When I play PC games and listen to the radio without being connected
to the internet I get a great deal of radio interference.  Why is that
and what can I do, please?

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Clarification of Question by hd2-ga on 23 Dec 2005 08:40 PST

I have both devices plugged into surge protectors so how do you ground
the PC and radio to stop the interferece??

I had the same problem. When my PCs harddrive was spinning it would
get crackling on the stereo speakers. I moved my Stereo further away
from my PC and then grounded my pc and stereo. Seemed to work for me

If you are using an optical mouse, this will cause AM/FM disturbances,
if it is within 20 feet of your radio.

Switch to an older style roll-ball mouse for your gaming, or move your
stereo further away from your computer.

Grounding will not solve this problem, in my opinion. I'm a journeyman
electrician and grounding both devices to the same potential should
have no affect at all on interference caused by radio frequencies.

To ground them to the same potential, you could bond your radio to
your computer case using any copper or aluminum wire. The wire has to
touch the metal case of both devices and should eliminate a difference
of potential. I don't suggest doing this as I don't think it will
solve your frequency interference problem. I would suggest using any
copper or aluminum wire that you have to create an extension for your
antenna, if you are able to access your current antenna.

Here is a link for more ideas/suggestions on interference from the FCC:

http://www.kyes.com/antenna/interference/tvibook.html


Good Luck

-Mike

There's really no reason why an optical mouse would create any more
interference than a non optical mouse.  It's certainly possible that a
wireless mouse could cause more interference, though the frequencies
used are usually far different from what an AM/FM radio receives.

The most likely explanation is some component inside your PC is
producing interference.  It's either interference that's broadcast
through the air and is being picked up by your radio, or it's
interference traveling through your electrical wires.  If your radio
also runs on batteries you can test this by unplugging the radio from
the wall and seeing if the interference goes away.

If the interference is being broadcast through the air, you might be
able to fix the problem by buying a higher quality case.  Some cases
these days have plastic windows in the sides to view the internals of
the computer.  Unfortunately this can let the radio frequency energy
through the case, and cause interferrence.

If the interference is being broadcast through the electrical wires,
you might try plugging the radio into a different circuit, or maybe
just a different surge protector.

vellmont - I have a corded Microsoft Optical Mouse, which produces
radio frequency interference anytime the mouse is moved. You would
think a corded optical mouse would have no effect on an FM radio in
its vacinity, but it does.

hd2 - Is your radio grounded? It should have 3 prongs when you plug it
into the electrical outlet if it is grounded. The ground shouldn't
really affect the amount of interference your computer is causing on
the fm band, but I was just wondering.

What kind of case are you using? Is it completely metallic or does it
have a plastic viewing window as vellmont mentioned?

Is it impossible to locate the antenna for your radio further away
from your computer?

Here's another site I found which might be useful to reference:
http://www.radioinfo.co.nz/rfi/rfi.htm

Good luck!

-Mike