what can be done

[gf66]

Channel 3 has an annoying repeating static, scanning requires constant attention. It was non stop for months then gone, now back again. Is there anything that can be done or just life on a gmrs?

[wayoverthere]

Check for nearby noise sources, first. I know my wouxun picks up static on 3 and 6 if I set it too close to my Samsung lcd monitor. Turn off as much as possible and see if it goes away, or move around/outside to see if there's an obvious source (my solar system has some noise on 2m also)

If you absolutely can't track it down, and you aren't planning to listen on 3 anyway, set a receive ctcss or dcs code on that channel, and that should keep it from stopping on that channel.

[mbrun]

Channel 3 has an annoying repeating static, scanning requires constant attention. It was non stop for months then gone, now back again. Is there anything that can be done or just life on a gmrs?

You will need to do troubleshooting using the process of elimination technique.

If this noise is happening in your home, but does not happen outdoors away from your home, you may find the noise source is inside your home. A computer, TV, wifi router, etc..

You can either turn off all circuits in your house to see it still exists and bring them back one at a time, or turn them off one at a time to see which might cause it and then go from there to narrow it down. After you have found the offender then we can talk about options for elimination.

Hope that helps.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[daschnoz]

I have a similar issue at home, except the constant signal is on 550.  I have heard that there are some baby monitors that use these frequencies, or frequencies that are very close (462.555 for example).  You may have something similar going on in your area.

I'm going to be putting together a GMRS Quagi antenna to do some fox hunting (we have a tool bag messing with a local repeater).  Finding the source of the signal on 550 will be my test for it. 

[gf66]

it's both at home and mobile. It's not something with me, read that cable services can interfere with 3 and 4. I'm wondering if it's a signal from them. I don't have cable.

Is this something that can be reported? Channel 3 is unusable for anybody round here.

good idea wayoverthere.

[wayoverthere]

Is it intermittent or continuous?  Older tech, but I know when I had Cingular as my cell provider, I'd pick up some buzzing him occasionally via headphones or my telephone headset at work if the cord was too close to the phone...don't know if that's still a thing moving onto 4 and 5g now.

The on and off on a multiple-month cycle makes me think it may be something seasonal, though the fact That it's there both at home and mobile kind of leads me to think it's something you're bringing along, but outside of a cell phone I'm not sure what.

[WRNA236]

On 8/12/2021 at 5:59 AM, daschnoz said:

I have a similar issue at home, except the constant signal is on 550.  I have heard that there are some baby monitors that use these frequencies, or frequencies that are very close (462.555 for example).  You may have something similar going on in your area.

I'm going to be putting together a GMRS Quagi antenna to do some fox hunting (we have a tool bag messing with a local repeater).  Finding the source of the signal on 550 will be my test for it. 

There's no ISM band around GMRS so if you're hearing baby monitors it's an image.  They typically use 49 MHz, 902 MHz or 2.4 GHz. 

There is an ISM band in Europe and Africa (ITU Region 1) at 433 MHz that hams there have to co-exist with.  Here on 70cm hams are secondary users on part of our allocation to military radar.

The only user I can think of near the spectrum GMRS covers are meteorological satellites (such as GEOS) that have a downlink at around 468.8 to 468.9 MHz for DCP Interrogate.

[wayoverthere]

1 hour ago, WRNA236 said:

There's no ISM band around GMRS so if you're hearing baby monitors it's an image.  They typically use 49 MHz, 902 MHz or 2.4 GHz. 

There is an ISM band in Europe and Africa (ITU Region 1) at 433 MHz that hams there have to co-exist with.  Here on 70cm hams are secondary users on part of our allocation to military radar.

There have been instances of people buying those imported baby monitors and issues resulting..could being slightly off frequency cause it to manifest as interference?

 

[WRNA236]

10 hours ago, wayoverthere said:

There have been instances of people buying those imported baby monitors and issues resulting..could being slightly off frequency cause it to manifest as interference?

 

The thread proposes the plausible possibility that it's a radio operating illegally.  If it's actually a 433 MHz ISM then it's not really likely to be that far off.  I'd think it's more likely intentionally using GMRS/FRS frequencies in that case.  It's kind of a cat-and-mouse.  There's more users from 400 to 450 MHz that will notice - hams, government, military, public service, etc.  Operating on 462/467 is impacting fewer users and I'd wager ones that are less likely to figure it out or know what to do about it. 

There's certainly possibilities for interference, intermod, FM capture on close frequency or mixing image, though.  Just knowing it's static is a hard starting point since it could be hash, like motor brushes, switching (e.g. a microprocessor or power supply) or a faulty electrical connection.  Although it does sound like it impacts a lot of radios, which makes it easier to track down as it will have a fair bit of power.

ETA: Just remembered a common source of interference - solar panel charge controllers.  They will be a constant noise source but only during the day.  And some of them can be really bad, a cheap PWM making lots of harmonics.  This particular problem is going to get a lot worse as more solar is installed, both the controller/chargers and on the flip side inverters that will run at night, distributed on houses everywhere.

[gf66]

On 8/18/2021 at 6:47 PM, wayoverthere said:

Is it intermittent or continuous?  Older tech, but I know when I had Cingular as my cell provider, I'd pick up some buzzing him occasionally via headphones or my telephone headset at work if the cord was too close to the phone...don't know if that's still a thing moving onto 4 and 5g now.

The on and off on a multiple-month cycle makes me think it may be something seasonal, though the fact That it's there both at home and mobile kind of leads me to think it's something you're bringing along, but outside of a cell phone I'm not sure what.

it's continuous and systematic. It is a repeatable static cadence, almost like morse code except the signal is static not tone. My radios stop on signals sending, it stops on 3 static nonsense and can't get off it unless I manually skip it. Very annoying and I've taken to not even listening anymore.

[wayoverthere]

On 8/18/2021 at 8:30 PM, WRNA236 said:

ETA: Just remembered a common source of interference - solar panel charge controllers.  They will be a constant noise source but only during the day.  And some of them can be really bad, a cheap PWM making lots of harmonics.  This particular problem is going to get a lot worse as more solar is installed, both the controller/chargers and on the flip side inverters that will run at night, distributed on houses everywhere.

This one I definitely have too, though it shows up on 2m. Noise level is definitely lower at night, though the inverter box is on the other side of the house. Getting that antenna up and outside should help some, at least.

17 minutes ago, gf66 said:

it's continuous and systematic. It is a repeatable static cadence, almost like morse code except the signal is static not tone. My radios stop on signals sending, it stops on 3 static nonsense and can't get off it unless I manually skip it. Very annoying and I've taken to not even listening anymore.

If it's at that level of annoyance, I'd say time to just set a Rx code on channel 3 to block it out till you have the patience to start chasing it again. I'm still trying to think what else could fall in that range that'd be continuous and regular.

[WRNA236]

You should record and post it.  If it's periodic it's man-made and probably can be identified.  It's possible there's nothing you can do about it.  Interference like this is why subtones were invented in the first place.