AM radio buzz from HDMI cable

Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Curious, how did you narrow it down to the hdmi cable? It started happening as soon as you set up the new avr?
Yes. Just hooked it up over the weekend. I didn't turn on the radio until this morning. After work, I tried that and "shazzam!" as Gomer Pyle, USMC would say. Funny, it was the first thing I tried too.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Yeah I'd have suspected recent changes generally...not sure I would have connected HDMI in a turned-off system to a portable radio in the other room! Curious if you disable ARC does it stop? Do you have network control enabled?
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
It is a wide open area. Next room, wide open. Netowrk control? I suppose that is default.
depending on the length of your HDMI cable try wrapping it in aluminum foil
Trying that now mikado. It has less buzz. I will double up the foil and see if it improves more. If it works, I'll cover it in black electrical tape so anyone will be non the wiser.
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Weill the foil idea did not work after all. But I did find a spot on the counter to rotate the radio for a lot less buzz.
Hopefully that'll be fine.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
No, I doubt network control would be on by default, but it enables a higher level of standby and was wondering if that could make a difference........
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I also wonder to what extent cutting power to the tv/avr might help, but with their insistence on being at least in some sort of standby short of disconnecting the plug....
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Curious, how did you narrow it down to the hdmi cable? It started happening as soon as you set up the new avr?
If the receiver is off and the TV is off, then what is emitting the buzz?
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
If the receiver is off and the TV is off, then what is emitting the buzz?
LOL that's what I'm trying to figure out. My only guess is a higher level of standby va hdmi/network control? Never heard nor experienced such but I don't use portable am/fm radios for many many years either :)
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Like a game of Clue. It was the microwave, in the kitchen, with a fork in it.;) Seriously, its the microwave.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
If the receiver is off and the TV is off, then what is emitting the buzz?
I need a direct answer to my question. Is the buzz coming out of the speakers connected to your receiver or somewhere else? Even in standby the power amps of your receiver should not be powered at all. So if the sound is coming from your speakers, then your receiver is not going into standby. So put your ear close and in front of your speakers. This is not making any sense at all.
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
No, it's the radio that buzzes. No buzz from my ht at all. Typical AM buzz that you might get near power lines, but very aggressive.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
So this is a separate am radio but not plugged into your main system or tv yet makes those units make noise (why are they running at same time?). Where is everything located in this instance? Sounds like a ground loop hum somewhat, tho.
A ground loop doesn't produce AM interference, it's an electrical connection between two or more devices and it's not an RF problem.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
No, it's the radio that buzzes. No buzz from my ht at all. Typical AM buzz that you might get near power lines, but very aggressive.
Is this HDMI cable bundled with power cords?

We need more info- equipment brands & models, your location, brand of cables, etc.

If you have a receiver, why can't you use its tuner?

Do you have dimmers on any lights? Do you only listen to AM radio in the morning? Do you live in an apartment or a house that's not immediately next to another?
 
Squishman

Squishman

Audioholic General
Sony Google TV.
I haven't tried the radio yet. I do have antennas on the unit so I'll try that. Also try the settings you guys mentioned if I can find them/figure it out. That is when I have time, which means next weekend I suppose.
The cable bypasses speakers wires and that's all.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
No, it's the radio that buzzes. No buzz from my ht at all. Typical AM buzz that you might get near power lines, but very aggressive.
This really is a strange case. It clearly is RF interference, which AM radio is very prone to. For the life of me I can't figure out why AM radio stations are not all shut down.
That technology is 100 years old now. I don't think I have listened to an AM station for about sixty years or more now.

However I have to guess that the RF signal is being generated by the switching power supply in the TV. These are a great source of RF. Even in standby mode, these power supplies are still active. The HDMI cable is likely acting as the propagating antenna, enhanced by the receiver. The receiver will not have a switching power supply but add to radiation area.

I think your only solution is to ditch AM radio. As I said, AM radio is well past its sell by date and should be shut down. Your solution and the only one, other than unplugging your TV, is to switch to FM radio listening and kiss AM goodbye.
 
Trell

Trell

Audioholic Spartan
That technology is 100 years old now. I don't think I have listened to an AM station for about sixty years or more now.
For me it's about forty years or so since I regularly listened to AM, and then I was a youth listening to Radio Luxembourg and other channels I could find that played music. The listening was done on old tube radios like from Tandberg that people just threw away! The FM content was pretty slim and heavily regulated at that time, and well beyond that time. We actually had "bandit" FM radio stations that drove around to avoid being caught. How the world have changed :)
 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Listen to AM Comedy Radio often in the car. Until reliable Internet is available to all in even the most remote locations, AM needs to stick around for the broadcast of important information when necessary. Older tech than AM is still commonly used. Anybody driving a vehicle with leaf springs? Nobody around here is going on about ditching their turntable for good.;)
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
For me it's about forty years or so since I regularly listened to AM, and then I was a youth listening to Radio Luxembourg and other channels I could find that played music. The listening was done on old tube radios like from Tandberg that people just threw away! The FM content was pretty slim and heavily regulated at that time, and well beyond that time. We actually had "bandit" FM radio stations that drove around to avoid being caught. How the world have changed :)
Radio Luxembourg: that takes me back a bit. I was never a listener, but I know a lot of people were. For US members, Radio Luxembourg was a powerful AM radio station in the principality of Luxembourg. It was commercial radio very much as the US knows it. Commercial radio was not legal in the UK until comparatively recently.
Radio Luxembourg eventually got competition from "Pirate Radio" ships moored in the North Sea outside UK territorial limits. The most famous was Radio Caroline. They eventually had three ships, off the Essex Coast wide of Shrewsbury Ness. The other issue was that that did not pay licensing fees or royalties. This started in 1964. Radio Caroline eventually acquired a legal license in 2017, from a transmitter at Orford Ness. From 1998 they broadcast via satellite and via Internet since 2000.

There was an hilarious movie made about a pirate radio ship. It was released originally as the "Boat that Rocked" and later renamed "Pirate Radio". It is available on Amazon Prime for a cheap rent. It is actually a movie well worth watching. Anybody associated with these stations had to stay clear of the UK, as in 1967 the Marine Offences Act, made it illegal to be associated with them.

One of the intriguing parts of this story were the ingenious gyroscopic mechanisms to keep turntables level while boats were tossed around in the not infrequent fierce North Sea storms and gales. This really is one of the fascinating stories in the history of audio and broadcasting.
 
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