Stumped

[AndrewGeil]

Ok, recently, I've picked up a nasty 'tick tick tick' on my scanner, television, etc. TV displays a line with the ticks, etc. Obviously, some kind of RF interference.

So far, I have been unable to locate the source. It's fairly localized. I've unplugged / powered off pretty much everything in the house. Refridgerators, fans, computers, power supplies, alarm clocks, lights, electric fences, you name it.

Any thoughts or suggestions for tracking down the cycling ticks?

-Andrew

 

[funkytones]

cell phone or pager??? i know my phone is going to ring a few seconds before it does because my computer monitor flickers and my speakers tick

 

[Joseph11]

Ok, recently, I've picked up a nasty 'tick tick tick' on my scanner, television, etc. TV displays a line with the ticks, etc. Obviously, some kind of RF interference.

So far, I have been unable to locate the source. It's fairly localized. I've unplugged / powered off pretty much everything in the house. Refridgerators, fans, computers, power supplies, alarm clocks, lights, electric fences, you name it.

Any thoughts or suggestions for tracking down the cycling ticks?

-Andrew

That reminds me of something at my house. My TV, computer monitor, and computer PSU were all buzzing. I couldn't figure it out, it was driving me crazy. Finally, I called the power company, the lights were flickering also. The power company came and found a problem with my power meter. They changed it, and since they did that, no more buzzing or flickering.

 

[K0ATC]

Are they testing or useing BPL in your area?

"broadband over power lines"

RS

 

[AndrewGeil]

What's weird is its incredibly localized to one section of my house (upper level, east end). West end isn't as bad. I've unpowered litterally everything; less its something like the power box.

 

[bsavery]

cell phone or pager??? i know my phone is going to ring a few seconds before it does because my computer monitor flickers and my speakers tick

The last time I ran into this in a house, I found one of the old style power units still plugged in down in the basement. Typically these put power on the yellow and black pair of wires to light the dials on the old Princess phones. Elsewhere in the house, the yellow wire was shorted to the red wire... shorting ring voltage to the neutral in the houseground. Everytime the phone rang, it would show up as ticking on their tv.. sometimes a ring or 2 before the phone.

Bob

 

[flyingwolf]

I think he meant his cell phone does that to his monitor.

Interesting though about the power being shorted.



As for the OP sounds like it could be a failing circuit breaker.

 

[mikea7531]

If you have a Blackberry, that will do it as well. I know mine will cause my monitor, TV, scanners, speakers all to "click". I believe it to be a design flaw.

 

[Fizz753]

Something to try.

You might want to give this a try. I know it says for dsl and the like but it couldent hurt to give it a shot anyway.
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/8511

This might help out as well.
http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/1982

 

[dynamitedjs]

You must have nextel as your cell phone provider.

 

[msosborn]

What's weird is its incredibly localized to one section of my house (upper level, east end). West end isn't as bad. I've unpowered litterally everything; less its something like the power box.

You may have a faulty surge protector

 

[n4voxgill]

when you hear the clicking on your tv did you turn your scanner off?

 

[BJ_NORTON]

Basically, the easiest, and most reliable way to find the source of your tic tic is this:
Your going to need to get a twig or a stick, preferably fresh cut, from your back yard that is Y shaped. This is called a divining rod, or dowser stick, and is used in searching for underground water or minerals. Many have heard of this, but they do not realise that it is also a terrific tool for finding RFI. This form of divination is in common use in many parts of the world. The operator, or diviner as he is sometimes called, holds the forked ends of the twig close to his body, with the stem pointing forward. When he walks over a spot under which water or the RFI lies, the stem of the divining rod is pulled down, or in the general direction of the RFI. You should hold the Y-rod arms along the body bent at 90 degrees in elbows, palms up holding the rod in a "dynamic balance".

 

[VegasCorbin]

The Mother Ship Is Calling!!!




No really, you need to look outside the house. Is there some low power transmitter that is not strong enough to reach the other parts of the house.

Also what about WIFI, Pole mounted cable TV box, etc. Do you have a HAM or CB operator nearby?

If you have eliminated (by unpluging) things inside your house then you must look elseware.

Hope this helps.

 

[nd5y]

How often do the ticks occur and does it happen all the time or intermittently?
Some other things I have seen that can make noise like that is
electric fence transformers which continuously tick about once a second
and igniters in a gas furnace and gas stove that didn't have a pilot light.

Tom

 

[rescue161]

I'm for the breaker/panel problem.

We had a very similar problem. All of the breaker checked out fine, but the main coming into the panel was loose! If you value your electronics, you should call an electrician to check out everything on the customer side of the power coming into the house.

 

[AndrewGeil]

An update.

My father and I attacked the circut breaker box today, and discovered part of the problem was indeed the breaker that controlled the outlets on the northside of my room. We replaced it with a new one and a large part of the interference has been mitigated. Our next step will be to rewire and attack the outlets and see if we can't remove all of it. Thanks for ya'alls help.

 

[koleary]

Good for you, Glad you found the problem.

 

[flyingwolf]

You must have nextel as your cell phone provider.

Nope Cincinnati bell.

Any GSM or TDMA phone puts out enough interferrance to make the clicking sound in speakers on an incomming call.

Its actually a flaw used by those dollar store cell phone holders that light up when a call is comming in. Claiming to be able to "see the call before you hear it" lol.

:Edited to fix my atrocious spelling and gramatical errors.

 

[codethree]

An update.

My father and I attacked the circut breaker box today, and discovered part of the problem was indeed the breaker that controlled the outlets on the northside of my room. We replaced it with a new one and a large part of the interference has been mitigated. Our next step will be to rewire and attack the outlets and see if we can't remove all of it. Thanks for ya'alls help.

NICE :!:
Good Job :!:
:wink:
APW