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ritzy ritzy
 

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 M¢25  Funded By Mahalo ? |  August 23, 2009 09:39 PM

Can one pick up radio through headphones without them being attached to a radio?

Im genuinely puzzled. Im sitting here with nothing open on the PC except Mahalo and I can hear French radio, very faintly in the background. Can my headphones, or speakers, or PC pick this up even tho they are not radio?
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dward dward
 
 August 23, 2009 10:49 PM
Of coarse you can. It's called RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). Any wire any where can pick up EMI or RFI and carry the signal in this case to your speakers. This is the same principle as GSM phones having there transmit handshaking singal being picked up on your sterio. To prevent you need shield cables or wires. In the case of the iphone audio equipment is labeled I believe Apple or Iphone certified. Which is to say its shielded.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency_interference

Asker's Rating:
• This explains it exactly, thank you.


Tags: radio, rfi, emi

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Helpful: ritzy, silverhammer

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ritzy ritzy
 
August 23, 2009 11:04 PM
No I live in Spain (Europe), which is right next door to France, so what you say makes a lot of sense.

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qdietz qdietz
 
August 23, 2009 10:08 PM
Not really, are you sure the noise is not coming from outside or from a radio somewhere?
Also if you are the US and you are hearing French radio, then it is definitely not getting picked up by one of your headphones or speakers or PC (unless it is online radio)
Cheers

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ritzy ritzy
 
August 23, 2009 10:14 PM
Nope, its not outside, no one lives near me and Im in Spain, so theortically French radio is available on the short wavebands. Still puzzed!?!

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qdietz qdietz
 
August 23, 2009 10:23 PM
Do you have any idea where it is specifically coming from???
Pick up the speakers and hold them to your ear, and do the same with the headphones or whatever until you find from where the sound originates

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ritzy ritzy
 
August 23, 2009 10:44 PM
LOL, this is turning into a tech support call. Sound comes through speakers, then when I plug in headphones, of course I hear it through them. Ive just had a thought tho, my internet connection is through a USB modem 3g stick thing that works through a mobile network, would that pick it up?

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dward dward
 
August 23, 2009 10:53 PM
Just because our radios aren't tuned to pick up foreign stations doesn't mean we can't. Its not reliable but it is totaly possible and I'd say even likely. Do you live near Canada... Even if you don't a Fox Hole radio can often pick up foreign stations. Which is pretty much noting but a coil of wire linked to a tiny speaker. No power needed. The RFI or EMI generates enough power to create just a little noise.

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dward dward
 
August 23, 2009 11:13 PM - Fact Refuted
See my post.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency_interference

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