MARINE RADIO INTERFERENCE

[Myrt]

I HAVE A LOWRANCE MARINE RADIO WITH A 4FT SHAKESPEARE LITTLE GIANT ANTENNA. THIS WORKED GREAT THE FIRST YEAR, NOW HAS INTERFERENCE SINCE ADDING GPS AND TRANSOM TROLLING MOTOR. THIS IS ON A TILLER LUND ALASKAN20 WITH THE RADIO ON ONE SIDE AND THE ANTENNA ON THE OTHER. PEOPLE CAN HEAR ME WELL,(MOST OF THE TIME) THE INCOMING IS GARBLED, PLUS STATIC WHEN RUNNING TROLLING MOTOR. I HAVE BEEN TOLD TO DO SEVERAL THINGS:

1/MOVE THE ANTENNA(IT'S WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE TO FISH IN THIS TILLER!)

2/PUT A FILTER IN-LINE TO REDUCE INTERFERENCE

3/DOWNSIZE TO A STAINLESS STEEL WHIP ANTENNA???

4/ BUY A HANDHELD OR HIGHER PRICE RADIO

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

[PerchJerker]

You don't want a handheld radio (minimal range), and a higher priced radio isn't going to help (that's not the problem).

A smaller whip antenna isn't going to help either, and it will give you less range. Having your antenna on the other side of the boat is more than enough distance from your other stuff, so that's not the problem.

If you can have your radio and antenna tesed that would be the best way to start. I have a tester that measures the interference between the antenna and the radio, which gives an indication if the antenna is bad. That's good to know before you start chasing after other "problems" that might not be problems.

The next thing I would check is the PL-259 connector that attaches the antenna to the radio. This is a common place for problems and bad connections, especially with crimp-on connectors. Soldering is MUCH better. You might want to replace it just to be sure.

The next thing is to look for electrical interference between the cables. This is not uncommon. Try using your radio with everything else turned off --- and I mean everything, fishfinder, gps, trolling motor, outboard motor, power switch if possible, etc. Then try adding those things back one at a time to see if anything adds static or noise to the radio. Even if you can't find anything this way, try moving your vhf's antenna cable and power conections away from your power connections to your other electronics, and your gps antenna, etc. --- sometimes less than an inch is all you need to move them. Also try getting it away from your transducer cable etc. to see if you can clean it up. This can really, really make all the difference in the world.

Couple more things - you get the best and cleanest performance if your radio is powered directly from your battery, not from a buss with other connections. And I would not use an in-line filter except as a last resort, they only hide problems, they don't fix anything.

Good luck getting it figured out.

[Myrt]

THANKS FOR THE INFO, THIS WILL HELP A LOT!!!

[Chris Haley]

I'll also add to check and see if your antennae cable is running along side or over your power cables for your trolling motor. Nobody asked you if you had it hooked to your cranking battery or your trolling motor battery. It should be on the cranking battery.