AM/FM Radio Issue.

[Free to Prowl]

Last fall I bought a Tracker boat and it came with a radio that was pre-installed. Installed in the boat are a couple of cigarette lighter style charging ports. Whenever I try charging my I-Phone, it interferes with the radio. All I get is static. I've tried two different cords, and two different charging blocks ( both were after market) with no luck. I tried plugging in a different device and it didn't interfere with the radio. (I will add here that the phone does charge.) I tried wrapping the charging cable in a circle to eliminate EM interference with no luck. I tried wrapping the block with tin foil as well but no luck with that either. I spoke with apple support and they seem to think it's a function of the charging block though they couldn't offer me a specific type or kind of block I should use. Their best suggestion was that I do some homework on a boating forum. I'm hoping someone may be able to shed some light on this issue for me.

 

[mike_i]

You may have to have the radio or charger on it's separate 12v line. The charger block is inducing interference onto the 12v line, I'm guessing both items are on the same ckt.. Are you trying to listen to AM or FM? If AM good luck. What was the different device you used that didn't interfere with the radio. The cheap after market charging blocks are cheap because they don't provide the same filtering as a real Apple block may. Try using a real Apple block and cord if you can before doing anything else.

 

[Free to Prowl]

You may have to have the radio or charger on it's separate 12v line. The charger block is inducing interference onto the 12v line, I'm guessing both items are on the same ckt.. Are you trying to listen to AM or FM? If AM good luck. What was the different device you used that didn't interfere with the radio. The cheap after market charging blocks are cheap because they don't provide the same filtering as a real Apple block may. Try using a real Apple block and cord if you can before doing anything else.

I have a hand held marine radio which is what I used to see if it would create the interference. Yes, I believe they are on the same circuit. It is FM frequency that is picking up the interference. The other thing that I thought of was that the radio doesn't appear to have an extremal antenna. I'm wondering if it is using the wiring in the boat as it's antenna.

 

[mike_i]

If the interference is being induced or back fed onto the power ckt or both devices are on the same ckt or they're physically close to one another an external antenna won't help. If the interference is being induced into the front end of the radio receiver, not likely, then an antenna which will increase the signal strength and may help on an FM signal. As a test and if you have another way of wiring the charger block to the boat battery to get distance from the radio and see what happens.

 

[KD4UPL]

Those little cheap 12v to USB adapters are notoriously noisy. I have several of them. Some totally knock out my FM radio and my ham radio. Some aren't too bad. I have one that is quiet as can be. That one was given to me at a trade show and has a generator manufacturer's brand name on it so I don't know who "really" made it.
I would say just try to research which ones don't make so much RFI and get one of those. Or, buy a hard wired USB port from a good manufacturer like Blue Sea or PowerWerx. I've got a PowerWerx dual USB that I'm going to install in my boat but just haven't gotten it done yet.

 

[Free to Prowl]

Those little cheap 12v to USB adapters are notoriously noisy. I have several of them. Some totally knock out my FM radio and my ham radio. Some aren't too bad. I have one that is quiet as can be. That one was given to me at a trade show and has a generator manufacturer's brand name on it so I don't know who "really" made it.
I would say just try to research which ones don't make so much RFI and get one of those. Or, buy a hard wired USB port from a good manufacturer like Blue Sea or PowerWerx. I've got a PowerWerx dual USB that I'm going to install in my boat but just haven't gotten it done yet.

ok, I'm going to try this! Thanks peeps!

 

[Free to Prowl]

update: I went down to my local cellular provider and told them what my issue was and what I was looking for. They had a couple of different phone chargers but couldn't find any information on any of them. They told me I could try one and if it didn't work I could bring it back. Well, It worked perfect! It is a VENTEV model dashport r2340C. ventev.com/mobile Thanks for all the help people!

 

[JimS123]

If its fixed, OK. If not, what is your #1 priority? If you have an issue and both don't work at the same time, turn one of them off.

 

[Scott Danforth]

When I board my boat, I normally turn the phone off

 

[dingbat]

The charger on my boat is about as cheap as it gets ($4 Walmart) and it doesn’t have this problem.

Even if the box is noisy, the radio shouldn’t be picking up the signal unless you have a grounding issue.

 

[KD4UPL]

The charger on my boat is about as cheap as it gets ($4 Walmart) and it doesn’t have this problem.

Even if the box is noisy, the radio shouldn’t be picking up the signal unless you have a grounding issue.

Of course the radio will pick up the "noise" from it; grounded or not. That's what radios do, they have antennas. If a cheap USB adapter radiates broadband noise it will most certainly be picked up by any radio receiver in the area.