WeBoost Cellphone Booster Interfering w/ APX's

[N4KVE]

in my wife's car, the AM-FM radio always worked well. One day it started sounding like crap. So I’m looking for “what changed in the last week”? I unplugged the USB liter plug adapter, & the noise went away. She got it from her daughter, & regifted it to her grandson who never calls her. Tried another brand, & there was no noise. Temu garbage. Problem solved.

 

[exkalibur]

I have a WeBoost as well. It causes no interference to my APX either VHF, UHF, 700 or 800. My bet is your USB cellphone charger. I had a cheap one from Amazon and it decimated 700/800. Aftermarket LED lights also do a heck of a number as well - I put LED turn signals and LED ditch lights on. When those are on, VHF is almost unusable.

 

[speedway_navigator]

We put a new paging xmtr in a fire station. We were eating lunch in the break room waiting for the tower crew to finish when the chief came
in and replace the light ballast with the new green energy type.

When the tower guy was done we did some tests, a FF called to let the dispatcher know if was the first time he ever got paged in his basement.
Next day we got complaints of no pages in the station break room. When they turned off the lights the RFI went away. They put in a home rated ballast and the problem went away.

 

[BlackSheepDue]

I would assume the GPS converter is built into the 12v plug? Is so, just wire a female 12v outlet and bury it in the truck somewhere. Usually plenty of room near the driver/pass dash side panels to hide something but still easily accessible. Easy peasy and cheap.

I thought about this but I was worried that a cheap female 12v outlet would create RF noise just like the cheap usb to 12v connector I was using. Not sure if there are higher quality female 12v outlets out there that wouldn't create the same noise?

 

[BlackSheepDue]

I have a WeBoost as well. It causes no interference to my APX either VHF, UHF, 700 or 800. My bet is your USB cellphone charger. I had a cheap one from Amazon and it decimated 700/800. Aftermarket LED lights also do a heck of a number as well - I put LED turn signals and LED ditch lights on. When those are on, VHF is almost unusable.

Bit of an update for you all. I got the power for the WeBoost hard wired in and put an NMO phantom antenna on my back rack. This gets the outside antenna 2 feet away from any other antenna which is about as good as I'm going to get unless I went with a hood mount which I didn't want to do since passing through the fire wall on modern vehicles is such a pain. I did it when I originally installed lights and radios in the truck but I wasn't looking to suffer through that again. Plus I don't like the look of a hood mount even if it's just a short phantom. Anyway, I digress. The power for the WeBoost is run through a rocker switch I installed down low on the side of my center console. I don't need the WeBoost to be powered all the time so I wanted it to be on a switch I could access easily while driving. Since I've done that I don't notice any difference with my apx's, scanner, or FM radio whether the WeBoost is on or off. Funny what happens when you permanently install things and do it the right way!

 

[12dbsinad]

I thought about this but I was worried that a cheap female 12v outlet would create RF noise just like the cheap usb to 12v connector I was using. Not sure if there are higher quality female 12v outlets out there that wouldn't create the same noise?

What generates noise is the power supply inside the male plug that converts 12v to 5v to run the GPS. The female end is simply a 12v power source. If it doesn't cause problems plugged into the outlet in the vehicle now (or any vehicle's outlet) you would have the same results wiring in your own discrete female outlet.

 

[BlackSheepDue]

What generates noise is the power supply inside the male plug that converts 12v to 5v to run the GPS. The female end is simply a 12v power source. If it doesn't cause problems plugged into the outlet in the vehicle now (or any vehicle's outlet) you would have the same results wiring in your own discrete female outlet.

Makes sense, my previous truck had factory 12v outlets which I used to power the same gps and that didn't generate any noise so it would make sense that wiring in my own would not generate the same noise as the usb to 12v connector. I'll have to add that to the project list!

 

[BlackSheepDue]

Radio reference won't let me upload these pictures directly because they're too large so hopefully this google drive link works: WeBoost - Google Drive

 

[n7maq-1]

Radio reference won't let me upload these pictures directly because they're too large so hopefully this google drive link works: WeBoost - Google Drive

Here you go..

 

[mmckenna]

unless I went with a hood mount which I didn't want to do since passing through the fire wall on modern vehicles is such a pain.

You don't want to put BDA antennas like that near the windows since it'll cause self oscillation with the internal antenna. Mounting it up on the roof is the way to go.

I've been running Magnum racks on my trucks for almost 10 years now. I love their products.

 

[speedway_navigator]

Radio reference won't let me upload these pictures directly because they're too large so hopefully this google drive link works: WeBoost - Google Drive

IrfanView - Official Homepage - One of the Most Popular Viewers Worldwide

IrfanView ... one of the most popular viewers worldwide.

www.irfanview.com

great program, use it every day. It will resize photos with just a few clicks.

 

[kayn1n32008]

The permanent install would also likely include swapping the exterior mag mount antenna for a NMO mount and moving it to the center of the back rack which would increase separation between antennas.

No, no, no.

You MUST have the roof as a shield between the outside and inside antennas. With out adequate shielding, your BDA will hear itself. It *should* shut down, but if it doesn't, it has the same effect as putting a mic to a PA, except it's RF, and will create broadband noise that will cause excessive noise on the unlink to the base stations.

 

[speedway_navigator]

Has anyone looked at vehicle window tint attenuation? I've heard it has some loss but never did a spectrum analyzer test.
We have E glass windows at home and I see about a 10 dB drop on my phone when I shut it.

 

[BlackSheepDue]

No, no, no.

You MUST have the roof as a shield between the outside and inside antennas. With out adequate shielding, your BDA will hear itself. It *should* shut down, but if it doesn't, it has the same effect as putting a mic to a PA, except it's RF, and will create broadband noise that will cause excessive noise on the unlink to the base stations.

What you're saying makes complete sense but since I put the outside antenna centered on the back rack (pictured above thanks to n7maq) the WeBoost doesn't shut itself down and there's no noticeable RF interference with my radios. Not that other people doing it makes it right but the vast majority of cell phone booster antennas I see on pickups driving around are mounted to the back rack.

Could it still be creating "broadband noise that will cause excessive noise on the unlink to the base stations" without me noticing it on the radios in the truck?

 

[BlackSheepDue]

I've been running Magnum racks on my trucks for almost 10 years now. I love their products.

I've had one for years too and don't think I could go without it, the truck just wouldn't look complete. Plus they're very well built and I like that they're built less that a couple hours from where I live.

 

[mmckenna]

What you're saying makes complete sense but since I put the outside antenna centered on the back rack (pictured above thanks to n7maq) the WeBoost doesn't shut itself down and there's no noticeable RF interference with my radios. Not that other people doing it makes it right but the vast majority of cell phone booster antennas I see on pickups driving around are mounted to the back rack.

There's likely enough separation between the two antennas provided by the rack, roof, and maybe glass tinting/defroster wires. Location of the internal antenna plays into it also.

Could it still be creating "broadband noise that will cause excessive noise on the unlink to the base stations" without me noticing it on the radios in the truck?

The BDA's are required (read: supposed to) shut down when they sense self oscillation. So they 'shouldn't' do this.
But they may, and it may not appear on your VHF/UHF radios as the energy should be just in/adjacent to the cellular bands.

 

[mmckenna]

I've had one for years too and don't think I could go without it, the truck just wouldn't look complete. Plus they're very well built and I like that they're built less that a couple hours from where I live.

I like having the brake/turn signals up higher.

I disconnected the backup light circuit and wired that into one of the upfitter switches on my truck. That gives me a nice area light in the bed and around the back of the truck. Really nice when hooking up trailers at night, or stopping to check tie downs.

 

[BlackSheepDue]

The internal antenna is below the climate controls on my center console. I tend to agree that it seems like there should be enough separation. Perhaps not perfect, but good enough.

 

[kayn1n32008]

.Could it still be creating "broadband noise that will cause excessive noise on the uplink to the base stations" without me noticing it on the radios in the truck?

1000% Absolutely. The boosters have high and low pass filtering to keep them from spewing garbage onto the LMR bands that are adjacent to 700MHz and 800MHz because they are not certified, or licensed to be amplifying those LMR bands.

A close friend, and a few people on this forum, have had to hunt down these consumer BDA's when they are causing harmful interference to cellular networks.