I normally listen to a local AM station along with WJR in Detroit which is very powerful and WSPD in Toledo which has always been marginal. Within the last few months, I can no longer listen to Toledo (40 miles) as there is such static. I am getting the same static when tuning to WJR in Detroit (65 miles). Even my local station is very "staticky". I tried to move my Bose Radio to get better reception, but no luck. My CC Radio is usually my "go to" when I really need to listen to something, and that radio is very much static. I just checked my car and it get's the stations just fine as long as I am away from the house, so this tells me the interference is from inside the house. Any ideas how to find and eliminate the cause?
Thanks,
Stonecove

Wireless router?

Electromagnetic government surveillance beams?

Howdy,
I have found that those florescent, curly looking light bulbs wreck my reception.
I have removed them from the two rooms where I listen to my radio.
Hope this helps
Mike

I can't have the AM radio in the same room as the DVR when the TV is on...

I have no curly lightbulbs in the house, and have tested reception with the mud room florescent running and when off (no difference) and I don't have a wireless router. All good ideas though!
Could staticy phone lines be the cause? I am having static in them now that I think of it?
Thanks,
Stonecove

Other posibility is someone has cranked up a ham or citizens band radio in you neighborhood. It happened to me, but now he'e gone.

__________________
Dick

Power lines can interfere with AM reception. I don't know what the solution would be.

Here's something I found.

C. Crane Company - AM Antennas - Toll Free (800) 522-8863 AM Antennas


Remind me never to mess with your radio!

I also think it's the new kind of light bulbs. For me AM is nothing but noise near the new kind of bulb, perfectly quiet with old style bulb.

WSPD Toledo, OH is coming in loud and clear down here in Chattanooga.... streaming . I gave up on over the air radio at home a long time ago. Besides computer, I also use Grace radio for streaming any radio programing on Earth.

I know my AM reception gets more static if I have the TV or computer on in the same room. My external hard-drive spooling up really makes it bad.

Check space.com to see if there's been recent solar flare activity. It could happen.

Quit blaming hams every time you turn around. If it is them, tell them and they will help you locate the interference and help you suppress/eliminate it. Sounds to me it could be
1. transformer on power lines leaking.
2. Thunderstorms up to 500 miles away.
3. most rfi is in your house. Start by switching off at braeker box one at at a tiem. If still there, it is outside your house. By7 the way, hams, by law, have to ensure they are not interfering with your devices, AM radio. FCC frown and will fine on these if reported.
KE5LDO.

__________________
NRA Life Member and Instructor

I was walking home one day and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo....in Morse Code.

__________________
Take your time..quickly.

Hey Fishslayer, good information on the C Crane website. Thanks.
And ChattanoogaPhil, I never heard of Grace Radio. I need to get one of those!
Thanks all!
Stonecove

Next time you are at Walgreens, pick up one of the little Sony AM/FM radios that they sell (ICFS10MK2). It will cost you about ten or twelve dollars.See how that works for you. If it doesn't work well, take it outside and make sure you can get a given station. Then take it back in and try - by moving it around - to determine what area or areas of your house might be causing any interference.

This is the Grace radio I've had for a couple years. Just plug it in... good to go. Preset stations and all just like any other radio absent the static . Very nice quality sound unlike a typical nightstand radio. Though, you do need a wireless router.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Also consider ballasts in your T12/T8 or T5 fixtures should you have them.

Solar Flares, lots of great big Solar Flares lately.

Jungle Work

That would be my guess, too. We went through a few years of very little solar activity and now it's cranked back up, which may explain your recent inability to bring in the AM stations.

__________________
Insert short witty words here

Maybe your Bose is the problem. My Bose AM reception was poor. My brother who worked in radio told me of a better radio. I purchased one and my AM reception is much clearer. Here's what I bought: Tivoli Audio - Model One® Radio - Table Radios - Products

Is that at 760 or 950, One is WJR and the other WWJ.
I listen to 950 a bit in the car and I have been getting more static on it.

I wonder if all the wireless phones are part of the problem.

Just north of the Palace of Auburn Hills is a short stretch where it is quite bad.

Amateur radio, unlike citizen's band, is a licensed service. In order to keep our licenses, we are obligated by law not to cause harmful interference outside our licensed band allocations.

The real culprits in most intereference claims are things like faulty powerline insulators, cheap "wall-wart" power supplies, cheap battery chargers and other badly engineered and poorly made elecrical devices. A noted source of harmful, broad-band interference are plasma televisions.

The FCC records are full of cases against power companies forced to repair their outside plant or face massive daily fines, consumers who have been required to mitigate the interference caused by their golf-cart chargers and, yes, CB'ers operating illegally.

Remember also that AM radio, made in China, has the absolute minimum number of parts in it to actually receive AM broadcast signals; no attempt is made to increase the selectivity of the radio or, heaven forbid, increase its sensitivity. Increasing the sensitivity of the radio would only make its interference reception "better". ****** consumer goods like cheap phones, cheap stereos and cheap PC speaker systems are required to "not create harmful interference and must accept all interference". This is the so-called "Part 15" rule.

My station runs clean and the amount of out-of-band energy emitted is far below the legal requirements. I will inform you of techniques you can use to mitigate your problem but I will not buy anything (like filters or RF chokes) for you and I will especially not work on your telephone or stereo. It is up to you to prove that I am operating out-of-band. You can call the police or the sheriff if you like but they have no jurisdiction in the matter. You can call the FCC but they are far too busy auctioning off bandwidth to major corporations for commercial usage to listen to you (or me, for that matter).

Oddly enough, I have multiple commercial routers and ethernet switches in the house (it's what I do professionally) and plenty of CFL bulbs, yet my very sensitive communications receiver does not "hear" them. It can hear a car or truck with faulty ignition or a bad street lamp from several blocks away, however.

Russ

Radio? I don't see any radio...

__________________
** John **

GE Super Radio 3. I have had a couple of these for years now. This radio has done a great job on the AM dial. I have a Bose Wave radio in the same room and this little GE radio outperforms solidly on the AM side and does a very good job FM as well. The sound quality is excellent. No clocks or alarms. Uses 6 D cell batteries that will last a very long time or plug it into a wall socket. $59 at Amazon.

You'd be surprised how many stations stream over the Internet now. I often listen to a Richmond AM station for my afternoon talk show, either on my PC or via an Android app on my tablet. Sounds better than over the air! (and I can listen even when I'm out of town)

For the OP:
http://www.wspd.com/main.html
http://www.wjr.com/
Both have "listen live" streaming and downloadable podcasts. And you don't have to buy any new hardware.

Sunspots. No, really, sunspot activity is really ramping up.

__________________
Old paratrooper in NC

Sunspots have little if any effect on the low frequencies that
AM radio is on.
The problem is either local noise, or atmospheric noise.
Most likely local, if one is able to escape it by leaving the house.
Like one said, the easiest way to track it down is walking the area
with a portable radio and see where the noise seems to be the
strongest. Then start turning off any devices in that area to see if
it goes away.
There are about a half zillion devices that can cause noise, from
electric fences, to fish tank thermostats, to lights, to power line
noise, etc, etc.. But it ain't sunspots.

The hand held portable AM radio and unplugging wall warts, consumer electronics, and table lamps should help isolate the source. As a long time radio listener, SWL, and DXer, I have had a myriad of tough interference sources. Years ago, it was the power lines out front - cracked compression insulators - but lately, it's my consumer electronics. The lite weight wall warts, actually switching power supplies rather than the older, heavier, and quieter transformer operated analog supplies, on your modem, router, and even the $40 digital TV tuner the Feds paid for when the switch to digital TV occured some years ago, have been isolated here as horrible noise sources. The huge 25" LCD screen on my PC monitor is appreciated by my 'mature eyes' - not so much my ears.

Distance and changing the alignment of the AM radio's builtin loop antenna helps. I have the Tivoli Model One above my reloading bench. A great radio, it's weakest link is the variable capacitor used to tune it - mine got scratchy in warranty - they said that was common and there was no fix - just tune it back & forth! I bought a Boston Acoustics 'Receptor' - better sound, too. It's ~ 3 ft from the PC and CFL-equipped drafting lamp. I have CFL's everywhere - no problem.

To help weak AM reception, consider a magnetically coupled tuned loop, like Kaito and Grundid market. My Grundig AN-200 was $27 via AMAZON with free s/h. Good luck!

Stainz

Wow guys, thanks for the input. I am at deer camp now so - can't try your suggestions, but will when I return. Thanks much! Stonecove

Gremlins......definitely gremlins.

__________________
NRA Benefactor/Cert Instructor

I found the problem. I took your advise and used a portable radio as a direction finder. Very interesting findings! The biggest culpret to static was my dogs electronic collar charger. Even if the charger is not charging the collar, justy having it plugged in the socket, it gave off a terrible racket on the radio. I unplugged the charger and 75% of the problem went away. So I then thought other chargers might be issues, I unplugged our cell phone chargers. They too caused static even when not charging the phone. Like the dog collar, the static increased when charging and was eliminated when unplugged from the wall! Now I can listed to my favorites on WSPD & WJR on my Bose Radio, which has always been the worst AM radio in the house. I'm also interested in getting a Grace Radio so I can listen by way of the internet without being tied to my computer. They make a nice portable radio (is it a radio or an internet playing devise---IPD???) that gets its signal from a wireless router.
Anyway thanks to you all for your help in solving my issue and for the education I got in the process! I would expect no less from this forum! You guys are most helpful!
THANKS! Stonecove

Hi Stonecove,
I didn't think about chargers when you first posted this. When I put the 12v charger on the boat it lights up the radios. The garage is on the far end of the house but it makes no difference.
I just make do with out radio until I get a charge.
I am glad you found the problem
Mike