Please Help Can't get rid of radio station.


Please help. I just finished with some upgrades to my system which included tearing everything apart to install a custom Billy Bags rack, upgrading my turntable fom the VPI HWmkIII to the mkIV, and installing a new Shelter 901 cartridge. I was just getting ready to listen to the new TT upgrades when I noticed one of the local oldies stations coming out of both speakers. My power is clean since it comes from a PS Audio Power Plant. I never had the problem before. Is there something wrong with the cartridge or it's connections? This radio station must have a broadcast tower nearby or is blasting mega-wattage since it can be tuned in on any radio in about 10 places on the dial. I live in a relatively rural area with no hills, so multipath is not the issue. Also, when I talk on the phone, I can hear the same station on the phone line. In the four years I've lived in this house, I've never heard the radio station coming from my system (unless I've deliberately tuned it in on the tuner). My tuner is turned off and I can hear the radio playing. I only hear the radio when the preamp is set to "phono". Does this have anything to do with using a low output moving coil? My prior cartridge was a high output model (2.0 mV) Could the new Billy Bags rack be the culprit? The old stand was a Skylan made of MDF. The Billy Bags is metal. Is it possible it is acting like an antenna?

Thanks for your help!
mstram

Showing 1 response by xiekitchen

I had the same problem and the problem went away when I switched phono sections; my Benz PP-1 for some reason filters out or has enough shielding that I no longer had the problem. Another option is to move; When I moved from NJ to GA we moved into a temporary apartment about 1 mile or so from this transmitting tower (as I soon found out when I hooked up my system and tried to play a record). When we bought a house, moving maybe 5 miles away from that location, the problem was gone. The 5 mile distance was enough to do it.
Back in central NJ I had a terrible time with some idiot that had a high-powered CB radio in his car or truck driving around talking in Spanish. Occasionally he would come screaming across the system all distorted right during a quiet passage and we would just break out laughing.