Troubleshooting Static

[Guest Adrian]

Hello! I have a Midland MXT115 GMRS using midlands hood/trunk mount and 6db antenna. For about a month I’ve been trying to figure out why I have so much static when I turn on my radio. And to be specific it’s RX with 3 bars. So for some reason my radio thinks it’s receiving a transmission. I determined that my light bar on the front of my truck when unplugged. Makes the issue with my radio go away. The light bar I have has DRL ambers in it. So it runs when my lights on my truck are on. If I turn off my truck lights it goes away. If I leave in my truck lights but disconnect the light bar it goes away. So I’ve narrowed it down to the light bar being the issue. If the light bar is disconnected the radio issue goes away. Now I’m sure many of you would say leave it dicconected or get another light bar. But this is a $400 dollar light bar and there’s not another one like it on the market so I’d rather try to figure out why my light bar is effecting my radio. It’s plugged in to my headlight for use of DRL function and plugged into a battery for power. No grounds to the truck. The light bar is mounted on my roof rack. The antenna is hood mounted. I’ve tried mounting above the light bar. But it didn’t change. Any ideas?

Thank you 

Adrian

[KAF6045]

First approach -- apply RF noise filters to all power leads (radio and light bar). Maybe reroute power leads (how are you powering the MXT115? via lighter socket or did you cut off the plug and wire direct to battery?). This presumes the main source of RF IS in the cabling. If the LEDs themselves are emitting, I have no suggestions -- contact the manufacturer and complain about excessive RF noise from the lights.

[gortex2]

Cheap LED bars are our issue. Replace the bar with a quality unit and it should be fine or keep it on a switch.

Common issue with cheap stuff.

[kidphc]

On 9/13/2022 at 5:07 PM, gortex2 said:

Cheap LED bars are our issue. Replace the bar with a quality unit and it should be fine or keep it on a switch.

Common issue with cheap stuff.

More notably the drivers for the LEDs. You could try some RF clip on chokes. You will need to figure out if the noise is coming in through the power leads or the coax. Wrap the cable a couple of times through the choke and clamp it. If it is coming through the power leads, hopefully the radio is connected to the battery. It could be a grounding issue or ground loop being caused.