Shoutbox

Hi,

Is there a way to alter the PC frequency so it doesn't interfere with radios?

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Originally posted by YourNeibour
Hi,

Is there a way to alter the PC frequency so it doesn't interfere with radios?

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O.o your computer shouldn't be outputing any radiowaves without having harward installed that does it (I.E. Wireless cards, wireless keyboards etc).
And unfortunatly most signal outputing harware outputs at a set signal for a reason. But they also shouldn't interfere with radio frequencys.
Try and work out what component is causing the interfereance and search the web/consult your manual to see if you can change the frequency.

The only wireless device I have is my wireless card

quote:

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Originally posted by YourNeibour
Hi,

Is there a way to alter the PC frequency so it doesn't interfere with radios?

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No, because the PC does not have a "frequency" as such (no we will not discuss CPU freq here).  I'm not sure if you've ever had the privilege of using over-the-air television, but if you have and plug in say a laptop on the same electrical circut that the TV is in, you will sometimes generate electrical "noise" which will be seen on the TV.

As such, if this radio is plugged in, you might try plugging it on a different circut or using a UPS on the PC (which would probably filter out any interference) using batteries or getting a USB radio (if you want to listen to radio at the PC anyway that's not streamable online).

There's also a possibility that some of the PC cords are acting as antennas, but I think that's less likely.

As TReKiE said, typical PC-generated interference consists of a wide range of Nth harmonics and intermodulation products from the front-side, memory and PCI busses.  Even if you were able to change these, you would at most shift some of the peaks, while not necessarily eliminating the offending interference.

However, on most PCs, there is a BIOS setup option (somewhere in advanced or chipset settings sections) for "spread spectrum".  You may wish to enable it, as it is there specifically for reducing radio frequency interference to other devices.  It slightly modulates various clock frequencies, so that the RFI emissions are distributed more evenly over a wider spectrum, with fewer sharp peaks on any one given frequency.

Beyond that, the only thing you could do would be try to limit the ways for the interference to escape.  The main ways it gets out are direct (solvable by improving the shielding qualities of your case) and fed back through the power lines (better power supply or RF filters for the power line may help there).  Shielding of external cables connecting the components should be looked at, as well.

I suspect you don't want to tackle either of the above, as the solutions that work are usually not simple fixes and involve expense (if you were to replace your case or add power line filters), or at least a lot of work (lining with foil and what not).

P.S. Is this a major OEM computer (e.g. Dell, HP)?  If so, there are regulatory guidelines for the maximum allowable interference levels a computer may emit and you may have grounds for a warranty claim.

I may have fixed it i'm not sure.  Thanks for all the advice.  I adjusted the channel of my wireless card

If your wireless card was causing interference to radio; it's faulty.