Transmitter Troubleshooting

[SuperMatt]

I've got background noise on my FM transmitter and I'm uncertain how to troubleshoot it.

 

I'm using a CZE-05B transmitter from Amazon, with the included antenna. I made sure to plug things in the correct order so I wouldn't blow it up.

• The transmitter is not placed near other electrical cords.
• Sound quality was clear yesterday, but today it's not. (Sure, we had rain today, but the transmitter is indoors and so is the radio I'm using for testing purposes.)
• I've set the unit to an empty frequency that has otherwise been working fine for over a week now.
• To my knowledge, the transmitter has not been dropped.
• I checked and the transmitter is set to transmit on "H" - the higher power setting
• The only way I've been able to completely get rid of the static is place my hand on the back where the antenna connects to the unit. (Obviously, I can't do this all night, every night. ha!)

 

What other troubleshooting steps might I be missing?  Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Mega Arch]

Check your output volume. If it's too high you will get static. Also, and I just found out the hard way, just because it's clear during the daytime doesn't mean it's gonna be clear at showtime.

Good luck.

[Aaeolien]

Sounds like the antenna connection isn't being made very well if you are able to put your hannd on the back where the antenna attaches and it goes away. That seems a likely culprit in this case.

[WhitePlainsNY]

Sometimes a cable will loose a ground and that'll cause hum. Try another cable. In my past, I've had to remove the ground plug to kill the hum on sound equipment that was using different power sources.

[SuperMatt]

I'm pretty sure it's the antenna. I was getting hum, even with nothing plugged in. But after a whole bunch of fiddling with the antenna, I think I was able to get rid of most of the noise. If my display dries out by tomorrow, I'll get to test the whole thing and hopefully get back to normal.  Thanks for all the suggestions!

[chandalen]

1. Is this happening on a radio placed near the transmitter?  If so you can move the transmitter further away, OR if it sounds fine in a car then leave it as is.

 

2.  Bring down the computer volume, and the transmit volume a little

 

3. Goto radio shack and buy a choke. (Ferrite core).  Or remove one from other power cables your not using.  Put this on the power cord to the transmitter, and the line IN (if needed)

 

You can see if this will work by wrapping the power / line IN wire around your hand a few times, or balling it up in your fist, and the sound goes away.

 

(4)  often this happens a lot if a ground is directly shared between the transmitter and the receiving radio.

[SuperMatt]

I got lucky, removed the antenna, reattached it, and now it works just fine. Go figure!

[T34 Flyer]

A background problem may be if your computer (audio source) and radio are plugged into different circuits or the tip and ring of the connecting cable are flipped.  The antenna connection may be amplifying the problem.