So I am having a little issue with interference with my Ham radio(s). I have good ground on the antenna. I only get the interference after about 5 to 10 minutes of driving and its almost a constant static. I only get it on 146.46 that i have found so far. I also get the static on baofeng portable radio same channel, if i put the baofeng radio on the visor and turn the antenna away from the jeep the static goes away. but if i put the palm of my hand touching the metal of the shift lever the static is constant and i can play with the noise by touching, not touching, touching, not touching. I know i have good ground on the antenna for the base unit. I don't think running a ferret choke would do anything with this issue cause i believe its just the antenna getting interference on a certain frequency. maybe static electricity from the transmission? maybe running a ground strap to the transmission from the frame? or maybe an anti-static strap? i'm open to any ideas or suggestions. for the short term I've just been using alternative channels to avoid the noise. Thank you for your help.
top of page
ADVENTURE TRAVEL ENTHUSIASTS DEDICATED TO OVERLAND EXPLORATION
bottom of page
Even though the tails aren't LED, they probably still use a PWM signal to drive them. Modern vehicles are getting pretty dirty as far as RF goes. They shield for what would be considered important frequencies (i.e. mobile phones, WiFi, etc., typically higher Ghz ranges, although T-Mo is now using ~700Mhz for 4G), but beyond that its a radiation fest. You might just have to add the ground straps everywhere you can and see if that helps. The handheld picking it up implies its a noise being generated as opposed to an installation or antenna problem. You may check the antenna cable though, its possible the cable has a flaw or crimped shield that exacerbates the problem.
What modifications have you made to the vehicle? What has been added? (Dash cam, lights, switch modules, etc.)
Does the noise vary with engine speed? Injectors are known to be rf noisy. Also strange that you seem to only get it at one frequency. Does squelch hide it?
The transmission is already well grounded by its connection to the chassis.
Maybe some guidance can be found here
https://hamradioschool.com/going-mobile-part-2-solving-rfi-problems/
It does sound like a grounding problem