HELP-CB noise (02 voyager)

[redkaw58]

Bought an OEM CB from the voyager site. Got it hooked up correctly (2nd time), I have an irritating constant noise now when the CB &/or the radio is on. Is the filter bad? Whats up?

[chevyman1]

Do you have both filters in

[suzib6sw]

What sort of noise?.. A whine with increasing revs?..
A whine only when the cooling fan comes on?..
Is the noise there with the engine off?

Are there LEDs installed on the bike for the brake and turn signals or LED driving lights?

Pete

[redkaw58]

Do you have both filters in

Yes. The one on that goes on the side of the radio and the one you plug in behind the left side of the fairing.

[redkaw58]

What sort of noise?.. A whine with increasing revs?..
A whine only when the cooling fan comes on?..
Is the noise there with the engine off?

Are there LEDs installed on the bike for the brake and turn signals or LED driving lights?

Pete

A constant noise when the bike is running. Its fine when the bike is off. The noise doesn,t change with anything on or off.

[Mr Jensee]

I used to deal with CB radios in the 70's. If your problem is related to engine noise, you may hear a whining or clicking sound. Its pitch will vary with engine speed. Most noise problems come from a poor ground. Always make sure your ground wire is connected firmly to bare metal in the event of a noise problem. Check the antenna wire with an ohm meter and make sure the center conductor is not grounding out somewhere with the outter shield of the cable. Make sure that shield shows a good contact with the bike's frame.

You can try installing a noise suppressor. The tricky part is figuring out which one to buy. I would suggest doing an internet search for noise suppressors for a 12 volt system. There is always a chance the filters you speak of are old and no longer up to the task. Lastly get an SWR meter and check the impediance of the antenna for a correct frequency match. If you don't know how to do that get with a CB operator and have him match the antenna to the radio. That should also help reduce the noise.
http://www.wearecb.com/power-cord-noise ... 7AodNgQAuA

[suzib6sw]

Ok.. Is it there with the ignition on but the engine not running?.
If NOT, then with the ignition on, prod the starter button quickly, not enough to start the engine.. If its there after you do that, then I also agree that a bad ground is a probable source but im also tending to think towards either an HID headlight inverter, a possible problem from the Ignitor or even bad contacts on a relay..
Its very hard to trace the fault, but it may be possible to get a cheap AM pocket radio and "scan" over the bike, like the tri-corders in star trek and listen for any fluctuation in pitch or volume..
You mention the two filters.. Yes, there is one attached to the side of the main radio and yes, there is one in like with the 12V to the CB itself.. do you have the one thats in line with the cooling fan?

Whats modifications away from the stock bike are fitted?


Pete

[kjsett]

Ok, old post but may apply.
I installed LED driving lights a couple of years ago (on both bikes), but don't recall any noise issue with the radio.
Sometime during our trip this summer something changed and when I got home I noticed all my stations here in town were far weaker than before (don't use the radio much during trips as i use in-ear bluetooth from phone). I thought maybe the antenna in my area was down or something.
I put the original antenna back on, no change. I have been meaning to work on this but just now getting around to it. I did check to make sure the plug coming from the back of the radio was plugged in. That is as far as I have gotten. I have been planning on checking the cable back to the antenna, but haven't needed to pull the seat and I wasn't sure that was the right direction (looking for an open or shorted center lead to ground).
That could still be it, but i noticed something recently. When the engine is off, the volume and clear signal come back. Then I went a step further and with the engine running I turned off the LED (10watt each) driving lights off, volume came up and noise went away. Could they be the issue, do I need to put a noise filter in their line (can't remember them coming with one), or is this just a symptom of the Antenna wire having an issue.
I really appreciate and require even the triangle of light they give so don't want to run without them just so I can hear the Christmas station right now. Actually, i get the stronger stations in town (Phoenix area) except when I get into hill shadows or out to outlying areas.
I know that Pete is moving so don't know if I will get a quick response, just want to take care of this before it starts heating up around here.
Thanks all, and Merry Christmas,
Ken

[Mr Jensee]

Surfing the interwebs I came across a curious explanation for why your CB may be having problems IF you indeed have LED lighting.
http://www.leapfroglighting.com/led-lam ... smissions/

[Stormryder]

Hi Guys, I've been a trucker most of my adult life so I have learned a few things about CBs. An excellent ground is essential to a good CB system. Top shelf coax cable and antenna are also VERY important. The noise can come into your system two different directions. Coming from the ignition through your power cord or through your antenna. With your bike running unhook your antenna connection from the back of your radio. If the noise goes away then you now know the noise is coming in through your antenna. If the noise is still there then it is coming through your power cord and there are filters to help with that. I have LED accent lights on my present truck right from the factory. They play havoc on my CB as do my dash lights. These signals are coming in through my antennas as I discovered by using the above test. Another way to eliminate ignition noise is to get your power directly from the battery. You just have to make sure you always turn your CB off when you shut your bike off, not a big deal. Unfortunately us professional truckers don't use the CB much anymore. To many UNprofessional types have infiltrated our profession and use the Cb as a toy instead of a tool. The garbage and filth that is many times being broadcast is not something I care to monitor all day.

[trikebldr]

Surfing the interwebs I came across a curious explanation for why your CB may be having problems IF you indeed have LED lighting.
http://www.leapfroglighting.com/led-lam ... smissions/

Wow, talk about misunderstanding a technical, electronic situation! The author of this article sure did! It is so misleading that I felt the need to post and warn others to ignore it.
"Electro Magnetic Interference, or EMI, can be a big problem and is largely due to the fact that the LED power supply is switching at some rate to turn the supplied AC voltage into a DC voltage. Achieving this results in a circuit with lots of inductance, which produces an electric field around the circuit. In many cases the body of the lamp is plastic, which does not block transmission of the field. As a result, the field can interfere with electrical products around them."
The part that is absolutely wrong is the analysis that the "...LED power supply is switching at some rate to turn the supplied AC voltage into a DC voltage."
Converting AC to DC involves no switching, but does use a rectifier bridge of some sort to do the conversion. Their statement would apply to switching DC on and off, and rapidly reversing polarity while doing that, to create AC. These are simple basic electronic principles found in Electronics 101.
What I suspect is happening that their lab people missed is that the circuits are boosting the 120volts to something higher before rectifying it for use with the LED. That boost stage, called a transformer, DOES create those EMF (electro-motive-force)(MAGNETIC!!) fields that radiate outward and need to be suppressed by use of some sort of conductive shielding. But, there is no "switching" involved! (All of you car guys from the '50's will remember the early Corvette's obnoxious metal shielding around the WHOLE ignition system before the application of resistor plugs and resistance plug wires to suppress any radio interference.)

The article was addressing household 120volt LED's, and we are dealing with a different type of "power supply" for our LED's, starting with 12 volts instead of 120. That 12 volts does need to be boosted higher, so it must be converted to AC so it can be run through a transformer and bumped higher before again being rectified back to DC to run through the LED. (I suspect this is what the writers of that article were thinking about, but they were mis-applying their misunderstood information.) Ever looked at the little circuit board of a 12volt LED? Not much on it, but it does take 12 volts and gives the LED what it wants to be bright enough for exterior lighting for a vehicle. In doing that it induces some noise into the bike's electrical system, unless it has good filters. As suzib6sw says, take a cheap AM radio and wave it close, past any LED's you have on your bike and see how scratchy it sounds. See if that sound isn't similar to what you get on your other radios. There are filters to put inline with the wiring that feeds any LED's.

My point is, this article is totally wrong in their analysis of the "switching" theory causing the LED interference. I am quite surprised by this since they are in a position to influence people's actions! It's shameful to have such incompetent staff writers! They continue showing their ignorance by incorrect use of terms, such as "...electric field...". What they should have said is "...magnetic field...". If you think this is a trivial issue, then you also don't understand electronics well enough to know how misleading this can be! Sure, it all sounds so technical, and to the ignorant masses it may even sound logical, but it's just plain WRONG!

OK, now would somebody help me get down of my soap-box? My rant is over!

[ekap1200]

In response to Ken, Bruce and Ron.
Ron if you turn off any accessories then follow Pete's advice on tracing down that problem. Re-check anything you may have done or wiring you may have moved, or water in any com cables.
Pete lives for a challenge in electronics
Give Pete a better understanding of the noise, ie. Clicking , whining , crackling.
Don't panic, we will let you know when to panic...

As for the driving lamps causing EMI, Well while the LED vanity strips may not have any circuits than could cause stray emi, these newer High-output driving lights may cause it. These little buggers can have complex circuits in them. As they are pushing the chip to its max limit, they use a ( constant-voltage, constant current ) operation of powering the led chip.
Case in point are Cree-leds. I have a set of driving lamps that I purchased for my bike. Not being designed for a M/C and run on 8vdc, I first used the two in series and then later used a regulator for them, Anyway, after having one fail from road injury a new one was purchased and caused interference with the radio. Cree informed me their Constant V/Constant/A circuit board had been revised and that may be the issue. I found new/old stock and solved the issue.
Hope you find your issue and that is a minor one with little to no cost involved.
Gene Kap

[kjsett]

Ok, I reread my post and i want to make it clear that I was talking about the AM/FM radio (almost never use the AM side anymore). I haven't dealt with it as the holidays and needs at work kept my '03 Voy parked for over 3 weeks (almost never goes more than a week except when down for repairs).
What I was trying to figure out was would it help to install a filter in the power line to the lights, or do I need to buy different lights. I currently have a pair like these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8x-10W-2-7-inch ... im&vxp=mtr" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are brighter than the low beam but i keep them pointed just out in front of the bike and haven't had anyone flashing me coming from the other direction.

Anyway, when I turn them off (a switched relay) my radio comes back. Good radio with the bike off. Weak signal strength (FM) when bike is running "and" they are on.
Again, is it time to replace them ($50+ for another pair of something else), or is there a filter that would work. Pete can probably answer whether it is actually the Clarion radio (I hope it isn't).
Thanks for any advice,
Ken

[Mr Jensee]

Good Grief!! I offered a fellow Voyager a possible reason for the LED interference and I get a page long rant from an electronics nut. Fine Bruce. You go fix his radio. You have the knowledge down pat.

[trikebldr]

Good Grief!! I offered a fellow Voyager a possible reason for the LED interference and I get a page long rant from an electronics nut. Fine Bruce. You go fix his radio. You have the knowledge down pat.

YOU didn't get any rant from me, Jensee. The author of the article did! I just don't want to see others going off blindly and ignorantly following the advice of an article that was based on incorrect info.

Don't take that personally. Sheesh!

[Mr Jensee]

Whatever.

[kjsett]

Ok, so I see Gene has information that the Cree lights throw noise. Mine are both Cree.
I am thinking that I will replace them and save them for my wife's bike (no radios at all).
I see the "Osram" chip lights are available at 18 watt (my current are only 10W), are they "quieter" as far as noise goes, or the same?
I do appreciate all the help I can get with these bikes so thank you to all who venture information, or only an opinion.
Wife has me doing House Remodeling right now but i as soon as I can the bike is finally getting the Progressive springs up front installed (got them for Christmas).
Again, Thanks - Ken

[ekap1200]

So anyhow... Hey redkaw58 ya still there, Let us know how your doing. I am curious to know because I am getting ready to install one I have now. Minus the antenna.
Want to hear , how , why , and how long did it take. What did Pete suggest, what did you have to purchase ?


And some pictures,

Gene Kap