RADIO NOISE

[trackerd2]

I am a Police Officer and get a lot of noise through my radio when I activate my emergency lights which are strobes, my question is how can I stop this bleed over from happening? I do not have the vehicle grounded from body to frame and where would be the best place to ground at.
I am using a General Lee radio and a magnetic mount Wilson 1000.


Thanks for the help.

[nutcracker]

Ill try to help, first off best place to ground to is the frame. Second, disconnect the antenna and see if the noise still comes though when you flip the lights on, if it dosent its the antenna. If it stops then it is getting through the power lead. Where do you have it hooked up to? Straight to the battery or another source? Also make sure the coax is not running right beside any hot wires, and ground it as much as you can, also rf grounding which is different than regular electrical grounding may help.

[Circuit Breaker]

I have to chuckle a little. A police officer breaking the law by using an illegal radio. Not saying he shouldn't do it...but it makes him appear a hypocrite when he writes someone a citation for speeding while he's breaking a law himself. If the FCC knew, I don't think they'd be very pleased. After all, the Indianapolis PD went through something similar with their officers using illegal equipment and getting caught. Again, I'm just saying it's funny to me.

[Circuit Breaker]

If it stops then it is getting through the power lead.

You have it backwards. If he disconnects the antenna, and the noise stops then it is coming through the antenna...not the power leads.

Anyway, if the antenna is on the roof of the vehicle it will be difficult to get rid of since the antenna is located so close to the source of the noise. I would suggest moving it to the trunk lid. That should help. You can also try getting some snap on chokes and put them on the leads to the light bar as they enter the light bar. They need to be as close to the source as possible. Without seeing the installation, I can't tell how well the light bar is grounded. More than likely, it isn't...except through the power leads. The problem is - it gives the wire from the light bar to its ground source plenty of "antenna" to radiate noise from. I recall that the older light bars had rubber pads they sat on and the light bar was held in place by clamps that clamped in the door jams.

[Night Crawler]

If you have the strobe lights on wouldn't you be envoled in an emergency situation why would you be talking on the cb at that time?

[nutcracker]

If it stops then it is getting through the power lead.

You have it backwards. If he disconnects the antenna, and the noise stops then it is coming through the antenna...not the power leads.

Anyway, if the antenna is on the roof of the vehicle it will be difficult to get rid of since the antenna is located so close to the source of the noise. I would suggest moving it to the trunk lid. That should help. You can also try getting some snap on chokes and put them on the leads to the light bar as they enter the light bar. They need to be as close to the source as possible. Without seeing the installation, I can't tell how well the light bar is grounded. More than likely, it isn't...except through the power leads. The problem is - it gives the wire from the light bar to its ground source plenty of "antenna" to radiate noise from. I recall that the older light bars had rubber pads they sat on and the light bar was held in place by clamps that clamped in the door jams.

Thats what I meant. Not sure how they came out wrong

[Circuit Breaker]

Thats what I meant. Not sure how they came out wrong

I thought that might be the case based on what you said in the first sentence. Sometimes I think faster than I type and I think I've included words only to find out later that words are missing from my statement.

[Jb1rd]

Hey trackerd2, I'd move the antenna like circuit breaker said, here's my $.02 though being mine was everything from fuel pump, Alt occasionally, and if I had my radio on when I started the truck, it started my radio to! To each their own, anyway I finally threw that junk cable away, put an 8 gauge on there, and a ground strap as well. It changed some not like I was hoping it would. All the same problems listed above. So finally I run right into a deal I got 1/0 gauge for $10. I threw that 8 gauge off there, laid out the 1/0 and put the lugs on it the way I was going to hook it up. There's no alt noise, fuel pump noise is there if you really, really listen for it on the front tank, back tank don't even notice it anymore. I can start my truck with the radio on, no problem. Drilled some holes in my toolbox and bed, but it's nice and quiet now. I don't buy the police officer thing, but if your a first responder I'd say you have a few more options. My Cb equipment all goes to the battery, my antenna mount, my toolbox, bed all go to the frame with straps and I keep them as short as possible if I can't get it under a 1ft I usually make a way.

I don't know anything about the light bars or strobe light, but for me and grounding one of those if you have the frame and body grounded really good, and if they sit on rubber pads wouldn't you be able to get one of the 1/2" or is it 1/4" wide ground straps from auto zone and cut it to length, sand a little paint off as close as you can to the light bar or take it loose? Mount the strap where it needs to go on that light fixture, use a sheet metal screw and screw it down(with a toothed or star washer)((body panel, star washer, ground strap and put it to it)), paint it white, black or whatever, weather proof it and then put it all back together. Mike

[yota167]

I once was talking smack about a city cop parked on the corner of a dangerous sharply sweeping interstate split on the radio. I get a quick reply back and had a terribly nervous conversation with that officer. Ended up he had a CB and heard me griping about him being parked in a dangerous position causing a hazard to motorists merging off of the interstate onto the innerbelt...I told him what I thought and apologized for being crass but still let him know about parking there. He hasn't been there since. Must have taken my advice. Note to cb users: The Officials are listening.

Good luck with trying to shield the interferance from your strobes. I hope I'm wrong for your sake, but I think your fighting an impossible battle. When ambulance's or cops with lights and sirens go by me in the big truck, I hear their strobes interfere with my radio. I can actually see the needle jump to the right a few s- signals. It is extremely noticeable how my RX will pick that up. I can't imagine how terrible the rx would be affected if the strobes were mounted on my vehicle.

[trackerd2]

Thank everyone for the help on the noise problem, one member( circuit Breaker ) sent me a pm stating that I was a hypocrite because I have a illegal radio, (General Lee) and I am breaking the law while writing others citations and the FCC should know.
I assure him that I am not a hypocrite, so someone please tell me why the radio isn't legal and I will replace it.

[Circuit Breaker]

I didn't send you a PM. I made the post right here. Try scrolling up. I also didn't say you were a hypocrite. I said it made you appear like a hypocrite. I also said I just thought it was kind of funny. Nor did I say the FCC should know. I said I don't think they would like it IF they were to find out and I cited an incident that happened in Indianapolis where some of their officers were caught using illegal radios to talk on. Nothing more. Maybe someone sent you a PM using parts of my post.

But first off, the General Lee on CB is illegal because it is an export radio meant for 10 meter amateur radio use and is not type accepted by the FCC for use on CB but has been modified to do so. In the case of Indianapolis, their officers were caught using amateur radio equipment meant for the 2 meter band. Anyway, if you read my post above, I state that I'm not telling you not to use the radio. I just thought it was kind of funny. More than likely, nothing would or will ever happen because CB is pretty much unregulated. I'm using a radio that is illegal for use on CB. So are a lot of other people. So chill...maybe my post wasn't written quite the right way so you're reading into it more than it was meant to.

[Jb1rd]

Well, I'm gonna stick my neck out here, the radio is not FCC approved to begin with and makes more than 4 watts, not sure I think you can use 5 somehow and it will let you go on channels you don't want to be caught on. But, and I say BUT if you are an officer of the law, it's your job to uphold and enforce it right? That's not exactly an easy thing to do when using or having that radio is against the law! I can go to those channels if I want, but they are always quiet around here, and I know they are used because I talk to them when I see them around(ham operators). By the way, turning someone in to me is a low blow and there are some that someone might say need to be turned in, but that's why we all have a channel selector. You know not to be telling you what to do, but you mentioned being and law enforcement agent. I know I'm not perfect either, but if you read his posts to you again you will see rather than looking at it as him name calling, you now know that radio in your car could get you in some serious trouble.

1. Truck drivers with 10 meter radios are losing them if caught and don't have a license. 2. Some outfits are also firing drivers with them. 3. If circuit breaker wouldn't have said anything would you know it's an illegal radio? 4. I don't know what the FCC would do to anybody in your position with an illegal radio. 5. Here is the big one circuit breaker could give you a lot more information about this than I could. I'm not even sure if everything I typed is right as far as why they are illegal. If I am not mistaken a legal radio will give you just 40 channels, but I'm not sure about that answer either.

Anybody care to check if I'm telling him right????? If you want a good radio that is FCC approved ask around in the forum, someone can point you in the right direction. Drop the whole hypocrite thing, and the FCC. You didn't know plain and simple now you do. I know cobra makes some good radios, not sure about the new ones though. Mike

[Circuit Breaker]

I certainly didn't mean (or wasn't trying) to open up a can of worms. However, since you didn't know the General Lee was an illegal radio for CB use, now you know. We're certainly not saying, "Don't use it." But there is a risk (although small) that the FCC could find out. I'm certainly not going to say anything to them. That would make me a hypocrite because I (and a lot of other people on this forum) use illegal equipment. And, while I said it was kind of funny that you're an officer using illegal equipment...I've worked in law enforcement for close to 10 years and I know that all officers break the law in some way. Many speed when they aren't on a call. I was passed once by a city police officer way out in the county doing 80 in a 55 zone. The reason? He was running late for roll call. Some will turn on their red and blues to go through a red light because they're trying to get to lunch and eat before their time runs out (assuming they even get the chance to have lunch). Some people get really mad about stuff like that, and I guess they have a right to get upset when the officers that are supposed to uphold the law are also breaking them. But we're all human. The main reason that the Indianapolis officers got caught is because they were talking on frequencies reserved for amateur radio use - discussing official business, other officers and the complaints of the calls they responded to. Not only did this go against FCC rules, but against department policy. The officers were doing it so what they were talking about couldn't be recorded by the equipment in the communications center. You just don't talk bad about your co-workers or the public over the radio. Someone, somewhere, can find out about it. Either some amateur radio operators overheard this (since it was in a band reserved for their use) and turned it into the FCC...or some scanner enthusiasts did it. I don't know. Nothing would ever have become of it if they A) had been licensed amateur radio operators who were talking about various things other than work. B) Had simply used different equipment...such as FRS radios or radios using what are called "itinerant frequencies."

So, anyway, your using a non-type accepted radio doesn't bother me and I didn't mean to give you the impression it did. In fact, back in the day (early 90s) my friends and I used to hang out on top of a hill that had really good coverage of the city. The PD used to come up quite frequently and, through time, we got to know quite a few of them. One of them decided he wanted a radio and we hooked him up. He called himself "The Big G" and he would come up once he got off shift. Besides, running illegal equipment isn't actually harming anyone (not that it makes it right) - it just isn't what I would consider a major crime. Honestly, I think the FCC should just change some of the rules regarding CB since they aren't doing much to enforce it anyway.

With all that said, what DOES kind of bother me are scanner/radio hobbyists that go out of their way to make their vehicles look like undercover vehicles...complete with Q-beams and flashing lights mounted behind the grill. For one, it makes them look like a "wanna be" and I think it gives the wrong impression of radio hobbyists - who are already thought of as being geeks to begin with.

[trackerd2]

I took circuit breaker's statement as an insult which I see now that he was pointing out that the radio wasn't legal, I saw hypocrite and got mad.

I went to a cb shop and told the owner that I needed a top of the line cb and was sold the GL, I use the radio to communicate with truckers on I-24 where there are numerous crashes going up and down Monteagle Mountain in Tennessee.
I am going to get rid of the radio and replace it with a cb which I thought that I had.
I wanted to make this post because I take my profession seriously and have no intention of being someone that violates the law.
I guess that he saw an easy way to make money on my ignorance of not knowing the difference between a cb and a 10 meter radio.

[Tinman590]

Either way you got a good radio there, throw it in your personal rig and talk on. As far as the original subject the strobe sound will never go away. I can pass a police car or fire truck in town and can hear them as well. The trash truck has one little strobe on it and I can hear it.

[yota167]

Either way you got a good radio there, throw it in your personal rig and talk on. As far as the original subject the strobe sound will never go away. I can pass a police car or fire truck in town and can hear them as well. The trash truck has one little strobe on it and I can hear it.

Hijack:
What kinda trash truck do ya drive? Front load residential? Or Roll Off?

[Circuit Breaker]

Geez, I'm sorry my post caused problems. Honestly, if it were me, I would have kept the radio.

Anyway, hopefully the new one will work out. Try some of the suggestions I made earlier such as re-locating the antenna to the trunk lid to get it further away from the source of noise. That will certainly help...assuming that the new radio also picks up the noise.

[Tinman590]

Either way you got a good radio there, throw it in your personal rig and talk on. As far as the original subject the strobe sound will never go away. I can pass a police car or fire truck in town and can hear them as well. The trash truck has one little strobe on it and I can hear it.

Hijack:
What kinda trash truck do ya drive? Front load residential? Or Roll Off?

I dont drive the trash truck I was talking about the one here in town when I pass it. Used to drive a roll off truck some though.