RT524, Vic 1 & H161 headsets hear massive interference

[Torisco]

How do I get rid of noise on radio/Vic1 when convoy lights are on?

I installed two conoy strobe lights on deuce. When I have the radio on and am monitoring or keying up I can loudly hear the strobe lights going on and off in the headsets and RT524 speaker. It is a real noisy pain in the rear.

Any ideas on how to filter out the strobe light interference. The radio is on 50 or 52MHZ usually. The Vic 1 picks up the noise as well on the headsets when on monitor with the chest switch and when on ICS with the chest switch. Do not know if it is present when transmitting thru the 524.

I am a compete newbie at this radio stuff and have been trying to learn via manuals and reading what others do. I am sure there is a way to filter out the lights but I do not know what I need to accomplish this?


Any ideas appreciated......

 

[Wile E. Coyote]

Those strobe setups are horrible causes of interference. Seen it a lot in police cars. If it's in the VIC-1 audio as well there's a good chance it's coming up the power leads like old-school ignition noise, and where normally I'd say head on down to Radio Shack for an ignition noise suppressor -- I doubt you'll find one in 24V. If your strobe power supply is running 12V you can try and fit the noise suppressor to the power leads on *that* (being 12V), but there's so much nastiness going on in a strobe system I'm not sure that would help, as every time one of those bulbs goes off it's like your very own personal lightning storm...with similar effects in terms of radio reception etc.

 

[Torisco]

Thank you for your suggestion...

Went to Radio Shack like you suggested and ended up talking to a ham radio buff who suggested I run my grounds as short as possible from the strobe light itself. I ran a 3-4" ground for each light to the steel pole that holds the lights. I then found that these ECCO strobes had an adjustment for low intensity and a single pulse instead of a dual pulse. (This was on dip switchs located on the strobe light circuit board). I think I may have cured my problem as the noise went away after I did these two things. The real test will come when I raise the antennae and go down the road using the radio.

He also said that sometimes you simply cannot get rid of the noise when using high intensity strobe lights.

Those strobe setups are horrible causes of interference. Seen it a lot in police cars. If it's in the VIC-1 audio as well there's a good chance it's coming up the power leads like old-school ignition noise, and where normally I'd say head on down to Radio Shack for an ignition noise suppressor -- I doubt you'll find one in 24V. If your strobe power supply is running 12V you can try and fit the noise suppressor to the power leads on *that* (being 12V), but there's so much nastiness going on in a strobe system I'm not sure that would help, as every time one of those bulbs goes off it's like your very own personal lightning storm...with similar effects in terms of radio reception etc.