I know it's digging up an old thread, but I thought I would share my experience. We've had a similar experience, where even on very strong AM stations there was always an audible 50Hz hum in the background. This was the case for as long as I can remember but has got worse in the last few years.
I noticed recently that this has completely ceased, and the AM band is as quiet as can be expected.
We have recently migrated our broadband from ADSL to FTTC. The ADSL was always error prone and flaky ~ 11Mbps on a 1600m line. Fibre is solid 75/20 with fastpath and 0 errors.
I have this issue near any overhead power line. This has always caused problems but it has become much worse in the last year and it's not just AM tx's being turned down..
After speaking to a friend who works for UK Power Networks, he told me the likely cause.
Much of their communications, between offices/depots and to those working on or near the power line, are now routed via the power lines. A bit like the Home PowerLine hotspots but on a wider scale.
You would if you wanted to hear RTE Radio 1, or the lunch and tea time shipping forecasts on BBC Radio 4 longwave.
So you would need to have the DAB radio on to listen to them which would mean no interference? The number wanting to listen to either of those must be quite low anyway.
So you would need to have the DAB radio on to listen to them which would mean no interference? The number wanting to listen to either of those must be quite low anyway.
Perhaps one person in the house is listening to AM while someone else is listening to DAB.
The LF/MF/HF bands are becoming absolutely infested with these noises now. Some are on specific frequencies, others cover great lumps of the band and drift around. Virtually everything is now powered by switching power supplies, many of which (especially bargain stuff from China) tends to dump the noise onto the mains wiring, from where it radiates over a considerable distance.
Finding the source can be extremely difficult, but talking to neighbours and wandering around with a radio can be useful. Unfortunately there will probably be several sources all making the same sound, so it can get quite confusing.
The 'wall wart' PSU that came with our DAB/FM kitchen radio was very noisy, and even bladdered its own FM reception! I had to attack it with some ferrites to shut it up....
I think you might be able to get around some interference by using filters to filter all but the frequencies you care about (if you are using an external antenna), or using a ring loop antenna. Ring loop antennas can be really effective at cancelling out interference if it's coming from one direction.
But yeah, lots of trouble to go to just to listen to analogue radio broadcasts, and probably only appeals to hobbyists; otherwise I doubt most people would bother.
For interference over mains, I guess you might be able to get around that with power line filters or surge-protected multi-sockets; however I noticed that my particular surge-protected sockets like to pump out their own noise, so that could actually make things worse!
For the last 10 years or so we've been suffering on and off from what I can only describe an extremely irritating and very loud humming / buzzing noise on Medium Wave and Long Wave.
I can remember the night it started and since then it seems to come and go every few months.
We had been free of it for quite a while but unfortunately it came back again last night and quite frankly makes listening to anything on AM/LW intolerable.
Has anyone heard of anything like this before or know any way to get rid of it?
Why don't you get a combined Internet and DAB radio?, that way you get the best of both worlds as you can get BBC Radio 4 LW on an Internet Radio and should be able to get RTE Radio 1 as well.
Comments
I noticed recently that this has completely ceased, and the AM band is as quiet as can be expected.
We have recently migrated our broadband from ADSL to FTTC. The ADSL was always error prone and flaky ~ 11Mbps on a 1600m line. Fibre is solid 75/20 with fastpath and 0 errors.
I think I found the possible culprit.
After speaking to a friend who works for UK Power Networks, he told me the likely cause.
Much of their communications, between offices/depots and to those working on or near the power line, are now routed via the power lines. A bit like the Home PowerLine hotspots but on a wider scale.
DAB radios can cause interference in the form of a buzzing noise on AM.
But you would not need to listen on Medium Wave or Long Wave if you get a DAB radio.
Oh here we go again. I'm gonna go grab some popcorn and watch this debate unfold.
You would if you wanted to hear RTE Radio 1, or the lunch and tea time shipping forecasts on BBC Radio 4 longwave.
So you would need to have the DAB radio on to listen to them which would mean no interference? The number wanting to listen to either of those must be quite low anyway.
Perhaps one person in the house is listening to AM while someone else is listening to DAB.
Finding the source can be extremely difficult, but talking to neighbours and wandering around with a radio can be useful. Unfortunately there will probably be several sources all making the same sound, so it can get quite confusing.
The 'wall wart' PSU that came with our DAB/FM kitchen radio was very noisy, and even bladdered its own FM reception! I had to attack it with some ferrites to shut it up....
But yeah, lots of trouble to go to just to listen to analogue radio broadcasts, and probably only appeals to hobbyists; otherwise I doubt most people would bother.
For interference over mains, I guess you might be able to get around that with power line filters or surge-protected multi-sockets; however I noticed that my particular surge-protected sockets like to pump out their own noise, so that could actually make things worse!
Move to 1950.
For everything else you can then listen on DAB.
Personally, I’d prefer 1967. The last year Britain was truly Great.