FMB audio fuzziness

[frdeinlein]

I used to get good FM Broadcast reception on my BCD536HP scanner. Then, after a few months, FM reception would start out sounding very "fuzzy" and after a few minutes would suddenly become crystal clear. As time went by, the length of time it took to become clear lengthened to many minutes. After the last firmware/database update, I can no longer get clear FM reception, no matter how long I wait. I've verified that the 88.0 band is set to FMB and the step to 100KHz. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be? Since I have at various times fiddled with various parameters, it is possible I've caused the problem myself, but I cannot figure out what setting error would cause this phenomenon.

 

[frdeinlein]

Shortly after my original post, the problem disappeared. When I monitor the FMB band, the audio still begins with a fuzzy sound, but within seconds it becomes crystal clear. I've tried this with several FM stations, and the result is the same, so I don't think it is broadcaster dependent. Weird!

 

[Voyager]

Have you tried a different power supply?

 

[frdeinlein]

Have you tried a different power supply?

No, I am using the wall wart that came with the unit. It is plugged into a Tripp-Lite surge protector. I tried switching to another Tripp-Lite outlet, with no improvement.

 

[frdeinlein]

Shortly after my original post, the problem disappeared. When I monitor the FMB band, the audio still begins with a fuzzy sound, but within seconds it becomes crystal clear. I've tried this with several FM stations, and the result is the same, so I don't think it is broadcaster dependent. Weird!

Today, after good performance since the post above, the unit has resumed its permanent fuzzy reception on the FMB band. It seems to affect all four of the FMB stations I've programmed into the radio.

 

[darunimal]

You do know there are 5 million other options for FM Radio right, and did you know the scanner has a processor in the 100mhz range to avoid every other band out there, because, like i said, there are 5 million other devices to receive the FM BAND.

 

[frdeinlein]

True, but I don't have room for another piece of equipment where I use the scanner, and I occasionally like to listen to an FM broadcast program. I have the perhaps naïve belief that if a radio is sold offering a feature, that feature ought to work. There ought to be some explanation or the phenomenon I described; I was hoping someone of this forum with more knowledge that I could offer some pointers on how to diagnose the problem.

 

[frdeinlein]

FMB fuzziness

You do know there are 5 million other options for FM Radio right, and did you know the scanner has a processor in the 100mhz range to avoid every other band out there, because, like i said, there are 5 million other devices to receive the FM BAND.

Yes, but I don't have room for another piece of equipment where I use the scanner, and I occasionally like to listen to an FMB program there. I have the perhaps naïve belief that if a radio is sold offering a feature, that feature ought to work. I was hoping that some in the forum with more radio knowledge than me could offer some pointers on how to diagnose the problem.

 

[Voyager]

No, I am using the wall wart that came with the unit. It is plugged into a Tripp-Lite surge protector. I tried switching to another Tripp-Lite outlet, with no improvement.

OK. Not so subtle this time...

Try another power supply.

 

[frdeinlein]

OK. Not so subtle this time...

Try another power supply.

I did try another power supply, and it didn't change anything.

 

[jonwienke]

Have you tried turning on attenuation? A strong signal can overload the receiver and cause distortion. The intermittent nature of the problem could be due to variations in signal strength. Try tuning in a distant FMB station to see if it has the distortion.