybones1222]

Does the noise change with engine speed? Like a clicking noise or is it just loud static?


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[Moleculo]

Just loud static..hmmm......



Does the noise floor lower with the engine off, or is it the same? Is it worse while driving than sitting? Does it sound like man made interference?


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[Moleculo]

Just loud static..hmmm......



Does the noise floor lower with the engine off, or is it the same? Is it worse while driving than sitting? Does it sound like man made interference?


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[bcrewcaptain]

quick simple test to narrow it down...unplug the antenna...

if its there...either its the power leads or radient

if it goes away...its coming thru the ant leads




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[bcrewcaptain]

quick simple test to narrow it down...unplug the antenna...

if its there...either its the power leads or radient

if it goes away...its coming thru the ant leads




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[hossless]

I'll bet it's a ford pickemup, right??

If it is, the majority of the noise is coming in through the antenna from the fuel pump. Let us know what you find when you disconnect the feed line from the antenna.

Also, if the noise is coming in through the antenna, you can take say a 25 or so foot piece of coax, connect it to your radio and with the engine running and radio volume cranked up all the way walk around your truck with the other end of coax holding it close to various electrical components in your truck, fuel pump, alternator, computer, etc. This will let you know where alot of the noise source is coming in through the antenna. It's best to do this with another person, that way he/she can be inside the truck listening to the radio while your walking around with the coax.



Hossless


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[hossless]

I'll bet it's a ford pickemup, right??

If it is, the majority of the noise is coming in through the antenna from the fuel pump. Let us know what you find when you disconnect the feed line from the antenna.

Also, if the noise is coming in through the antenna, you can take say a 25 or so foot piece of coax, connect it to your radio and with the engine running and radio volume cranked up all the way walk around your truck with the other end of coax holding it close to various electrical components in your truck, fuel pump, alternator, computer, etc. This will let you know where alot of the noise source is coming in through the antenna. It's best to do this with another person, that way he/she can be inside the truck listening to the radio while your walking around with the coax.



Hossless


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[bcrewcaptain]

is the radio mounted right now?

sounds like couple of different things.

If the radio itself is mounted to metal either touching metal or the bracket....pull that loose and lay it on the floor/seat, whatever.

One of the fastest ways to get noise into ANY mobile system is to get a ground loop.(caused by the voltage difference in reference to the battery)

Ideally you want to have every elec component grounded to the same point(battery neg) and to keep as short as possible.

We all know this isnt realistic so we have to do the best we can to get around it.

Quick ways to do that are....

A)keep all power/ground leads as short as possible

B)when mounting units isolate from body ground if possible(don't mount to metal)

C)keep as far away from factory wiring which will hardly ever be filtered and makes a ton of noise.If you need to cross any wiring try to do so at a 90 degree angle to cut down on chances of picking noise up

D)When making a ground connection make sure that you are connected to the largest piece of metal you can get to(seat bolts, steering column bolts) as to cut down on voltage drops, think of it this way...the battery/aternator are all grounded to the frame or motor with a short cable.if you go to the thick metal you will be using the frame as a ground back to the battery(nice and beefy)...attach to a smaller part...you will be going thru smaller metal, spacers, nuts bolts, corrosion and all that good stuff before you get back to the battery.

(also make you you have a good bare metal to bare metal connection)



Also try moved the radio around in the vehicle...use it as a sniffer to see if perhaps you have a certain component causing teh noise where a sime shielding/relocation may be all thats needed!

Good luck!




</p>

 

[bcrewcaptain]

is the radio mounted right now?

sounds like couple of different things.

If the radio itself is mounted to metal either touching metal or the bracket....pull that loose and lay it on the floor/seat, whatever.

One of the fastest ways to get noise into ANY mobile system is to get a ground loop.(caused by the voltage difference in reference to the battery)

Ideally you want to have every elec component grounded to the same point(battery neg) and to keep as short as possible.

We all know this isnt realistic so we have to do the best we can to get around it.

Quick ways to do that are....

A)keep all power/ground leads as short as possible

B)when mounting units isolate from body ground if possible(don't mount to metal)

C)keep as far away from factory wiring which will hardly ever be filtered and makes a ton of noise.If you need to cross any wiring try to do so at a 90 degree angle to cut down on chances of picking noise up

D)When making a ground connection make sure that you are connected to the largest piece of metal you can get to(seat bolts, steering column bolts) as to cut down on voltage drops, think of it this way...the battery/aternator are all grounded to the frame or motor with a short cable.if you go to the thick metal you will be using the frame as a ground back to the battery(nice and beefy)...attach to a smaller part...you will be going thru smaller metal, spacers, nuts bolts, corrosion and all that good stuff before you get back to the battery.

(also make you you have a good bare metal to bare metal connection)



Also try moved the radio around in the vehicle...use it as a sniffer to see if perhaps you have a certain component causing teh noise where a sime shielding/relocation may be all thats needed!

Good luck!




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[Moleculo]

If it increases with RPM, it's ignition noise. Try simple things first: get a Radio Shack engine noise filter and put it as close to the radio as you can. My jeep has the worst ignition noise of all time. I've done a ton of work to bring it down and it's still there a bit. I've put high quality, RF surpression plug wires on, improved all the grounds under the hood, lined the coil and plug wires with ferrite beads, lined the radio power lines with ferrite beads, about the only thing I haven't done yet is put a bypass cap on the coil. I got the ignition noise down significantly doing all kinds of various stuff. I also put a bypass cap at the engine pump to get rid of that problem. For me, it's not worth messing with it anymore...the Clearspeech speaker takes out almost everything else anyway.


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[Moleculo]

If it increases with RPM, it's ignition noise. Try simple things first: get a Radio Shack engine noise filter and put it as close to the radio as you can. My jeep has the worst ignition noise of all time. I've done a ton of work to bring it down and it's still there a bit. I've put high quality, RF surpression plug wires on, improved all the grounds under the hood, lined the coil and plug wires with ferrite beads, lined the radio power lines with ferrite beads, about the only thing I haven't done yet is put a bypass cap on the coil. I got the ignition noise down significantly doing all kinds of various stuff. I also put a bypass cap at the engine pump to get rid of that problem. For me, it's not worth messing with it anymore...the Clearspeech speaker takes out almost everything else anyway.


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[Moleculo]

I used the snap on type, Radio shack and other electronics places carry them. Radio shack's prices are a little high, though. I just snapped a couple over each plug wire, and lined the coil wire with it.


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