radio cut out

[JDB3]

A lady has an older radio in a cabinet set up in her dinning room. Opening the refrigerator door (or just moving the door once the door is open) will cause the radio to have no volume, also when the stove hood is turned on the same thing happens & when breakfast area lights are turned on or off. Any thoughts ?

 

[hbiss]

Could you be a little more specific? It would help if you defined "no volume". Is the radio is still operating but no sound or does the radio lose power? What is the relationship of the radio to the kitchen and kitchen circuits?

Just how old is this "older radio"? Tubes, solid state? Antique?

I can almost guarantee that if the radio isn't losing power it's a problem with the radio and not something for this board.

-Hal

 

[synchro]

Agree that more info is needed.
For example, does the effect on radio volume occur on all channels and both AM and FM (if supported). Moving the refrigerator door could change the pattern of multi-path signals arriving at the radio, but this would only have a noticable effect if the RF signal level was very marginal in the first place. It would be extremely unlikely that this would be happening to all stations.

the same thing happens & when breakfast area lights are turned on or off. Any thoughts ?

I assume this means the effect on volume occurs for some duration after the actual switching action takes place? Otherwise it's very confusing because I assume the lights always have to be in either the on or off state

 

[LarryFine]

Does the volume vary with motion, or is it on-off?

 

[hbiss]

That's why I wanted to know about the radio. AM or FM is a good question too. Old radios had internal antennas that could be affected by proximity to metallic objects. Some had no antennas at all and relied on an external wire or even the line cord.

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The first question that needs to be answered is whether the power to the radio gets interrupted and if the radio even loses power. The OP really gives no information other than symptoms.

-Hal

 

[mopowr steve]

Just a stab in the dark............. do all these appliance have led bulbs installed? .............. if so, the LED drivers could be emanating RF noise and cancelling/covering the radio waves the radio is trying to pick up.

 

[ggunn]

Many years ago when we had both the TV on and a radio on in another room we discovered that there was a frequency we could tune the radio to that would kill the sound on the TV. I never figured out what that was about, but it was repeatable.

 

[synchro]

Many years ago when we had both the TV on and a radio on in another room we discovered that there was a frequency we could tune the radio to that would kill the sound on the TV. I never figured out what that was about, but it was repeatable.

When you tuned the radio you were changing the frequency of the local oscillator (aka "LO") used to mix down the radio's RF input signal to the fixed intermediate frequency (IF) where there was selective filtering. The LO signal could've been coupling into the TV at its FM sound sub-carrier frequency, which would then "capture" the FM sound detector in the TV. Because the radio's LO signal has no modulation on it there would be no sound from the TV. It's also possible that the LO frequency fell on a "spurious response" of the TV and not directly on the TV sound carrier frequency.
This FM capture effect was possible with the old analog NTSC TV system that lasted over 50 years, but not with the current digital broadcast technology. BTW, the video format used in NTSC was called vestigial sideband, but some engineers preferred to call it "vegetable" sideband

 

[junkhound]

A lady has an older radio in a cabinet set up in her dinning room. Opening the refrigerator door (or just moving the door once the door is open) will cause the radio to have no volume, also when the stove hood is turned on the same thing happens & when breakfast area lights are turned on or off. Any thoughts ?

Older 'all American five' AM only radio? Most had a small cap to power line to act as antenna. Any change in power line configuration would change receptions, but never heard of totally turning off the volume.

As others said, not enough information.

BTW, for youngsters, 'all American five' was an ac/dc AM radio that would work in NYC dc systems or out in the hinterlands. the 'five' was the 5 tubes, filament votages were the same current and voltges added up to 115V or 110 V. 50C5, 35W4, etc.

 

[LarryFine]

BTW, for youngsters, 'all American five' was an ac/dc AM radio that would work in NYC dc systems or out in the hinterlands. the 'five' was the 5 tubes, filament votages were the same current and voltges added up to 115V or 110 V. 50C5, 35W4, etc.

If I remember correctly, the filament voltages were 50, 35, 12, 12, 12 in series, for a total of 121v.

My parents had an AC/DC tube radio with a 90v Eveready battery. My first shock.

 

[hbiss]

...50C5, 35W4, etc.

Youngster! 50L6 and 35Z5 is what I had.

-Hal

 

[Speedskater]

Have you measured any line voltage changes?
Is the kitchen cabinet metal? Old all American Five radios had a chassis that could be hot.