radio station noise on mr-8

[ivan1]

I have been recording with the mr-8 for about a year but in the last 2 months have started getting alot of interference from a radio station when recording. I can hear the radio jockey's voice clearly as well as the music throough the headphones, and it records, ruining my tracks.
I have tried changing position of wires, which helps somewhat, but not completely. I have also tried different electrical outlets. Seems to me I hear the radio noise when in record mode even when I disconnect the microphone input( via a preamp ). This seems to be an intermittent problem, as I can come back at a later time or date and I will have no problems. The local music shop where I purchased this unit from says this problem can be weather dependent. This unfortunately makes good recording time dependent not on my schedule but to some quirk of nature. Any body out there have any solutions to this problem.

[dave in toledo]

wow, no way, thats the weirdest thing ive ever heard, are you using a mixer or preamps or anyother outboard gear?

[radiorickm]

(radio) rickm been there done that
used to live under an fm transmitter.
had rf everwhere. old am tramsmitter are worse. and yes when the ground is really wet. stuff come in thru the ground it seems.

well, when it is happening, try to isolate every path into the recorder. unplug absolutely everything from everything, and plug it in one at a time to find the culprits.

start with power. try it on battery power, then plug in the wall wart. i suspect that is probably where its coming from. they aren't shielded. There are some options, but you gotta be careful. if you have to try a isolation transformer wherer the in/out sides are actually decoupled. make sure your'e using a good (meaning really) grounded outlet.
l
make sure all of your connecting cords are good. they create one hell of an antenna.!

just go thru stuff one at a time while it is happening and see if you can find it. it's like chasing ground loops.

rf is funny stuff

[raddo]

Hey there,

The same thing happens to me, but it only happens when I plug in my Ovation Celebrity. I go into my mixer and then into my Korg D1600. I actually get a mix of two radio stations it sounds like to me. I get the same problem going direct into the D1600.

Anyway, everybody has posted some good tips. I need to try some of those to fix the problem.

I just thought it would be nice to let you know you aren't the only one.

[Secret Clubhous]

by any chance are you using a cordless mouse that runs on rf? that happened to me & when I went back to a corded mouse the problem stopped.

[raddo]

Hey SC,

Never even thought of that. Yep, I have a cordless mouse AND keyboard. I'll have to experiment with the computer off and see if that helps.

Thanks for the input.
Brian

[Reggaesoldier]

Originally Posted by ivan1

I have been recording with the mr-8 for about a year but in the last 2 months have started getting alot of interference from a radio station when recording. I can hear the radio jockey's voice clearly as well as the music throough the headphones, and it records, ruining my tracks.
I have tried changing position of wires, which helps somewhat, but not completely. I have also tried different electrical outlets. Seems to me I hear the radio noise when in record mode even when I disconnect the microphone input( via a preamp ). This seems to be an intermittent problem, as I can come back at a later time or date and I will have no problems. The local music shop where I purchased this unit from says this problem can be weather dependent. This unfortunately makes good recording time dependent not on my schedule but to some quirk of nature. Any body out there have any solutions to this problem.

Weird shit man! Never had any problem like that.

[raddo]

Yep RS, it's pretty weird shtuff. At least I'm not the only one. I thought it was just a problem at the place I used to live. Nope. Maybe this RFI is just following me around.

And SC, I experimented with the computer off (no mouse or keyboard sending signals at all) and I still got the RFI noise. I saw on the Musician's Friend site that they have some channel strips that combat the EMI/RFI noise. Maybe that will help. I'll take a look at Home Depot or Wal Mart or some hardware store to see if they've got those. It's worth a shot anyway.

I even messed around and tried the direct box route. I thought that might help. Maybe just a tiny bit, but I could still hear the problem. I also tried going through my Bellari tube pre. Nope, still had the problem.

Maybe some better cables might do the trick. I'll have to go through the steps radiorickm listed.

I have all my stuff plugged into UPS battery back ups. Could that have anything to do with it? I won't plug my stuff straight into the wall. No way!

Would those rack power, line conditioners possibly help?

At any rate, thanks again for the help.

[Reggaesoldier]

Ya know, I'm kinda' surprised that many have had a problem with it now that you mention it.