Can anybody identify this interference sound?

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Dispatrick

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Can anybody identify this interference sound? The low beeping sound.
Recorded on 33.450MHz (seems to be the strongest on this freq every time I hear it) though the sound can be heard on many frequencies in the lower VHF band on my scanner. The interference is intermittent and sometimes can be hours or just a few minutes. I'm receiving it on my rooftop antenna. I've tried punching in all the affected frequencies into a portable and taken a walk around my home on numerous occasions and I don't believe it to be from my house anymore.
 

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ecps92

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Sounded like someone dialing a phone [think old rotary or pulse dial]
Low band has been used in many countries for Cordless phones

Can anybody identify this interference sound? The low beeping sound.
Recorded on 33.450MHz (seems to be the strongest on this freq every time I hear it) though the sound can be heard on many frequencies in the lower VHF band on my scanner. The interference is intermittent and sometimes can be hours or just a few minutes. I'm receiving it on my rooftop antenna. I've tried punching in all the affected frequencies into a portable and taken a walk around my home on numerous occasions and I don't believe it to be from my house anymore.
 

902

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Hi Patrick,

It sounds like microprocessor noise to me. There are a lot of devices that are incompletely shielded, or poorly shielded, and they can make low band very difficult to hear.

The harder part is isolating it to where it's coming from.

Do you have a hand-held scanner? One that you could program the mode would be more valuable here. Set up on 33.45 MHz, put it in AM, lower the volume, and open the squelch, then set the volume to a comfortable level. Get a set of headphones or ear buds, and take a walk around the house first, then around the neighborhood. Listen around your cable or DSL modem, wireless router, switch or hub, or whatever you may have. Also check your dishwasher, washer and dryer, refrigerator, furnace/air conditioner, thermostats, etc.

Were you trying to listen to Paramus (are they still alerting on 33.44)?
 

Dispatrick

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Thank you both for the feed back! I thought possible an old cordless phone too. Also going to try the AM trick and take a walk around.
and yes paramus is still on 33.440 simulcasted from 453.150. all towns in the Central Bergen Mutual Aid Association operate on UHF now.
 
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Unknown Beep...

Sorry I can't help you, but once you find out what it is, please don't leave us out in the cold.

It's like the old time mystery story. You've lead us to (and through) the plot/story... and as Sherlock Holmes would say on the last page: "It's elementary my dear Watson"!

We're all waiting here to have YOU, Mr. Holmes, tell us who the villain was... and how you tracked him down.

73's to ya...

BaoFeng Blogger
 

Ubbe

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The clip isn't long enough to be absolute certain but it sure sounds as an old analog cordless phone in the 30-40MHz range.

/Ubbe
 

Dispatrick

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Mystery sound continues. The past two days the carrier with the same occasional "doots" has been open for hours at a time. I still can't figure out the source. Has anybody checked the frequency around their homes?
 

CM1

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What's frequency range are you're hearing this stuff in?

I'm in central NJ and have a spare scanner that would be interesting to keep in search mode to see if I can catch any signal down here. I dropped in 33-34Mhz in search mode (so far nothing at the moment).
 

Dispatrick

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In the 25-54MHz range with one of the strongest carriers on 33.450. It almost completely knocks out my ability to monitor low band which is my favorite thing to listen to. It's something close to or in my home and is intermittent, From hours to just a few minutes.
 

chief21

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It seems to me that if your mystery sound was an old cordless phone set-up, the "dialing" sounds would only occur infrequently (when the caller actually dials a number), rather than for minutes or hours as described. I would also suspect that you would likely hear some related voice traffic as well.

John AC4JK
 

Ubbe

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You probably wont hear any dialing tone or voices. It just the handset that are sitting in a charger and some kid is playing with it and leaves it off hook until the kid puts it back in the charger again. Could be an old broken phone without any audio that where given to the kid to play with.

/Ubbe
 

Dispatrick

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Definitely not a cordless phone. signal is strong and across a ton of freqs. so strong it even breaks through PL's on some frequencies I normally monitor and makes it look like an open carrier with a ton of static or beeps.
 

bob550

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What type of rooftop antenna and scanner are you using? Have you logged the various frequencies you've received this on? With multiple frequencies involved, it sounds like your picking up images of the original transmission. Could this be a utility-related data transmission? Here are some websites that may be of help in diagnosing the interference: Sounds of RFI, Power Line Noise,
 

Ubbe

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I'm receiving it on my rooftop antenna. I've tried punching in all the affected frequencies into a portable and taken a walk around my home on numerous occasions and I don't believe it to be from my house anymore.

Did you actually hear the same signal on any frequency on your portable? I think it is your scanner that gets overloaded and there's no signal in the air on most of those frequencies. Try to reduce the signal level going into your scanner, perhaps the attenuator function in the scanner can be used but a variable 0-20dB attenuator are always useable when you deal with external antennas.

It's difficult to know what frequency actually cause the overload without using a SDR dongle and some attenuation and filtering. Something caused to the cup to spill over so it might help with a simple FM broadcast filter. Of course the normal maintanance should be done like going over all the connectors and checking that the coax isn't damaged from birds picking on it or a sharp edge have cut off some insulation.

/Ubbe
 

Ubbe

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Hold the scanner horisontal when outside and slowly turn around. When the signal are the weakest then the source of the interference comes from the direction where the antenna are pointing. Move in that direction and make the test again and you soon will have the source pinpointed.

/Ubbe
 

Mark

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Also look into local area interference like LED lights and appliances even from nearby neighbors.
I had same problem in VHF band with my Heat pump and running down the road nearby LED
signs will do a number for sure.. Even automatic store door openers will do stuff like this.
Remove antenna or use shorty antenna and poke around the house first.
 

TailGator911

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That noise is familiar to me, I think. It sounds the same as an older dial-up modem. Neighbor had dialup and the noise came from next door. If I remember correctly, I fixed it with an in-line coax interference filter on my main antenna feed line. Never heard it again. But who uses dial up modems these days?
 

krokus

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My first thought is some sort of control circuit. It sounds similar to some RFI I have heard coming from touchpads, while a finger is running across it.

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