My new light fixture messed up the stereo. Why? Update, I fixed it :-)

There are two different ways to get RFI. Through the power line or over the air. Power line interference can be stopped with a line filter. Over the air interference sometimes can be helped by repositioning your radios antenna. Or adding an antenna that goes outside your shop to a pole or something to improve the strength of the station that plays the BEE GEE's. I am guessing that the radio station is an AM station?????

Other thing to note is, you have no idea how far the ballast is affecting radio reception in your area. Your neighbour may be getting mad about this too.
Try a new ballast. It is probably cheaper than other options.

Frank
 
sharpend60 said:
Or stream an internet radio. Pandora for example. It dont get any better.
Click to expand...

Pandora is hands down the best thing I ever put in the shop. If my radio plays a song I dont like I can tell it I dont like that song and it will apologize and never play that song again.
I got a 250' underground ethernet cable from ebay and run it from the house to the shop and a cheap desktop from craigslist, another cheap wire from ebay that runs from the back of the computer to my big stereo.
 
Electricity is just electrons running through the wires like water through a pipe.
Just as you can hear the water move in a pipe, and hear the pipes knock when the water is turned on and off, the wires also do this ( to a much less noticeable degree). The more current/voltage involved, the more noticeable it is.

If the ballast or bulb is bad, the electronic starter may be trying to start the bulb continuously, it is effectively switching the power on and off sixty times a second. This will make every wire on the circuit and the fuse box carry the sound. Many power boxes hum for reasons similar to this. At the same time the switching radiates a wave in the space/ether around it. This wave emits at 90 degrees to the axis of the wire. The electron pressure wave is called RFI. Turning a radio or the emitting device 90 degrees can change the alignment, and reduce the RFI received by the radio. Assuring that the power and ground are properly connected in all places in the emitting device ( good mechanical joints), and that there are no unshielded/ungrounded coils (like a ballast) will also help reduce both the electrical pulses as well as the RFI pulses.
Distance also lessens the effects, as all waves and pulses loose energy as they travel.
It gets far more complex than this, but the above is the cliff notes version.
 
Went to the hardware store today and picked up another light fixture. Ta da, no static. I'm not sure what it was with the other fixture but buying a new, cheaper version solved the problem. Thanks again for the help.
 
I'll take a wild guess and say your new fixture is either in phase, or shielded/grounded better...

Reminds me of the old bar-band days when I would sometimes get kicked in the teeth by a big ZAP! when I got too close to the mic while playing my guitar... good times :D
 
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