AM Radio Noise

[holderbox]

Does anyone else experience noise on the AM radio band (540–1610 kHz in the USA) when A118 is powered on and running. Noise starts when A118 power plug is inserted into cigarette lighter or power port, and A118 powers on. Noise is present if engine [diesel] is running or the ignition switch is turned to the on position without engine running. If A118 is manually powered off, noise stops.

Trying to determine if:

1. A118 power cord is the issue
2. this is common to all owners
   
3. owners with 3rd party hardwired kits installed have this issue
4. if A118 is defective.

No noise on FM band [87.9–107.9 MHz].

 

[Gibson99]

my wife listens to a lot of AM talk radio and she hasn't mentioned any noise. and believe me, she would certainly let me know if it was doing anything wrong!

that said i did install it with a hardwire kit (look for the "professional installation" thread for a link to the one i got), so i'm not using the power cord that came with it.

i was going to suggest alternator noise but that would show up in the videos, not the AM radio, and it wouldn't exist with the engine stopped.

try this - turn the camera on manually while NOT plugged into the lighter, and see if it still generates the noise on AM radio. if it does, then the problem is not with your power cord.

 

[holderbox]

try this - turn the camera on manually while NOT plugged into the lighter, and see if it still generates the noise on AM radio.

Good suggestion, I tried this during initial troubleshooting, both with and without the cord plugged in to the A118. No noise was generated. I'm leaning towards the circuitry in the cord causing the issue when the electrons are flowing. If only I'd kept that old cell phone mini USB power cord ... Will get a hardwired kit to test/install soon.

If this is a common issue it's not worth trying to warranty the cord. Hopefully a hardwired kit will fix the issue. The original cord can then serve as a backup.

 

[Gibson99]

the old mini-usb cell phone chargers were rarely more than 500mA so they wouldn't have been able to power this camera anyway. so no big loss there.

 

[mike-k]

Yes, here, I seond that!!

Experiencing extrem noise on all UKW-Channels (FM) (87,5–108 MHz) when A118 is running...

Read in a German Dashcam-Board that a "ferrit core" around the cable shall help... This seems to be a common problem of DashCams...

Like this (Picture from Wikimedia):

I'm up to get some for my A118 - q is where to get it...
I'll let you know if those thingies worked...

If anyone who encounters the same issues and has a ferrit core left and is willing to try - pls. let us know if it works

 

[dirtymoney]

Yes, here, I seond that!!

Experiencing extrem noise on all UKW-Channels (FM) (87,5–108 MHz) when A118 is running...

Read in a German Dashcam-Board that a "ferrit core" around the cable shall help... This seems to be a common problem of DashCams...

Like this (Picture from Wikimedia):

I'm up to get some for my A118 - q is where to get it...
I'll let you know if those thingies worked...

If anyone who encounters the same issues and has a ferrit core left and is willing to try - pls. let us know if it works

Question is... how does one put one on the cable? From what I remember about disassembling various electronics..... those things are a solid tube.

edit: seems they are not always a solid tube. I found some cheap ones on ebay (for like a dollar a piece) from china. Gonna take about a month to get here though.

 

[mike-k]

There are Versions which are "clipped" together, especially for retrofitting existing wirings:
(btw - I found some, waitinng for delivery, will report when arrived & tested)

 

[Gibson99]

for better results with clip-on ferrite cores, it's good to run the wire through twice. don'tjust lay it over the core and clamp it closed, but lay it across, then wrap back towards the other side, and lay it in again. as an added bonus, this keeps the core from sliding up and down the wire. of course if the wire is too thick this won't work, so ymmv.

 

[mike-k]

Great, I already ordered those fitting the Wire

When I'm using two ferrite cores on the wire (one on each ends), would this have the same "improvement" as running the wire through twice?

 

[Gibson99]

can't hurt to try! try with just one first and see if it makes any diff then try the second.

 

[mike-k]

Hi there,

am still waiting for the ferrit-cores to be delivered, but i found out, that it's not the camera, it's the A118 PowerPlug...

Tested:
Camera unmounted, Radio running; when PowerPlug is connected, there's noise, no Channel can't be received, GPS is not capable of making Sat-Locks... Unplugging the PowerPlug, Radio plays "ye old mainstream-stuff" and GPS can tell me where I am...

Tested it several times, and even with some other cigar lighter-Adapters I found... None produces the same Noise as the A118 Power-Plug...

Will report Results when my order (ferrit cores) finally arrive... Which - thanks to Swiss Post - might be somewhen next Century

EDIT:
oh, and of Course the inverted test:
A118 pluged in to my "Multipurpose-Loader" (unfortunatly with a very small cable) works perfectly fine, no noise on Radio, GPS can Lock to the Sats... (But the Loader gets very warm)

 

[Gibson99]

way back when, i once installed a computer (AMD K6 running windows 95) to act as an MP3 player. Originally I powered it by an inverted plugged into my lighter socket. this produced some nasty alternator whine through the stereo speaker whenever i was listening to music from the PC. once I finalized the design of the PC and mounted everything hidden away, i also wired the inverter to get power from its own new fused circuit, separate from the lighter socket, and the alternator noise went away.

TL;DR - maybe getting power from a different source or using a hardwire kit could be a good solution for you.

also, i find it strange that you experience noise on the FM band (which is very rare for anything) but not on AM, like the original poster.

 

[mike-k]

Well, my theorie is:
my car (Nissan Primera, from97) has been built, when no one thougt about "putting much electronic devices into the car by using existing components"... Back than, no one thought about "loading the CellPhone in the cigarette lighter" as the old Nokia-Phones lastet over a Week with one loading-cycle...

So I think it has to do with shilding and the "different use" of the cigarette lighter with "modern technology"

To the problem itself (AM/FM-Noise and no GPS) - I believe the possibility of the same error showing different would be very high, as those components are manufactured with rather generous margins... And - I'm sorry to say, the PowerPlug does not look like it's "high quality"...

Would also explain, why hardwiring (which is using different components than the original PowerPlug) is not causing any problems... (if I'd have a bit more experience in "do it yourself car-modifikations" I would also consider hardwiring, but with this older car I do want to keep on the sure side, as spareparts are realy rare (or very expensive))

@holderbox

Could you pls. test if the problems also occurs when you just plug in the A118-PowerPlug (but no camera)?

 

[Gibson99]

i have actually never used the a118 power plug. i hardwired it from day one, so the plug is still sitting in the box in my garage.

i will try to remember to test this if i have time tonight or tomorrow... in my 1998 toyota camry, which is also not super high build quality in terms of electrical noise.

 

[dirtymoney]

This post had wrong information... I edited it out, sorry

 

[Gibson99]

seems like it'd be easy to move the jump box next to the radio and plug it in. i bet the problem is that the power plug is feeding interference back in through the lighter socket, and the only way to eliminate it is to rewire your lighter to get power and ground from somewhere else, or ditch the a118 power cord and hardwire the camera.

 

[dirtymoney]

This post had wrong information... I edited it out, sorry

 

[holderbox]

@holderbox
Could you pls. test if the problems also occurs when you just plug in the A118-PowerPlug (but no camera)?

Problem only occurs when power is actually flowing through the A118 power cord.

• No noise if plugged in w/o being plugged into the camera.
  
• No noise if plugged into the camera and the camera is off.
  
• Noise starts when the camera powers on and using the A118 power cord.
  
• No Noise if the camera is on (running on internal battery) and NOT plugged in

I now have a hardwire kit that I hope to get installed this weekend.

 

[mike-k]

@dirtymoney and holderbox

Thanks for testing!

I'm still waiting for the delivery (and am thinking about visiting local Postal Office with one of my "best moods" as they've lost an important letter, too)

But what I can read here isn't very encouraging...
I am already studying the "electrical sheme" of my 97-Primera; looking for a Circuit I can take (enough) Power for hardwiring...

(does anybody has some experience with Primera's electrical Installation and has some advice? Wiring is no Problem, but to find a "Spot" and how to reach it is, as I'm no mechanic)

 

[Gibson99]

for my camry, i tapped into the power window circuit, since it's key-switched and is behind a 20A fuse.