Sudden Scanner Interference

[Radioman_911]

I have a GRE PSR-310 scanner and have had it for about a month now, havent really had any problems with it except for a little interference here and there from cell phone's. But as of this morning it seems to be REALLY sensitive to my phone! I attached a you tube video of what it sounds like. When my phone isnt being used and is just sitting there the scanner receives fine, but as you can tell in the video (taken with my phone) it is really bad. Any thoughts?

Video of scanner w/ interference
Gre psr 310 - YouTube

Video of scanner w/ no interference in same exact location of my house but w/ all data shut off on my phone!
Clear reception psr-310 - YouTube

**Note I am in the Portland Metro area and yesterday there was a slight 3G outage in the PDX area on Verizon and prior to yesterday/today the scanner/cell phone issue was not bad at all. Dont know if that matters or not.

 

[W8RMH]

Yep, the scanner is picking up signals from the phone.

The GREs are over-sensitive and known for this.

They are kinda like two cats that don't get along.

The only thing you can do is separate them.

 

[W8RMH]

**Note I am in the Portland Metro area and yesterday there was a slight 3G outage in the PDX area on Verizon and prior to yesterday/today the scanner/cell phone issue was not bad at all. Dont know if that matters or not.

That is possible. The cell system could have switched your phone to a different frequency or mode to stay connected to the system or may have gone to analog as a backup.

In that case it may be temporary if the cell system returns to normal operation, unless it was a permanent change..

 

[Radioman_911]

Yep, the scanner is picking up signals from the phone because it is so close.

The GREs are over-sensitive and known for this.

They are kinda like two cats that don't get along.

The only thing you can do is separate them.

Ya like i said it was sensitive before no doubt about that, but as of this morning its really really bad which its never been like that before.. i just find that odd.

 

[Radioman_911]

That is possible. The cell system could have switched your phone to a different frequency or mode to stay connected to the system or may have gone to analog as a backup.

In that case it may be temporary.

I have a really slight feeling this is what happened... hopefully it is a temp issue, maybe ill clear my network settings on my phone and reprogram it just for giggles to see if that effects it.

 

[W8RMH]

I have a really slight feeling this is what happened... hopefully it is a temp issue, maybe ill clear my network settings on my phone and reprogram it just for giggles to see if that effects it.

That's a great idea.

You could turn your phone off then back on to reboot it too.

 

[Radioman_911]

Ya I tried rebooting phone and resetting my network settings. Still doing it. I'll mess with it tomorrow as well in hopes that maybe the Verizon network issue is the problem maybe.

 

[Baskt_Case]

Verizon voice and 3G run on 850Mhz and 1900MHz both, and there is some 4G traffic on 700MHz.

Cell phones transmit some data even when not being used. Message updates, location info, signal quality, status, etc. Some more actively than others, totally depends on the phone, strength of reception, the network and its current state, and your plan options. I shut my phone off when I put it in lockers or other poor reception areas because it will show "no-service" and subsequently drain my battery while transmitting at max power while continuously scanning for service.

If you are scanning anything in the 700-850 range, your phone is right there with it. I'd say the interference is least when your phone goes to 1900 mode.

 

[Radioman_911]

Haha it must be the cell phone interference. B/c as of this morning using my cell phone right next to it there is no interference at all. Super odd. I'm thinking it was some sort of cell signal issue / alternative due to the Verizon 3G outage that happened right before it started happening. I'll keep posted on if it comes back or not.

 

[K9WG]

It could be that if the cell tower has reduced it's receive sensitivity (change in antenna or tower) the phone is increasing it's power in response causing more interference.

 

[Radioman_911]

Who knows. Like in the video I usually always have my radio in the same spot in my house and yesterday was the only issue. Today is perfectly fine and not only that but it was causing interference all over town yesterday so that kinda tell me it was coming from my phone but involved the cell signal.

 

[swann3030]

wow I just stumbled across this thread. I have been using a GRE PSR for about 2 months and have been noticing some interference (but bearable) on a few channels that came in crystal clear with my old scanner.
I also noticed that when I am using the scanner my cell phone is always close by if not right next to it.
Shut off my cell phone and behold, crystal clear scanning on those channels.
I use an Iphone on Verizion.

 

[Radioman_911]

Ya in rolling the i4S on Verizon as well. I've tried rebooting phone and even clearing network settings and then reprogramming my phone and it still has the problem. It's hit and miss somedays are perfectly fine so in thinking its something to do with how the cell network is behaving. Also I am monitoring a motorola trunking system are you as well?

 

[rss3781]

wifi

had the same problem it was a faulty wifi ap b/g cisco took me 2 days to pin down

 

[Radioman_911]

Deff no router problem for me. Only Rollin on network and I have problem at times when I'm on the road

 

[rss3781]

oooo

Did u do a firmware update and is your pd re-banding dont forget dam re-banding it may be cell RFI. I here cell phone RFI all the time on the FL broward county system i use an attenuator with strong RFI it helps when i am near cell towers i can here them on all my moble radios even gmrs. The cell company had to use up tilt and down tilt to reduce dead spots on the pd system they where interfering with and remove and change freq. they boosted the noise ceiling here to get over the pd control channels and everything sounds like crap down here. o yea some cities here have city wifi that destroys gmrs and 800 mhz all the time i cant hit my gmrs repeater in Hollywood a few miles from my repeater

 

[Radioman_911]

There was a firmware update for my scanner but it was released in January and I'm pretty sure my scanner is loaded with the latest firmware (or is that not possible?) but either way our system is yes rebanded.

 

[VA3XDJ]

GSM phones are nasty for causing RFI to amplifier circuits. I would imagine if they are in the 850MHz band they would cause interference to the 800MHz band when near a scanner scanning that band.

Like the offspring said 'Ya gotta keep 'em separated'

Also, as stated above, the lower the signal received by the phone, the higher the transmit power from the phone.

I doubt resetting or updating anything will change anything.

 

[VA3XDJ]

The phone may also cause whats known as "de-sense" which means a more power signal than the one desired is causing the desired signal to be attenuated to varying degrees.

On a weak signal into the scanner, the stronger signal emitted by the phone, may cause the scanner to lose signal and start scanning again or miss out on a talkgroup because it overpowered the control channel.

 

[Radioman_911]

Ya the interference isn't causing the control channel to not broadcast stuff b/c i can still hear the transmission but just with that annoying sound haha. also could someone tell me if the "current firmware" U 1.1 is really newer than the one my scanner has on it.. which is F 1.2 if so im assuming the letter U being higher than F means its newer..